Screamo music food drive, hosted by Theyhungusfrompowerlines, will take place Sunday at Dirty Dungarees. Credit: Courtesy of Lacey Pettit
Lacey Pettit, vocalist of screamo band Theyhungusfrompowerlines, said all she wants for her birthday is to bring the community together with music and a good cause.
This year, Pettit will be hosting a Screamo Food Drive at local venue Dirty Dungarees Sunday — on her 22nd birthday — to give aid to those struggling with food insecurity during the holidays. Pettit said this event comes retrospective of SNAP benefits being cut.
Other performers include emo bands Starsfadingoutquietly, Cats Eat Dogs, Middling, Kaiba and Closedown. Pettit said the fundraising event doubles as her birthday celebration, and her wish is to donate to food banks in Columbus and in her hometown of Ashland, Ohio.
“My show is right between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, so I just really wanted to make sure that we had something to do with helping people who got their SNAP benefits cut,” Pettit said.
Federal SNAP benefits were momentarily withheld in the midst of the 43-day government shutdown — the longest recorded in United States history. The shutdown ended Nov. 13, but those waiting on receiving full benefits still worry about struggling for holiday meals, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Benefits have since been restored, but the rollout has been slow for some, and food banks are still facing a high demand, according to News 5 Cleveland.
“There’s a couple families in surrounding towns from where I’m from who have young children and who are struggling,” Pettit said. “It just sucks, especially when it’s cold out.”
Pettit said she was inspired after seeing various music scenes hosting similar events for food aid.
“I kind of saw them doing that, and I was like, I want to do that too,” she said.
Though her birthday falls on the same day, Pettit said she wants to extend the focus from herself. Last year, Pettit’s birthday show raised $326 for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. She said she’s hoping for a bigger turnout this year.
“It’s my birthday, and I really want to be social and hang out with everyone I’ve ever met,” Pettit said. “I feel like there’s no better way to get people to be like, ‘Hey, come in here,’ than to have them be part of a good cause. I want to have a bigger purpose than playing.”
For donations, Pettit said she hopes to receive large amounts of non-perishable goods. She said the wishlists of food banks they intend to donate to will be posted on the Theyhungusfrompowerlines Instagram page.
“I definitely want more food than I want money,” Pettit said. “I just want a bunch of people to come and dance and be happy, and come together to share a bunch of cake with us. That’s really all I want.”
Pettit said witnessing community hardship is frustrating and largely motivates her events.
“It makes me really angry … to be in a position where you do see your friends or people you know, anyone going hungry or not being housed or not having health care,” Pettit said. “Everyone’s missing out on something. That just gives you a bigger push to keep doing stuff — realize your own privilege and really try and put something together that will have a net benefit for everyone.”
Lane Moore, vocalist and guitarist of Pittsburgh-based emo band Kaiba, said they also played at the last event hosted by Pettit.
“We’re good friends with [Theyhungusfrompowerlines], and a lot of the other bands on both year’s lineups too, and so we’re really looking forward to celebrating [Pettit’s] birthday and raising some resources for a good cause,” Moore said. “All of the bands are incredible, so it’s gonna be a great show.”
Moore said that Kaiba originally started as an Ohio band, and at their core, they will always be an Ohio band.
“It’s honestly reassuring and special to know that there’s still love for us back home,” Moore said. “When we play in Ohio, we want to give our best for those people. There is a major sense of place in our music. It’s inseparable from our identity and who we are as people.”
Pettit said screamo is something that brings her closer to community and describes it as inseparable from political advocacy.
“It’s just inherent — you can’t be in a punk band and not have punk ideals, and you can’t be in a screamo band and not be very inclusive,” Pettit said. “Conservatism is antithetical to screamo … I definitely feel that a very important part of being in screamo is talking about Gaza and talking about police brutality, you know, places where the government falls short.”
In these instances, Pettit said community-led mutual-aid is necessary.
“I think that’s the only way to do it, because I don’t think anyone else is coming to help us,” Pettit said. “I don’t think that you can trust anyone who’s not your neighbor to really be there for you and see the things that you’re going through and your struggles. That’s what community is for.”
Doors will open at Dirty Dungarees — located at 2584 N. High St. — 7 p.m. Sunday. The price of entry is $5 or free with donation of non-perishable goods.
