This That Are Being Pressured To Drop Sticky Fingers From Their 2018 Line-Up
"The This That festival booking Sticky Fingers flies in the face of the progress we've made as a community."
Newcastle festival This That is being pressured to remove Sticky Fingers from their 2018 line-up, after they were announced as event’s headliners yesterday.
The performance would be Sticky Fingers’ first major festival appearance since they went on hiatus in December 2016, following several allegations of sexist and racist abuse against lead singer Dylan Frost.
The band re-emerged in April this year as the secret headliner of Sydney festival Bad Friday. Following a wave of backlash against their return, the band gave a widely criticised interview on triple j’s Hack in which Frost appeared to defend himself from allegations of violence by stating that “boys will be boys”.
Frost again sparked controversy in May, when he was asked to leave a Sydney pub following an altercation with a transgender woman.
This That’s decision to book the band as a headliner sparked outrage yesterday, with a number of high-profile musicians, activists, and industry figures publicly condemning the festival. Other artists on the line-up — including Illy, The Rubens, SAFIA, and Amy Shark — have been encouraged on social media to speak out against the booking.
Unless you approve of their disgusting behaviour, you’ve got to speak out against Sticky Fingers playing at this festival
People look up to you. They’re looking at whether you’re okay sharing the stage with abusers, and whether you’ll turn a blind eye to their behaviour.
— Sally Rugg 🏳️🌈 (@sallyrugg) June 26, 2018
So, hello again CC @therubensmusic @RLGrime @Goldlink @amysharkmusic @illyal @saffiamusic @boo_seeka
I’m looking at you!
— Sally Rugg 🏳️🌈 (@sallyrugg) June 26, 2018
Reminder: before Laneway removed Kirin J Callinan from the 2018 line-up, women had to do the work to point out why his ongoing behaviour made his inclusion inappropriate. Let’s see what male bands on the This That line-up have to say about Sticky Fingers, hey?
— Eliza Barr (@ElizaJBarr) June 26, 2018
why are any of you sharing a bill with sticky fingers? they’ve endangered indigenous women, they’ve threatened women, trans women and people of colours, is this ok with you?
— goldsoundz_ (@GeorgiaMaq) June 26, 2018
In an almost pre-emptive move, This That’s organisers actually released a statement regarding Sticky Fingers at the time of the announcement yesterday.
“The This That team do not condone abuse and strive to create a safe and welcoming space for all those attending the festival,” organisers told Music Feeds. “The team is aware of the rumours and allegations surrounding recent behaviour of some of the members of the band Sticky Fingers.
“This That will not be commenting further on the band’s personal matters.”
Far from pouring cold water on the situation, the statement only served to further inflame public tensions.
“ah yes, we are aware of the band’s history and how it directly contradicts our mission statement mentioned in the sentence before. However, we simply do not give a single fuck. Have a good day!” pic.twitter.com/2DWIzeowHq
— Hayden Davies (@haydendavies) June 26, 2018
LGBTIQ activist and Executive Director at change.org Australia Sally Rugg told Music Junkee this morning that it’s important for artists to use their platform to “speak out against violence against women and marginalised groups”.
“Artists who share a stage with a group like Sticky Fingers, whose members have been repeatedly aggressive and abusive to women, tacitly endorse that behaviour,” Rugg told Junkee. “Over the last two weeks in particular, we’ve seen the very best of the Australian public and leaders from across industries commit to doing their bit to call out misogyny and violence against women.
“This That booking Sticky Fingers flies in the face of the progress we’ve made as a community, and is completely out of step with the renewed public calls to end violence against women.”
Music Junkee contacted a number of acts on the line-up to comment on the situation — including SAFIA, The Rubens, Just A Gent, Amy Shark, Thandi Phoenix, Ninajirachi, and Boo Seeka.
At the time of writing, representatives for The Rubens, Amy Shark and SAFIA had responded — with each act declining to comment.
Music Junkee has reached out to Sticky Fingers for comment.
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Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Dylan Frost faced several allegations of “sexual abuse”. It should have read “sexist abuse”. The article has now been updated.