When you have to make a public statement about how you're not a Nazi, that's a good sign that things are not going well. That's happening right now with Southpaw FLHC, the Jacksonville heavy hardcore band who just released their full-length debut The Standard. In the band's social media posts earlier this year, drummer Harrison Linder was seen wearing clothing from Curb Stomp Manufacturing, a California company that sells clothes with Nazi symbols like Totenkopfs and SS lightning bolts. After all the opening acts dropped off Southpaw's upcoming tour, the band has canceled that tour and put out a statement about how they're not Nazis.
Southpaw, who released their first EP in 2020, have always apparently claimed to be an apolitical band, which is its own kind of political statement. Harrison Linder was wearing those Curb Stomp clothes in social media posts as far back as January, and things appeared to fall apart for the band in the comments of a recent Instagram post from their own merch store. On Saturday, one commenter wrote, "so are you guys going to be collabing to release n*zi merch like the ones that your members like to wear and promote?" In response, the band wrote:
not a single person in this band is a nazi. DEAD that shit. Take a look at the history of this band , our music & music videos. You will quickly identify the fact that there are mixed races within our friend group. There are also mixed races within our band members. Take a look at the last collab on our page with @deathmetalpanther of @deathpanthermedia , you think my homie would be collabing if we were?
Over the weekend, multiple venues canceled the shows on Southpaw FLHC's upcoming tour. Here, for instance, is the announcement from Empire Live in Albany, New York.
Southpaw's tour was scheduled to begin Aug. 18, but support act Arcline announced on Instagram yesterday that they're dropping off the tour.
Resist LA and Resistor — those are two different bands — also announced that they're dropping off the tour's second leg.
On Sunday, Southpaw FLHC released a statement and video claiming that they're not Nazis. In the caption of the Instagram post, the band wrote, "Southpaw FLHC is not a Nazi band, and we reject Nazism, white supremacy, antisemitism, and every form of racial hatred... 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." In the video, vocalist Daryn LaMontagne says:
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 five, six 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 would 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, as we ain’t going nowhere. Thank you.
There's already plenty of evidence online that the band's statement will not be enough.
