A hot topic for op-ed discussion recently has been the lack of female performers booked at music festivals. Various examples have been specifically called out in these ongoing debates, including the 2015 installment of the This Is Hardcore fest, which is gearing up for its tenth year.

This Is Hardcore founder Joe Hardcore has responded to these allegations, making an official statement via the festival’s Facebook page. You can view the full response here:

This is Hardcore has recently been called out for not having enough women in the bands in this year’s line-up. We recognize that there is an issue with women being valued and given visibility in the hardcore music scene. The TIHC team is mostly made up of women, who work tirelessly to put on the fest every year. We spend months going through submissions of bands, trying to put together a diverse group of bands that pulls together old favorites and new lesser known bands. We would love to see more bands with women in all aspects of hardcore, but this is not an issue that we can fix alone by putting them on the bill. These bands deserve support in their home towns, on their tours, on your Facebook wall. This is a problem that needs all hands on deck. We appreciate those that are fighting to support greater visibility and appreciation for the women of hardcore. Keep fighting on a local level and change your scenes.
We’ve supported and been supported by many wonderful women in hardcore and punk from our first year and continue to incorporate and support women in our scene and at our festival. We’ve had wonderful women take the stage throughout the years, not because they were women and we were trying to appease a quota, but because they were tremendous performers and musicians.

Thank you.

Joe HC /TIHC Staff past and present.

This Is Hardcore will take place July 23-26 at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA and features The Misfits, Chokehold and American Nightmare among many others.