Gym Class Heroes Discuss Racial Slur at Missouri Warped Tour: 'I Wasn't Necessarily Surprised'
Earlier this month, Gym Class Heroes singer Travis McCoy was arrested at the Warped Tour in St. Louis for striking an audience member (who had called him an "ignorant n*****") with a microphone. Almost a month after the incident, guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo and bassist Eric Roberts have decided to share their thoughts on the incident.
"I don't think, for me personally, I wasn't necessarily surprised that that happened because I think things have gotten better, but it's still not perfect in terms of racism and other kinds of hate ... but I was definitely surprised that it happened right then and there. In all these shows that we're playing, something like that is the exception and not the rule. All these people come together, hundreds of thousands of kids every day and sh-- ... stuff like that never goes down ... so it definitely caught me and everyone else in our band off guard," Kasonogo told Ultimate-Guitar. "You know for that guy to come here and just... He didn't just disrespect us he disrespected the whole entire friggin' Warped Tour and everybody there, so that was a pretty big surprise," added Roberts.
Gym Class Heroes will release their fourth full-length, The Quilt, on September 9. Check out the music video for "Peace Sign/Index Down" from the upcoming record and catch the band on the rest of the Warped Tour this summer and in the U.K. this September.
Gym Class Heroes tour dates:
8.1: Milwaukee, WI @ Marcus Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.2: Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.3: Minneapolis, MN @ Canterbury Park (with Warped Tour)
8.5: Saskatoon, SK @ Credit Union Centre (with Warped Tour)
8.6: Calgary, AB @ Race City Speedway (with Warped Tour)
8.7: Missoula, MT @ Wilma Theater (with The Academy Is ..., Cobra Starship, Four Year Strong, Tyga)
8.8: Boise, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.9: Seattle, WA @ George Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.10: Portland, OR @ Columbia Meadows (with Warped Tour)
8.11: Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theater (with The Academy Is ..., Cobra Starship, Four Year Strong, Tyga)
8.13: Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center (with Warped Tour)
8.14: San Diego, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.15: San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.16: Sacramento, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre Lot (with Warped Tour)
8.17: Los Angeles, CA @ Home Depot Center (with Warped Tour)
9.13: Glasgow, UK @ Garage
9.14: Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
9.15: Dublin, UK @ Academy
9.16: Manchester, UK @ Academy 2
9.17: Leeds, UK @ Cockpit
9.18: London, UK @ Astoria 2
9.19: Birmingham, UK @ Academy 2
9.20: Oxford, UK @ Academy
9.21: Bristol, UK @ Academy 2
9.22: Portsmouth, UK @ Wedgewood Rooms
Catch all our non-stop Warped Tour coverage – including interviews, videos, pictures and more.
Have you already been to Warped this year? Upload your pictures, videos and comments.
"I don't think, for me personally, I wasn't necessarily surprised that that happened because I think things have gotten better, but it's still not perfect in terms of racism and other kinds of hate ... but I was definitely surprised that it happened right then and there. In all these shows that we're playing, something like that is the exception and not the rule. All these people come together, hundreds of thousands of kids every day and sh-- ... stuff like that never goes down ... so it definitely caught me and everyone else in our band off guard," Kasonogo told Ultimate-Guitar. "You know for that guy to come here and just... He didn't just disrespect us he disrespected the whole entire friggin' Warped Tour and everybody there, so that was a pretty big surprise," added Roberts.
Gym Class Heroes will release their fourth full-length, The Quilt, on September 9. Check out the music video for "Peace Sign/Index Down" from the upcoming record and catch the band on the rest of the Warped Tour this summer and in the U.K. this September.
