On May 12, 2021, our guiding spirit, instigator, inciter – the person who, to most of us, lived under the name Jack Terricloth- had left us for the astral plane. Jack was the incendiary spark, the narrative voice, and the driving force of a project that spanned decades, musical genres, and continents.  In doing so, he created a lovingly inspired, cultishly devoted, Halloween-obsessed international punk community that centered around the bands The World/Inferno Friendship Society and Sticks & Stones.  

Jack’s passing signaled the end of an era. His death was a devastating loss that left a hole in the hearts of fans and peers across the world. It left many with the question: “What do we do now?”

Late last year, friends and family began scheming and plotting. These brainstorming sessions ultimately led to the creation of an organization called The Jack Terricloth Foundation.  Despite the loss, a number of conspirators still had the irrepressible need to continue Jack’s vision just a little bit longer.  Without Jack, there is no The World/Inferno Friendship Society, but what Jack built was larger than just a band; it was its own community. Many from that community are still processing grief in their own way and this Halloween, we didn’t want them to fight all alone. We thought that gathering on Jack’s most favorite of holidays could help provide further catharsis and closure. This was a tricky proposition so we had to come up with a way to do it right. To give the proposed tribute event even more purpose, we felt that it should raise money for a charity along the way. This is what led to announcing the Foundation this past Walpurgisnacht.

On April 30th , 2022, we started a Kickstarter, hoping to raise enough money to put out a charity tribute album, hold a Halloween ritual, hire an accountant for X years, and gather an imaginary legal team to guide us through the process of correctly setting up a nonprofit. Yeah, yeah. I know those last two points sound so very un-punk of us but it was a series of necessary steps that will help us establish that future proceeds of our mischief can go towards causes that help people in need. We set an ambitious goal of raising $25,000.  We raised that in the first few hours, ultimately raising over $113,000 on the Kickstarter alone.

Clearly, Jack’s spirit is still alive and well.  It’s in the hearts of thousands of friends, fans, and society members across the world.   The goal of the foundation is to help in channeling that energy, to assist in keeping Jack’s memory alive, to further causes that Jack fought for his whole life, and to give support to charitable initiatives that are helping musicians & artists in need. 

We said that we were going to be working on plans for a celebration of his extraordinary life and here we are.  WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US FOR OUR INAUGURAL BALL ON OCTOBER 30th, 2022, at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.  We’ll be hosting a special Mischief Night Sinfonietta, which will be written, arranged, conducted, and performed by some of Jack’s friends and musical collaborators collectively known as The East Coast Smashism Chamber Orchestra. You can get your tickets here.  Then, on Halloween, we will be going to church for a special, early evening Halloween mass.  A few tickets are left here.  We’re also going to be releasing several musical tributes to Jack.  The first is an incredible compilation of covers by his friends and colleagues, available for preorder on Bandcamp here.

To our supporters, thank you so much for collectively making sure that these tributes are going to materialize and thank you for establishing us as an entity that can raise money for charitable organizations. These are some of our ways to thank Jack for inspiring this remarkable community – something more simply band, family, or scene- which changed the lives of so many people in ways which are hard to articulate, and which is perhaps the most enduring part of his legacy. 

This site will grow to have more information about the organization and the various things we have planned.  In the meantime, have a Happy Halloween season, and thank you for keeping Jack in your hearts.

PR + Press inquiries : stevealbertson@babyrobotmedia.com

Jack Terricloth Foundation contact : JackTerriclothFoundation@gmail.com 

More details : www.worldinferno.com/news

Full website coming October 2022.