“People were angry it was even mentioned”—Creeper on backlash for calling out industry sexism

Following a particularly frustrating instance on Creeper’s current European tour, keyboardist/vocalist Hannah Greenwood took to the band’s Facebook to air her frustrations.

During load-out, Greenwood, clearly displaying her pass, was denied readmittance to the venue by a male security staff member who had allowed her tourmate letlive. bassist RJ Johnson in several times sans pass.

“This isn't unusual for me to be stopped or singled out being a woman, it's not the first time this has happened to me on tour with Creeper, so I decide in the moment that enough is enough and call this guy out.” she wrote. (Read her full statement at the end of this post.)

Today, when we spoke to Creeper vocalist Will Gould, he couldn’t help but mention how he’d been fighting with people online all day in the aftermath of Greenwood’s very personal post. “[The backlash has] gotten really out of control,” he said. “We’ve gotten a lot of support for it, but a lot of people were angry that it was even mentioned.

And that’s why no one talks about these things, because when you do, this is what happens.”

He offered the following statement:

“It’s very untypical of Creeper to get involved in the real world like this. We just kind of stay out of all those sorts of things, but this was a really important thing for us. To see the backlash against young women like Hannah has just blown my mind. Lots of people we’ve been talking to don’t even know Creeper. Their friends have shared [Hannah’s post] and they’ve been offended a young woman feels like she’s been spoken down to. That’s really concerning.

When you encounter everyday sexism like that–like, my girlfriend can’t walk through the park back at where I live, because of the horrible stuff that happens there. It’s quicker. It would take a half-hour off her journey, but she can’t walk through the park.

I just think that this world’s a really dark place still. Normally, our job as a songwriters, as creatives, as Creeper, is to take you away from that reality for a little bit, and to make a little escape. That’s what we always want to do. But this time around, the reality was so horrifying that we felt like venting. Hannah wanted to air her thoughts.

The worst thing for me is that it’s never going to affect me. As angry as I am about, it’s always going to affect her more. I’m a white male, and no one speaks to me that way. I’m talking about this with you for a statement, and it’s difficult because I’m in a privileged position. I’ve never experienced that firsthand, and I never will. I’ll never have to deal with that. It’s sad, isn’t it?

People just assume that it wasn’t sexist, that it wasn’t because she’s a girl, that he was just doing his job, when it was really clear to all of us on the tour who were here, and the person who it happened to–not someone on the internet who has never met her.

Even Hannah didn’t want to call the guy out, really, she just wanted to explain how this shit still happens in this industry. I’m sure you’ve experienced it yourself.”

Watch more: Interview—The History Of CREEPER