Crystal Castles Removed From Feminist-Themed SXSW Showcase
Earlier today, Tumblr announced that Crystal Castles would play at its 79 Cents party at SXSW on March 16. The event, which is named for the reported gender wage gap in the United States in 2014, will celebrate female artists and musicians. Crystal Castles’ inclusion was met with confusion, based on comments the band’s Ethan Kath made about former member Alice Glass upon her departure from the band. In a statement to The Verge, Glass said, “As someone who knew [Crystal Castles frontman] Ethan Kath on a personal and professional level, it is my opinion that he is not an appropriate artist to be performing at a feminism-centric event.” The band has since replaced Glass with another female singer, Edith Frances, but Tumblr has still removed Crystal Castles from the bill in response to the controversy, The Verge reports. Read a Tumblr representative’s statement explaining the decision below.
We’ve removed Crystal Castles from the lineup of the 79 Cents party. We don’t know the facts around comments made about a member of the band, and we’re not going to engage in an investigation around it. We’re hosting this event to highlight gender disparity issues, something that Tumblr and our community cares deeply about, and we don’t want the band’s presence to distract from this important mission.
Glass has responded to Kath’s comments in the past. Last April, after Kath said “she didn’t appear on Crystal Castles’ best known songs,” she tweeted:
for the record, i wrote almost all of the lyrics in my former band and the vast majority of the vocal melodies
i was a founding member of crystal castles and shaped the sound and aesthetic from the very beginning
manipulative statements about my contributions to the band only reinforce the decision I made to move on to other things
Crystal Castles plan to release a new album this spring. Kath will produce the record, which features Frances, as well as mixing by Lexx. It’ll include last year’s “Frail” and “Deicide.” The new lineup will also go on tour soon.
Read our interview with Crystal Castles’ Ethan Kath about the future of the band.
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