photo by P Squared

Starcrawler's Arrow De Wilde accuses The Growlers of sexual misconduct

July 31, 2020

photo by P Squared

UPDATE: The Growlers issue an apology, and co-founder Matt Taylor is temporarily leaving the band.

Allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse were made against several bands and employees associated with Burger Records as they recently shut down, including The Growlers. Lead singer and co-founder Brooks Nielsen issued a statement in response, denying the allegations and saying they’d be looked into “in as thorough, professional and unbiased manner as we are able.”

Now Arrow De Wilde of Starcrawler has posted a new statement on Instagram, describing an experience she says she had in January while on tour with The Growlers in Australia. “It seemed as if it were shaping up to be another great tour,” she writes, “until things got weird at one of the last shows in melbourne.” She describes entering her dressing room after Starcrawlers’ set, where she says she was locked in with a man aggressively performing a striptease and giving her a lap dance, while members of The Growlers filmed the whole thing.

“The humor faded pretty fast when it just wouldn’t end,” she writes. “I swear it went on for almost ten minutes. Every time I tried to get up he pushed me back down. It started to feel more and more degrading as each layer of clothing peeled off his body, the growlers just continued to laugh and film the whole thing. Soon he was down to a speedo and I knew where it was headed.”

“I closed my eyes and put my hands over my face as I felt his bare dick and balls rubbing and pressing against my chest and face as he continued to hold me down,” she continues. “I started to feel really panicked. My heart was beating so fast. I’ve never seen a striptease like this before. Everyone in the growlers were standing all around me, laughing and taking videos the whole time, no one ever stepped in. Once it was finally over, I ran to the bathroom to collect myself (aka cry) and wash the dick off my face.”

Read Arrow’s statement in full below.

Keyboardist Adam Wolcott Smith left The Growlers shortly after their response to the allegations made against them, while also admitting “I’m not innocent in abuse,” and describing an incident where he says he assaulted someone while he was asleep.

For the last 6 months I’ve struggled with something that happened on tour this year involving the growlers. I’ve been unsure whether or not to share this story publicly as I’ve been dealing with it in my private life and it’s a hard one for me to tell. The bravery of everyone that’s come forward has given me hope, but after every one of the accusations against them has been either denied or brushed of as “old behavior” I feel obligated to share this very recent experience.

In january we did a 2 week australian tour with the growlers. It was our first time in Australia, and we were really excited to be there with an older, more experienced band. We felt a sense of comfort knowing that they had us “under their wing”. On the last tour we’d been on opening for a bigger band, there was such an amazing sense of solidarity, that by the end of it, we felt like one big family. The start of the growlers tour was really fun and we all got along super well, it seemed as if it were shaping up to be another great tour, until things got weird at one of the last shows in melbourne.

During the last song of the set, my band continues to play as I exit off stage. I entered the dressing room and was immediately ushered onto a couch. I sat down, barely had a moment to catch my breath (drenched in sweat & fake blood), when all of a sudden a dude in a paramedic uniform bursts into the room. It’s very common that this happens so I didnt think much of it (a lot of venues will think that they stage blood is real and send a medic to me backstage). Soon after he bursts into the room, he rips off his uniform and music starts playing. I realized then, it’s a male stripper & begin to laugh as it honestly was pretty funny to me at first.

My bandmates tried to get backstage but the doors have now been locked (which I later found out). The stripper, giant muscles and all, grabbed me, put me in a chair, and started to give me a lapdance. The humor faded pretty fast when it just wouldn’t end. I swear it went on for almost ten minutes. Every time I tried to get up he pushed me back down. It started to feel more and more degrading as each layer of clothing peeled off his body, the growlers just continued to laugh and film the whole thing. Soon he was down to a speedo and I knew where it was headed.

I closed my eyes and put my hands over my face as I felt his bare dick and balls rubbing and pressing against my chest and face as he continued to hold me down. I started to feel really panicked. My heart was beating so fast. I’ve never seen a striptease like this before. Everyone in the growlers were standing all around me, laughing and taking videos the whole time, no one ever stepped in. Once it was finally over, I ran to the bathroom to collect myself (aka cry) and wash the dick off my face. Everyone was still laughing and rewatching the videos to see my facial expression, talking about how “shocked” I was. I later found out that the whole thing was Brooks’ idea & that it cost them a few hundred bucks, which to me is a pretty expensive joke.

After reading a lot of other terrible experiences girls had with them years ago, I wanted to write to let people know that this shit is still happening. While none of the growlers band members assaulted me directly, they hired someone else to for their enjoyment. It was a huge bummer for me because up until that point, I truly believed that they had respect for me and saw me as an equal. If this were a high school movie, they would be seen as bullies, but since they’re in a band it’s seen as “rock and roll”. I know my experience isn’t the same as some of the survivors who’ve come forward recently, but the humiliation and lack of respect they’ve shown so many women seems like a pattern. It’s a pattern that that needs to stop.