Parkway Drive drummer Ben Gordon’s brother Jed Gordon convicted of child abuse
A touring family member of one of Australia’s most successful rock bands, Parkway Drive, has pleaded guilty to child sexual assault, prompting young women to reveal the “open secret” of the hardcore music scene where predatory older men target female fans with impunity.
Jed “Chode” Gordon, brother of the band’s drummer Ben Gordon, told Byron Bay Local Court last week he was guilty of sexual intercourse with a person aged between 14 and 16.
A journalist and anti-sexual exploitation campaigner involved in the NSW hardcore scene told the imprint that fans hoped it would lead to a long-overdue reckoning about predatory behavior in the music industry.
Police were told Gordon texted the girl in 2002, when she was 21, and they met up in a park where they had sex. He was 15 years old at the time.
The sexual relationship continued until 2003, when Gordon’s brother Ben started Parkway Drive with friends in Byron Bay. This ended when the girl turned 16; Gordon was 22 years old at the time.
In 2021, the woman attempted to reconnect with Gordon before going to police in 2023.
He was arrested in July 2025 and pleaded guilty on March 16 to a single count of sexual intercourse with a minor.
He was released on bail and will be sentenced on May 19.
Gordon’s conviction sent shockwaves through Australia’s close-knit hardcore music scene due to his key supporting role in his brother’s band.
Parkway Drive are one of the most successful Australian bands of the last two decades and Gordon, who goes by the pseudonym “Chode”, has been part of the band’s inner circle for years.
He took on roles managing the band’s tours, lighting and merch. No members of Parkway Drive, including Ben Gordon, have been charged with any crime, and there is no suggestion that they were aware of Jed Gordon’s criminal actions.
‘I’m no longer involved’
Parkway Drive condemned the actions of “someone affiliated with the group” in a statement.
“This is appalling and we condemn it. We are heartbroken and support the victim,” the statement said.
“This happened before we were a band, but from 2003 onwards we have the moral responsibility to sign him occasionally over the years.
“Although he hasn’t toured with us since 2017, he recently became part of our Australian online product team. When the band heard about this, we terminated his contract immediately. He is no longer associated with Parkway Drive in any way.”
But on Thursday Gordon was described by members of the metal scene as both an unofficial sixth band member and a “habitual creep” when news of his defense broke.
“This has been an open secret for 20 years; everyone knew,” Rory Banwell, a journalist and anti-harassment campaigner in the hardcore music scene, told this imprint..
“[The band] I forgot to mention that he is the drummer’s brother.”
Banwell said last week that Jed Gordon was inundated with messages from young women he approached as a teenager at shows and parties, including the famous house on Parkway Drive in Ewingsdale near Byron Bay that gave the band its name.
“I was the one getting the therapy [because] Everyone told me it was legal and nobody’s business,” said one woman.
Banwell said Jed Gordon, like others, used his familiarity with the bands to approach younger fans.
Banwell, 18, was at the Parkway Drive demonstration in Coffs Harbor in 2005 and suffered a concussion.
“I was sitting behind the merch table and Jed was like ‘oh, you should come hang out with me,'” he said.
She said Banwell was with another male friend who pushed her away.
Jed Gordon has also served as tour planner for other metal and hardcore bands in Australia.
Safe space for ‘misfits’
The hardcore music scene was supposed to be a safe space for “misfits,” Banwell said, but it was also a place that put predators in the same room as vulnerable teenagers at all-ages shows.
“One in Byron Bay [youth centre] “This is where most of the demonstrations take place,” he said.
“This was about the elite hardcore people of Byron Bay and people who were underage and could go to shows and have access to bands that were big in the scene, even if they weren’t big.
“If you said you were friends [with Parkway Drive]You were the coolest person at the party.
“But there was so much accessibility to reptiles. It was an open secret that Jed was a reptilian.”
In a message sent to Banwell and reproduced on this imprint with the sender’s permission, another person said Jed Gordon “creeped over my friend” at a demonstration in Newcastle ten years ago.
Banwell’s posts, including collective comments from other fans, were shared widely on social media over the weekend, particularly in Byron Bay, where Parkway Drive is based.
“I think that’s where the biggest shame comes from for the victims; they don’t want to be ostracized in society,” Banwell said.
“Byron, as an elite community in Australia, has celebrities living there… they have been willing to overlook it because they are so proud of what they do. [Parkway Drive] did. But whether they like it or not, Jed is committed to them.”
With the hope of reconciliation
Banwell said many women who grew up in the scene hoped a reckoning would follow the conviction of pedophilia promoter John Raymond Zimmerman more than a decade ago.
Zimmerman was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2011 for molesting 55 girls who were fans of bands including The Getaway Plan.
All but two were between the ages of 12 and 15; the oldest was 17 years old.
Zimmerman uncovered sexually explicit photos of the girls and accused them of sexual exploitation online.
He used his proximity to the groups he promoted to bribe a victim with tickets.
Three years after Zimmerman’s conviction, Banwell launched a viral photo project. I Still Don’t Ask, he hoped this would help combat the normalization of sexual and domestic crime.
“Me and my friends were like, ‘Oh my God, is this finally happening?’ we said. … I think there will be a lot of scared old men right now,” Banwell said.
“It’s a weird time because sometimes people we know show up. It’s really hard.”
Some of the posts circulating online also highlighted a website that is no longer in use. He chose not to define it.
The forum featured a “trade forum” where hardcore music fans could swap “nude scenes” along with shirts and merchandise.
Anyone needing support can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counseling Service. 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732); Lifeline 131 114; Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.
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John Buckley is the CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
