Singer Max Bemis | Photo: Facebook/Say Anything
Max Bemis, lead singer of the Los Angeles-based band Say Anything, has come out to fans and the public in a letter.
The extensive nine-page letter also details the band’s future, which seems uncertain at best.
Say Anything is Saying Goodbye. Thank you for everything. But there’s more to come. Let’s celebrate and feel this together. Follow the link for all the details. First news item on our site with a novella of a PDF to peruse that explains everything. https://t.co/tgwdvaTGGe
— Max Bemis (@maxbemis) August 16, 2018
‘This is a statement about my current status as a dude and Say Anything’s upcoming record and plans as a band,’ the letter begins.
Say Anything recently finished their final LP, Oliver Appropriate, for release on 12 October.
As the letter reads: Gay stuff
In a section of the letter sub-titled ‘gay stuff’, Bemis explains his sexuality journey.
‘I have always been bi-ish or queer or a straight guy who can also like boys,’ he writes. ‘ I always talked or joked about it with my friends and found it to be blatantly clear I was.’
He says he was called ‘fag’ and buillied for it. Plus, he would also tell people repeatedly he liked men, but they ‘chalked it up to my bipolar shit’, which he described as ‘hurtful’.
Bemis revealed in 2014 he received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
He also believes people minimize his identity because he ‘found true love early on in life’ with a woman. He’s married to fellow musician Sherri DuPree Bemis and they have three children.
‘I’ve always been somewhat of a monogamist and my queer experiences were limited and remain mostly emotional ones,’ he continues. ‘I don’t feel threatened or scared because I grew up with some amount of privilege in that regard, coming from a supportive, liberal family. So I’m not minimizing how hard that can be for other people. I get that I have it easy.’
He also writes about his spirtuality and a ‘year- long Heath Ledger-esque descent into pain and darkness and snorting antidepressants all day’.
The future of his music
Bemis confirms there will be no tour for Oliver Appropriate.
He also clarifies the future of the band performing: ‘I am done being a touring musician as my main profession. Say Anything is retiring in the sense that Jay-Z did. It’s not an indefinite hiatus or a breakup because that’s impossible.’
The record tells the story of Oliver, ‘a man who kisses boys at beer-soaked coke parties as some kind of ironic joke instead of because he actually allows himself to find them attractive in an emotional sense’.
‘See, falling in love with boys has always been a weird pastime for me. And most sane, nice people can do it happily, whether it’s platonically or romantically,’ Bemis continues.
Oliver helped Bemis understand ‘what it’s like to fear being true to yourself’.
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