Black Dresses

Black Dresses issue statement about disbandment: "we do not hate our fans"

Following a message from Devi McCallion of experimental Canadian duo Black Dresses on a private Instagram saying the band “will no longer exist,” she and Ada Rook shared a new statement on Twitter about the status of the band, whose music has been taken off streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify (where they currently have 97,862 monthly listeners):

After some consideration, Black Dresses will no longer exist following Devi’s extended harrassment thru her involvement in this band, not just recently but escalating over a period of time.

There is a lot of false information going around. “IN MY MOUTH” was NOT the song that set this all off, contrary to what has been reported. It’s honestly irrelevant which song it was. Entitled fans have been behaving in a very hurtful and frightening way towards Devin including extended invasion of privacy and harrassment for some two years now, only going to further and further extremes.

When we released WASTEISOLATION we had almost no audience, didn’t know what TikTok was, and didn’t think we would get any attention for such a personaly album. Following its popularity, we did our best to write about less personal subject matter on subsequent albums, but WASTEISOLATION, which includes songs about both of our experiences with childhood sexual assault, remained very popular. Unfortunately, that popularity has now culminated in Devi’s harrassment, so we have decided to disband.

Fans can be kind. Fans can be creative. Fans can be alive and inspired and full of goodness. However, “Fandom” often involves the culture of acting like you own a person and feeling entitled to them. Fandom frequently feels within its right to try and punish or destroy the object of its fascination if it does not cater to the fandom’s perception of what it should be. We do not hate our fans – we’ve had many positive interactions with them – but recent events have been far too strenuous on Devi’s health, so we are simply doing what we have to.

I (rook) am somewhat more detached from the situation but obviously want Devi to be safe, so I stand with her on this decision completely. I am still very proud of what we accomplished on WASTEISOLATION and it’s a deeply special album to me. We are grateful for the support we have received over the years. Please do not spread unfounded rumors or gossip or ask us for further clarification. We are simply doing what is best for us. Thank you.

Black Dresses.

In a second Tweet, they write, “our music will no longer be on any streaming services. bandcamp is the only place it is available from now on. thank you so much for your support and understanding.”

A post to the r/indieheads subreddit shared Devi’s previous statement from her private Instagram. “There’s been a ton of intense drama surrounding Black Dresses in the past 24 hours,” the post reads, “after one of their songs blew up on Tik Tok. Details are hard to pin right now, but it looks like Devi got upset about the song blowing up because it was about her being sexually assaulted as a child, and teenagers were making cosplay- themed Tik Toks to it. She tried to stop more people from making the videos, but ended up getting harassed on her socials for it.”

Black Dresses were to have played one of their first shows outside Toronto, opening for Sleigh Bells in NYC, earlier this month, but it didn’t happen because of coronavirus.

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