Anti-porn club hosts Battle of the Bands

The Cotton Ponies weren’t expecting to win Saturday’s Battle of the Bands at Utah State University.

“We came tonight just to have fun,” lead vocalist Abby Allen said. “It was just a way cool, way awesome night bringing together a lot of different bands with different styles for a good cause.”

That cause — supporting the fast-growing anti-pornography group Fight the New Drug — was something concert attendee Ashlan Rogers had no trouble backing.

Rogers said pornography has had “a huge effect” on her family.

“It started out with my dad completely changing the way he treated my mom,” she said. “He was cold, rude and would say disgusting and degrading things to her and made her feel ugly all the time with what he said.”

Eventually, she said, her father’s abuse began to spread to the children as well.

“He became extremely rude toward us and wasn’t interested in our lives nearly as much as he used to be,” she said.

Rogers said people need to be able to openly talk about the problem. And in sponsoring the concert, which was held in the George Nelson Fieldhouse from 5 to 9 p.m., the club was trying to do just that, said Scott Heninger, the director of the event.
 

“Fight the New Drug tries to put pornography more out in the open so more people are willing to talk about it and not be afraid to get help,” Heninger said. “Being in Utah and around the culture of Mormonism the way it is, pornography is made out to almost be taboo. The club tries to dissolve that.”

The organization was founded by Clay Olsen, a former Utah State student, in 2010. Jacob McBride, president of the USU chapter, said despite being established only a few years ago the club has grown immensely.

The club moved to Salt Lake City in 2011 and now has around 20 chapters across the nation. It is also getting started in Germany and Pakistan, among other countries, club leaders said.

Club members argue that pornography is a narcotic-like catalyst for domestic strife, including infidelity and divorce.

James Shepard, a guitarist and backup vocalist for the band Alarmingly Charming, was excited to take part in Battle of the Bands and the cause behind it.

“Playing in USU’s Battle of the Bands will open the door to connections with other local bands and hopefully allow beneficial networking opportunities,” Shepard said. “Additionally, as the show is a fundraiser for Fight the New Drug, we figured we should support the cause. If music is the way to do that why not kill two birds with one stone?”

The competition consisted of 11 local bands with various musical genres including punk-rock, pop, indie and alternative.

Utah State student Weston Kay enjoyed the show’s atmosphere.

“I like it because it’s super relaxed and has somewhat of an indie vibe,” Kay said. “The bands are getting involved with the crowd and if they mess up they just laugh along with everyone and shake it off.”

Kay said the cause behind the event added to the good experience.

“I came to the event to support local bands, discover new music and meet new people,” he said. “And ended up also supporting a good cause.”

Brooke Larsen, Tricia Olson, McCarty Hatfield, Rhys Stephens and Landon Graham contributed to this article.