Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
An unsettling pattern that appeared to be widespread in the Byron Bay hardcore and metalcore scenes in the early 2000s has been revealed by an ABC investigation into rape culture and sexual abuse, as per theprp. The recent imprisonment of Jed Gordon, a former Parkway Drive employee and brother of the band’s drummer Ben Gordon, appears to have served as the impetus for this story. Recently, Jed admitted to having sex with a juvenile for alleged occurrences that happened in 2002 and 2003. Jed would have been around 22 years old, and the victim in question was reportedly 15 at the time.
According to a recent ABC investigation, Jed’s accuser has stepped forward in public, giving up her right to remain anonymous in order to criticize Jed. According to the study, similar accusations against Jed were made by other women who were minors at the time during the same period in the early 2000s. Siobhan Daysh, one of the accusers, said that he was known by the nickname “Ped Gordon” and that “his inclinations for very young girls were quite well known.” The aforementioned article also includes a photo of a business card that Jed purportedly made up in the early 2000s, identifying him as Parkway Drive‘s “tour manager/merch person” and providing his contact information.
Part of the card said, “Hi, My Name Is Jed. We should hang out later, your cute!” When ABC confronted Jed’s attorney about the new accusations against his client, he responded, “They’re rubbing as far as I’m concerned.” According to ABC, the NSW Police are reportedly looking into the allegations. This article also mentioned Parkway Drive bassist Jia “O’Connor’s” previous questionable musical output. According to ABC, they acquired rap songs that O’Connor had produced before joining the group in 2006. These songs’ lyrics were allegedly extremely sexist, praising rape culture and making remarks about teenage girls. One of those songs, according to ABC, refers to a 24-year-old “breaking the hymen” of 12-year-olds.
O’Connor apologized to ABC for those songs, claiming that they were composed by “insecure youngsters” and intended to mimic “the terrible lyrics of Eminem and NWA without realizing the ramifications.”
In fact, many songs were never meant to be published, but some of the worst songs were leaked and ended up hurting people. While it was a toxic culture for boys, it was so much worse for girls, and I am deeply sorry for contributing to that
After discovering Jed’s actions, Parkway Drive fired him from their merchandise company and separated themselves from him. The band further stated that screenshots of court dates pertaining to his previously indicated sentence were how they learned about his criminal activity. The band and its members would later issue public comments denouncing Jed’s actions and expressing regret to their fans for hiring him. At the time, they also promised to stand by his accuser.
