With Confidence Releasing New Music, Jayden Seeley Still In The Band

20 June 2018 | 1:38 pm | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

Yep, we're talking about With Confidence again.

Yep, we're talking about With Confidence again.



Last week, With Confidence revealed plans for new music; releasing a single called 'That Something' and announcing their second LP, 'Love And Loathing'. For the most part, it all seems fine and dandy. A band announces new music, the fans are happy, end of discussion. Except on some of their social media posts, you'll find comments mentioning the online sexual misconduct allegations with a minor that were brought against bassist/vocalist Jayden Seeley last year.

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Before I get ahead of myself, those accusations came right after With Confidence hastily parted ways with guitarist Luke "Rockets" Thomas, following word breaking of him having been sexting with a teenage female fan. Luke was 22 at the time of this alleged incident, whereas the girl was reportedly 14-years-old; with it continuing on for some time, as asked her more about kinks and fetishes during their online interactions. While I must stress no physical contact occurred, that's still pretty gross. Talking consensually about such sexual topics with a woman his own age? Yeah, all good. But with a teenage-girl, and one who enjoys the music he was apart of and thus creating a power imbalance? Yeah, no, get fucked.

In all of this, there was no statement from Luke himself. In fact, two posts came from WithCon, stating that they weren't aware about these issues beforehand; that Luke always kept his private life to himself; that the guitarist would no longer be a member; and that this kind of power abuse happens too often in the industry. Other than their photographer, Brandon Lung, admitting he'd heard about these issues regarding Luke before it all hit Twitter but kept quiet, the group removed the problematic member and moved on. Okay, cool, that's fine - that's what happens in these scenarios. But then, in a real clusterfuck, just a couple days later after the Luke incident, another young woman came forward over Twitter to call out Jayden for having had similar experiences with him when she was a teenager over social media platforms such as Snapchat and the like.

Now, here is where the way this band handles this whole thing suddenly changes.

[caption id="attachment_1102809" align="aligncenter" width="760"] With Confidence, 2018. PC: Amber Paredes.[/caption]

See, right after Luke was outed online, he was kicked to the curb immediately and the other three remaining members condemned him. While what Luke did was creepy and shitty - we can all agree on that - he wasn't given the same courtesy as Jayden to make a statement or apologize. All he got was the boot (and rightfully so) but not the chance to defend or speak for himself. Yet in Jayden's instance, the frontman was allowed time to address the allegations against him. He was able to say sorry, to refute some of the girl's claims - that he was 20 and not 21, that she approached him first, that it happened some time ago but he knows some of her accusations are false, etc. - and then, most importantly, he was able to remain in the fuckin' band. (You can read the singer's statement over here).

As soon as the conversation switches from Luke to Jayden, the hypocrisy shows. After all, it's hypocritical to kick one member out over such serious things, but not do the same for your frontman; instead giving him special treatment to plead his case when it's head on the proverbial chopping block. I suppose WithCon's rationale was that because Jayden's situation wasn't as recent as Luke's; that because Jayden isn't as "replaceable" a member as Luke was; and that because there were far fewer photos of his conversations with this young girl circulating online, they maybe believed it to be a "non-issue". And therefore, less action should be taken. Now, that might not be the case in the band's intentions - as these are indeed tricky issues to navigate, yes - but that was the message they sent out with how they handled this. (The band played a charity show earlier this year - their first live show back since 2017 - and it'd be very interesting to see whether or not they were booked to play said gig before or after last year's incidents).

Looking back on this all now in June 2018, the whole thing was just handled so poorly. At the time, I just remembered feeling really sorry for drummer Josh Brozzesi and guitarist/vocalist Inigo Del Carmen, as they didn't do anything wrong here. WithCon's name is stained by the other members, not them.

Since this all went down, not a pipe has been uttered about the matter by their label, Hopeless Records. A PR friend of mine who works with Hopeless out here in Australia told me they reached out for a statement back in December 2017 on my behalf. Alas, we heard anything back. I also have the Hopeless Records general manager's email and have debated about emailing him or not. I haven't yet because honestly, if the label hasn't said anything by now, they're not going to and they never will - regardless of whether some loud-mouthed writer from Australia contacts them or not.

Granted, most times, the label often remains quiet, as they're not the ones on trial in these instances. But personally, I think that some statement should be released during such matters, lest silence give off the wrong vibe to the public. Also, I've had some peers mention that UNIFIED haven't said anything about this issue either. Just to make something clear, as I understand it, while that Australian label does work with Hopeless Records artists, and while they have worked with With Confidence before (for their debut album cycle) the band are not actually signed to or managed by UNIFIED.

Lastly, did anyone else who followed this story back in late 2017 feel a little bit sick reading the band's statement about their new album? Have a look:

"‘Love and Loathing’ is a look into modern romance, and a reflection on how we as individuals learn and grow amongst it. ‘That Something,’ is our first example of this; a snapshot of a rose that’s flourishing."

Excuse me, I just had to wipe the vomit from my mouth with the piping hot wordplay used there. Like, how the fuck did anyone in the band, their management team or at Hopeless not pick apart  "a snapshot of a rose that’s flourishing" and realize how badly that'd be interpreted given the contentious nature of this band's past? For a band with a presumably young and predominantly female fan base no less.

Also, did anyone actually watch that boy-band-meets-pop-rock music video and not cringe into the damn sun? Other than the fact that I don't think anyone should be taking relationship advice from a band where two of its members were - as adult men - sexting with teenage girls, 'That Something' was just woefully bland and I highly doubt WithCon will address last year's controversies in the music itself. So yeah, maybe don't expect a review of 'Love And Loathing' from us.



This is obligatory, I know, but please be aware that if you’ve experienced or if someone you know has experienced similar incidents spoken about in this article, you can contact 1800RESPECT here for further help. You are not alone.