Burger Records, Fullerton, California’s garage record label, record store and festival organizer, released a statement tonight announcing “major structural changes,” including the resignation of co-founder and President Lee Rickard. The label said in the statement that the restructuring occurs in response to “a good deal of accusations [that] it came out over the weekend. “Since Saturday, multiple anonymous allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against Burger Records artists and employees on social media.
In addition to Rickard’s departure, Burger co-founder Sean Bohrman announced plans to “move into a transitional role with the label” when Jessa Zapor-Gray becomes interim president of the label. Bohrman made it clear to Pitchfork that she plans to abandon her “temporary non-administrative role” to help Zapor-Gray take over tagging operations.
The label has also announced plans to rename BRGR RECS and start a women’s print called BRGRRRL. They pledged to start a counseling fund “to help pay for counseling services for those who suffered such trauma while participating in the hamburger scene” and to create safe spaces for women and children at BRGR events. The label addressed its artists in the statement: “If you want to leave the label, we will not stop you.”
“We express our sincere apologies to anyone who has suffered irreparable harm from any experience that has occurred in the burger and indie / DIY music scene, in which we participate,” the statement said. “We also deeply regret the role Burger has played in perpetuating a culture of toxic masculinity.” Find the full label statement below. Burger also shared a “zero tolerance” abuse policy on Saturday.
We understand that we will never be able to understand the trauma that women have experienced in trying to find a place on the music scene. We are deeply saddened and sickened by the pain suffered at the hands of a toxic male music culture that does not value women as equals.
We express our sincere apologies to anyone who has suffered irreparable harm from any experience that has occurred in the Burger and indie / DIY music scene, in which we participate. We also deeply regret the role Burger has played in perpetuating a culture of toxic masculinity.
We are sorry for not actively monitoring this behavior well enough to make Burger’s music scene safer for you. You should never feel that you have to sacrifice your personal space in order to enjoy music, for your career or in search of your art; You should not feel that you have to choose between music and your comfort.
But words can only go so far to repair whatever damage has been created. It is the ability to put past behaviors under a microscope, and to fully listen to those who have suffered as a result of such behaviors, to be able to make meaningful changes so that not only those behaviors no longer occur, but real positive change can be made. to face the moment.
It is with this in mind that we have decided to make major structural changes to the label and create and implement active policy measures to address the culture that allowed such harm to occur.
To start, Burger Records co-founder Sean Bohrman will take on a transitional role with the label. The label’s co-founder Lee Rickard will immediately relinquish his role as the label’s president and completely strip all interest in the label. Jessa Zapor-Gray will assume the role of acting label president. Jessa comes to Burger with extensive experience in the music industry and extensive familiarity with the Burger catalog. We hope she takes the helm on the label.
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