Metal Anarchy

As previously reported, Southpaw FLHC were recently accused of Nazism after drummer Harrison Linder was seen wearing merch from alleged white supremacy brand Curbstomp. That controversy resulted in a loss of support acts and cancellations from various venues. Now, the band have officially denied the allegations, while also canceling their tour.

Southpaw FLHC said the following:

“• A message to all.
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We want to address the situation diretly.
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We are taking this seriously. We are reviewing the merchandise, affiliations, and circumstances surrounding the imagery in question, and we will not promote or wear imagery that represents or supports those ideologies.
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We aren’t asking anyone to blindly accept our word. We’ll demonstrate where we stand through our actions moving forward.
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Southpaw has always been about overcoming adversity, bringing people together, and making music for everybody. That’s the standard we intend to hold ourselves to.
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Southpaw FLHC is not a Nazi band, and we reject Nazism, white supremacy, antisemitism, and every form of racial hatred.
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At the same time, we understand why people were disturbed by imagery and merchandise associated with Nazi/fascist ideology. Regardless of intent, wearing or promoting imagery connected to those movements was irresponsible, and we understand the impact that it has had on people in our community.
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Thank you for reading and watching.”

They also added the following in a video statement:

“All right, what’s up, y’all? First and foremost, let me just say this: we are not racist, nor are we transphobic, nor homophobic. If we were a racist band, why would we have somebody interracial in our band to begin with? Probably about 5, 6 months, I think, we were in the studio and our drummer here, Harrison, was wearing a shirt that was sent to him by Curb Stomp, which is a clothing line. To put it quite simply, he was uneducated on the fact of what it actually meant and stood for, we simply removed the photo.

It wasn’t to tuck our tail or run from any kind of problem. It was a respect thing. And now it’s being brought up months and months later. The situation was addressed. My man was unaware of what he was wearing.

It was a simple mistake. We respect your position, but I’m going to make it very clear. As I said, once again, not a single person in this band is a racist, and we stand on that. We don’t stand with racism. We don’t stand behind racism.

Not a single bit of our lyrics stand for any of that, nor do they stand for anything in regards to being homophobic or transphobic. Southpaw is about unity, mental and physical strength, and is for all walks of life. Doesn’t matter if you’re gay, doesn’t matter if you’re straight, Black, white, Hispanic. It is for everyone. Southpaw never has been, nor will we ever be, a politically driven band.

We respect all opinions, but I’ll just say this: whatever narrative you’re running with, you’re free to do so, but this is our message to let you know that that’s not what we stand behind and that’s not what we stand for, nor is it who we are.

The tours have been canceled effective immediately. We could care less about making the money. We do this for the culture of hardcore and for the love of this game and because it’s who we are. So to the bands that have dropped off of all the bills with our names attached to it and the venues that have chosen to separate themselves understandably so.

We hope this finds you well. We will be back. We will remain stronger than ever. Last but not least, this is a call to all of our true fans that have stood with us since the very, very beginning and found us along the way. We appreciate you for your support.

Thank you for y’all’s time, because we ain’t going nowhere. Thank you.”

[via Lambgoat]