True Identity?

Last part of the trade with my man Paulo. I really liked the demo True Identity had released last year. So when it was announced that there would be a vinyl version of the demo I was pretty excited. I wasn't in a hurry to get a copy though, seeing that I already had the tape version I could listen to. Paulo and I worked out a deal, including the True ID demo 7", and I was more than happy with my end of the trade. Then, while the record was already in the mail, that whole story about Jim Hesketh being a sexual predator and rapist broke - and I was devastated.

Let me say this real quick here: I didn't say 'alleged' here intentionally. Nothing has been proven officially and I'm always in favour of the rule 'innocent until proven guilty'. It's an important rule, no doubt about it. But here's the thing with sexual violence towards women. In way too many cases women's accusations of men being sexual predators or rapists are dismissed by society and, even worse, the judicial system for bullshit reasons. This is a disgraceful thing to think about in 2016. However, if women in the hardcore scene in this day and age can't be sure that this is a safe space in such situations and have to doubt if they're being taken seriously when accusing someone of such actions, what good is this scene anyway? Having said that, from what I've read the support for the women coming forward with their stories has been great, and if this helps to create more awareness within the scene, then maybe something good came out of this after all.

I loved Champion and I had really high hopes for True Identity. But listening to Jim Hesketh singing about the importance of the decisions you make and about the importance of integrity felt like such a travesty to me after everything I'd read and heard. So I decided to do what I usually do at the end of a relationship gone sour: Get rid of everything that reminds of the person, or in this case band, that used to mean a lot to me. That may sound childish and immature, but that's how I deal with a situation like this. I've started to sell my Champion records and merch over the last few weeks. I don't condemn people who still listen to Champion, On, or True ID. I've actually had some good conversations with friends and people who bought Champion stuff from me about their reasons for despising Jim Hesketh, but still liking the bands he was involved in. This 7" here is no longer with me either. I remembered that one of the people buying Champion stuff from me was also looking for a copy of the True ID 7" on orange, so I just threw it in as a bonus.