NAZI BANDS TRYING FOR HALLOWEEN SHOW IN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY

Billed as the “Autumn Equinox Festival,” neo-Nazi Kyle “KEP” Powell of KEP Productions has yet another concert planned for the end of this month — this time in Ontario, California at an outdoor venue known as “The Ontario Stage.” Besides booking his own neo-Nazi act—Engorge—as the headliner, he will also be bringing along  his close friends in Kushfrost, a National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) band. Kushfrost claims it will be their “final show.”

LCRW has covered Powell and the members of Kushfrost previously.

The Ontario Stage is run by Jose Pedroza. The Google page for the venue lists it as “LGBTQ+ friendly” and “Latino owned.” However, according to leaked chat logs that LCRW received, when Pedroza was told about the racist beliefs these bands espouse, and their links to other Nazi musicians, he didn’t seem upset at the bands’ hateful affiliations—he was irritated the bands’ ties to Nazism were being brought up at all.

“Everyone has a right to their political views, but don’t try to ruin the show and everything will be fine,” Pedroza responded to one source who tried to inform him of the neo-Nazi beliefs of the bands he had booked. In another message, Pedroza declared “I’m not a Nazi and there are no Nazis left. They are all dead.” No one in the messages LCRW reviewed claimed Pedroza was one.

Pedroza also appears to have promoted Kushfrost in the past, having posted a link to one of Kushfrost’s albums and captioned it with a statement begging people to give the album a chance.

LCRW reached out to Pedroza for comment and included both previously reported and unreported evidence of Kushfrost’s racism. This evidence included Kushfrost singer Jonathan Gonzales recreating the murder of George Floyd onstage with the singer from other NSBM band “Kunt Kream” in blackface, playing the role of Floyd. In the video, the crowd can be heard laughing and, generally, enjoying the racist and grotesque display.

LCRW also informed Pedroza that Kushfrost get their merch from Atolinga Rex, a distribution company run by Miguel Angel Castro out of Atolinga, Mexico. Atolinga Rex appears to work exclusively with neo-Nazi bands and has no problem showcasing those beliefs. While the “NSBM” tag is attached to their Metal Archives page, Castro takes the time to edit swastikas out of Instagram and Facebook posts. But he doesn’t take the same amount of caution for less well-known symbols such as totenkopfs or iron eagles that litter his various bands’ merch. Castro also appears to have made enemies within the NSBM distribution space, getting called out for ripping off his fellow neo-Nazis.  

Pedroza has not responded to LCRW’s request for comment at press time.

The show will also supposedly be Mark Dilley’s last show, both with Kushfrost and Engorge for the time being. Life has gotten rough for Dilley. Since LCRW’s last report on the group, he’s talked on social media about being kicked out of multiple housing situations after his hateful ties were exposed. 

Johnathan Gonzales, on the other hand, seems to be begging for attention, going as far as to posting selfies while at his security job for Sectran Security INC—an armored truck security service—in his work gear while wearing Nazi patches and brandishing his work pistol.