Gym Class Heroes tour dates:
8.1: Milwaukee, WI @ Marcus Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.2: Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.3: Minneapolis, MN @ Canterbury Park (with Warped Tour)
8.5: Saskatoon, SK @ Credit Union Centre (with Warped Tour)
8.6: Calgary, AB @ Race City Speedway (with Warped Tour)
8.7: Missoula, MT @ Wilma Theater (with The Academy Is ..., Cobra Starship, Four Year Strong, Tyga)
8.8: Boise, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.9: Seattle, WA @ George Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.10: Portland, OR @ Columbia Meadows (with Warped Tour)
8.11: Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theater (with The Academy Is ..., Cobra Starship, Four Year Strong, Tyga)
8.13: Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center (with Warped Tour)
8.14: San Diego, CA @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.15: San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre (with Warped Tour)
8.16: Sacramento, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre Lot (with Warped Tour)
8.17: Los Angeles, CA @ Home Depot Center (with Warped Tour)
9.13: Glasgow, UK @ Garage
9.14: Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
9.15: Dublin, UK @ Academy
9.16: Manchester, UK @ Academy 2
9.17: Leeds, UK @ Cockpit
9.18: London, UK @ Astoria 2
9.19: Birmingham, UK @ Academy 2
9.20: Oxford, UK @ Academy
9.21: Bristol, UK @ Academy 2
9.22: Portsmouth, UK @ Wedgewood Rooms
Catch all our non-stop Warped Tour coverage – including interviews, videos, pictures and more.
Have you already been to Warped this year? Upload your pictures, videos and comments.
| Posted by djrossstar on 07/31/2008 10:16 AM | Visits: 209 |
I dust if off my shoulder now though.its w/e not everyone is gonna like me and it took me 19 years to really realize that.
I hear you. If a person is hell-bent on being ignorant they will proceed in such a manner, no matter what anyone else says or does. Where else is there to go from there, except to rise above it? I'm not a proponent of violence, but I totally support what Travis did to defend himself. Some people only take things like a punch in the face seriously, words mean nothing to them.
but being called a N**** especially in Travis's case, while he was sharing his music with his fans... it hurts, and it honestly hurts more than any microphone thats thrown at your body.
...idk if thats clear enough
Think of it this way...
a wound can heal in a certain amount of time...but the pain of being attacked solely on your race.....experiences like that take a LONG time to heal (most of the time they dont and they just develope into a bad/painful memory)
Its not that the person "deserved to be hit by a microphone"...violence is wrong, no one derserves it.
but being called a N**** especially in Travis's case, while he was sharing his music with his fans... it hurts, and it honestly hurts more than any microphone thats thrown at your body.
...idk if thats clear enough
Think of it this way...
a wound can heal in a certain amount of time...but the pain of being attacked solely on your race.....experiences like that take a LONG time to heal (most of the time they dont and they just develope into a bad/painful memory)
Most racial comments these days are not made because the person is racist, it's because it's a VERY strong insult and will definitely bother the person you're saying it to.
It's just a word. You need to know the intention to see if they were truly being racist.
Obviously it's still wrong, and making a comment about race for the sake of guaranteeing a reaction may actually be comparable to racism itself.. But to be honest, I think not.
Hm, all in all i'm not sticking up for this guy at all, but the more people people react angrily to racist comments the more power they are giving those who say it.
If we look at the facts, why is commenting on someone's race practically breaking a law, but commenting on their big nose or hair color [etc] is not??
All of which are comments based on appearance that people were born with and had no control over. All of which can be extremely offensive.
I mean look at what happened. There is no proof this guy is a racist, he came along and said ONE WORD and all of a sudden he has caused absolute outrage, deeply disturbed the singer, tainted the whole warped tour. Some people just want attention or to ruin peoples day, and boy did he get it there.
The problem was not the guy shouting, the problem was the reaction to it, and the humongous problem that has been created in the minds of the people who heard it and their perspective on it.
Also- Do not be stupid and say that being hit with a microphone hurts more than being called something. It is 2 different kinds of 'pain'. Some people would not be bothered at all by being called a name, but getting cracked with a microphone is universally going to hurt unless you were standing there doing breathing exercises and mentally preparing yourself or something..