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Motopony removed from headlining slot at Alma Mater due to accusations of sexual assault

Frontman Daniel Blue's handling of an accusation of sexual assault comes into question

Dan Ray October 6, 20181 Comment
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Motopony removed from headlining slot at Alma Mater due to accusations of sexual assault October 6, 20181 Comment

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Photo courtesy of Motopony
Update as of October 8, 12:37 p.m.:
Motopony has announced that all remaining tour dates for the year have been cancelled. We have not been able to reach the band for comment.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bom_m8Sleku/?taken-by=motoponymusic

 

Original post published October 6th, 7:06 p.m.:

On Friday, October 6th, Motopony was scheduled to headline a show at Alma Mater in Tacoma. A few hours before the show, Alma Mater announced on Instagram that Motopony would be removed from the bill “due to information that has come to our attention over the past 24 hours.”

The venue added, “we stand in solidarity with victims of sexual assault, and will continue to believe those that bravely come forward to share their stories.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Boj8Z2eg7dS/?taken-by=almamatertacoma

In December of 2014, Motopony frontman Daniel Blue was informed that Terry Mattson, Motopony’s bassist at the time, had been accused of sexual assault. According to the victim — who has asked to remain anonymous — it took Daniel eight months after hearing about the issue to fire Mattson from the band. While it is unclear why this issue has just come to light, Alma Mater chose to remove Motopony from the set list.

The victim also noted that Blue “demand[ed] proof” of the rape and “didn’t believe [her].” View her full statement below:

In response, Blue posted a statement on Motopony’s Facebook saying that the victim ” has rightfully criticized my handling of firing him from the band 4 years ago.” He added that “the current band is in no way a part of this discourse or history and they only found out about the full story yesterday as things have come to light online.” We will not be embedding or linking the post here out of respect for the victim’s privacy.

The post goes on to discuss how Blue is a survivor of rape himself and how he felt “ill-equipped” to properly handle the situation as he was still dealing with his own healing and personal growth: “I am very sorry that I did not believe you right away and that I’ve let my own fears and triggers prevent you from feeling fully heard.”

We have reached out to Alma Mater, Motopony, and Terry Mattson for comment and will update as news comes in.

Comments

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

One comment

  1. He just didn’t know who to believe. We all know what that feels like. Have mercy.
    Even mothers have faced the difficult moment of 2 different sides of a story coming from 2 people she loves. Trying to decide who is telling the truth is difficult. Sometimes she gets it right, sometimes she doesn’t. It’s apparent that he changed his mind in this case.
    Isn’t it time for forgiveness or at least empathy??? Like the song says, “even if you don’t love me anymore…”
    I, for one, love and pray for Daniel and his new band mates. I wish other people did, too

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