Burger Boogaloo Promoters Cut Ties With Burger Records, Changing Festival Name

Over the weekend, multiple anonymous sources levied allegations of sexual misconduct against various artists and staff affiliated with California garage rock label Burger Records. In a matter of days, co-founder and president Lee Rickard resigned, and the label issued a statement announcing “major structural changes” within the company. Now, Oakland’s Total Trash Productions—promoters of the label’s annual Burger Boogaloo festival—has announced that they have distanced themselves from Burger Records, and will carry on with the event under a different, yet-to-be-announced name.

“Burger Boogaloo, which has always been an independently-produced festival run by Oakland’s Total Trash Productions, has severed ties with Burger Records, and will henceforth be changing the name of the festival,” Total Trash wrote in a statement on their website. “The label’s involvement was always fairly superficial, and Burger Records never profited from ticket sales; They simply lent their name to the festival, boosted the festival via social media, and were given a merch booth on the premises. Total Trash Productions is horrified to learn of all the allegations, and a more detailed statement on the matter; what the festival will be doing to further ensure the safety of its attendees, can be found in the full statement below.” Scroll down to find entire statement.

Yesterday (July 20), Alice Bag announced on Facebook that her band has decided to cancel their appearance at the next Burger Boogaloo “in light of the information that has recently surfaced about Burger Records and some of their artists and employees.” Bag added: “We commend the bravery of the survivors who have shared their stories and hope that their voices will be a catalyst for change.”

In light of the recent allegations against Burger Records and several of the bands on their label, Total Trash Productions has made the decision to end our long-standing partnership with Burger Records. We want to express our heartfelt support for the brave women who have come forward to share their stories. We also want to sincerely apologize to anyone who has ever been victimized or harassed at any of our events. As the organizers of Burger Boogaloo, we accept responsibility for what happens at the event, and while we have always worked to take swift actions in removing individuals from the event or our line-up who have acted violent or inappropriate, we know that we can always do better. We owe that to our fans and our community. As many of you know, Total Trash Productions has been organizing shows and music fests here in the Bay Area for well over a decade.

We are made up of a small group of staff and volunteers who live and work in Oakland and the Bay Area, and we have always strived to create a positive, fun and safe experience for our community through our shared love of music. Total Trash first became acquainted with Burger Records booking tours for their bands, and that led to the festival. The festival at Mosswood has always been produced by our Northern California production company, and we’ve hired Burger to do the promotion. While we personally had an overall positive experience in working with Burger Records, and had no knowledge of the allegations that came out this week, we understand that there are many young women and others who have suffered traumatic experiences at the hands of certain bands and individuals associated with Burger Records. We are disturbed and disgusted by the allegations that have come out, and we stand with the survivors.

Last night we severed our ties with Burger Records. Our production company was founded 10 years ago by a couple who have both been victims of sexual assault, and it would never be our aim to put people at harm at our event. Moving forward without Burger, our event will now continue solely as a Total Trash Production. At Total Trash Productions, we recognize that we too, are not perfect. Organizing a music festival is not an easy task and we have definitely made plenty of mistakes along the way. Even after all these years, we are still growing and learning how we can do things better. But we want you all to know, that we see you, we hear you, and we’re listening to you.