Metal Anarchy

C.Y. Fest promoter and founder Ignacio “Nacho Corrupted” Rodriguera has been accused of sexual assault. As such, he will be stepping away from the event to address the claims. Tankcrimes owner Scotty Heath will now serve as the new promoter.

Rodriguera issued the following statement:

“The C.Y. festival has recently faced significant challenges due to false allegations and misinformation. I am stepping away to focus entirely on addressing these matters through the proper legal channels. My priority is ensuring that the community can still come together and have a great weekend without distractions. I’m announcing that the venues and their staff, along with an outside promoter will be stepping in to run the festival/shows. I have full confidence that their team will deliver the experience you all deserve.“

Heath also commented:

“Hey guys, my name is Scotty. If you don’t know me, I run Tank Crimes Records. I’ve been a part of the DIY punk scene for over 25 years, and I’m making this video today to let you know that I’m going to step in and, uh, handle promotions for the CY Fest in Los Angeles. Um, many of you know some controversy hit the fest a week ago, and it’s now actually become a legal matter, so I’m not going to comment on that, but But things were falling apart and myself along with a dozen bands have been for the last week been on group chats, phone calls, pacing around, trying to come up with a thoughtful solution to see if we could maybe save this fest. As a last ditch effort on Sunday, I cold called the promoter who I didn’t know.

And suggested that he step down to save this fest, and he respectfully agreed. Now, there’s a lot of moving parts. Anyone who’s ever even booked a local band show knows how much work goes into it. This is a 60-band international show that’s been booked for over a year. We’ve been in contact with the venues who are going to step up with extra staff to help stage manage and run the shows with us.

I’ve got a small team of people in Los Angeles that are going to help me with payouts, stage managing, guest list, doors, all the— all these things that need to be done. And, um, I’ll be taking over the online promotions, and I will be on site at the festival if anyone needs anything. Um, there’s over 1,500 tickets sold. There’s over 50 bands coming from around the world. Many of these bands are close personal friends of mine, and we really— we’ve all been planning this for a long time, and we wanted to figure out if we could come together and still have a really nice weekend together in Los Angeles.

And, um, we’re going to. So, uh, I wanted to get on here today and hopefully inject a little positivity into all the confusion. And, um, really looking forward to the Fest. And, uh, this is a big responsibility, um, but if it makes things work, I’m here for it. Okay, um, I love you guys very much.

We’ll see you down there. Peace.”

This year’s C.Y. Fest will take place at The Belasco in Los Angeles, CA on March 28

[via Lambgoat]