Past Bassnectar collaborators, Mimi Page and ill.Gates, come forth with statements

In light of the recent string of allegations made against Bassnectar, ranging from sexual grooming to statutory rape, the Bassnectar community is in shambles as they work through a mass grieving process. Several of Lorin Ashton’s past collaborators have thus come forward with statements to help the community come to terms with a giant loss.

The first is Mimi Page, a collaborator with Bassnectar of eight years, who admits to being a victim of sexual abuse both as a preschooler and as a teenager. Page was the featured vocalist on tracks like “Butterfly,” “Breathless,” and “Was Will Be,” and has even appeared live on stage with Bassnectar.

“I do not agree with cancel culture and the assassination of someone’s character through social media without the evidence to back it up. What I do support is evidence and statements of the women that have bravely stepped forward,” says Page in an open letter to fans on her socials.

“To the Bassnectar community: I want you to know that I love you so much, Page continues. “This is a time of confusion, mourning, and grieving. It is also an opportunity to come together, heal, and hold onto the love and goodness we have created throughout the years…Many of you have indicated that it will be difficult to listen to my collaborations with Bassnectar. I hear you, I understand you, and I feel the same way. I want you to know that I am conflicted, but I still love these songs. My contribution to them came from the light and love within my soul. Because of this, I want to turn our pain into healing in whatever ways that I can.”

Moving forward, Page will be donating 100% of her future writing and publishing royalties on the tracks to RAINN, along with other non-profits that support the justice and healing of female, male, and trans survivors of sexual abuse.

Read Mimi Page’s full statement below.

ill.Gates also composed a 30-minute-long video that stands as a clear-minded “big picture” take on the entire scandal. As someone who admits he owes his career to Bassnectar, ill.Gates has been very vocal about what he calls a clear “takedown attempt,” calling the Instagram account, @evidenceagainstbassnectar, “very skewed and misleading.” Gates often defended Lorin Ashton along the way, until the point where an audio recording showed him that he could no longer do so. In the bass music producer’s recorded statement, he said the following:

“Whatever you’re feeling, it’s okay. I’m feeling a lot of different things. I’m feeling sad. I feel used, I feel betrayed, I feel like my musical history is stained by this, I feel duped, I feel like I was naive, and that I was biased in my thinking, that my judgement was clouded, especially in the earlier portions of this revelation. I feel like I could have believed women sooner. I feel ashamed that I so publically defended Lorin at the end. I think, in retrospect, that was foolish and I just didn’t, you know, I just didn’t want to believe it.”

His statement continues,

“It’s important to recognize that Lorin and the Bassnectar project did a lot of good in the world, and as much as the further evidence indicates that Lorin had some very problematic relationships with women, as much as Lorin had some problematic relationships with taking accountability…I think ultimately the Bassnectar project was a very positive thing and it’s not something I’m ashamed to have been apart of. Those of you who put your hearts and souls into that project, you shouldn’t be ashamed. Because there was no way for us to know what was going on in secret.”

Watch ill.Gates’ full statement below.