Max Bemis—the frontman of Say Anything—has shared a exceptional, nine-page message to followers titled “A Goodbye Summation.” It addresses his sexuality, his struggles with habit, his altering relationship with music, and the band’s new document, OLIVER APPROPRIATE. He writes, “Our plans as a collective are to, kind of sort of, end Say Anything. Or ‘the first era of Say Anything,’” including, “There will be no full U.S. tour to support the record or in the near future. 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. But we’ll get to that.”
Later, Bemis clarifies: “I’m done with traditional music stuff as of a few weeks ago, and though it’s sad for my label that it coincides with the album’s near-release, I won’t put myself in harms way for anything now…. Say Anything will probably make music again, and I’m not claiming this is our actual last record, but it may be. Who knows. That’s up to me and my family.”
He goes on to debate his queer identification, writing “I have always been bi-ish or queer or a straight guy who can also like boys. I always talked or joked about it with my friends and found it to be blatantly clear I was.” He continues, “So yeah, I’m a queer, Jewish, Christian skeptic pseudo-anarchist with a belief in metaphysics and the application of ‘magical’ stuff. Woof.”
The observe additionally addresses what Bemis describes as a “year-long Heath Ledger-esque descent into pain and darkness and snorting antidepressants all day” whereas engaged on new music. He then explains how his work writing comic books and the beginning of his son modified his perspective: “The day I stopped snorting said drugs all day, stopped gorging on Kratom, stopped disappearing into the abyss, was the day of the birth of my son Charlie. It really happened THAT DAY. That same morning. I looked into his eyes and I knew I was done with that chapter and things had to change, though it would be painful.”
Sherri DuPree-Bemis, Max’s spouse, wrote an additional statement on the band’s web site: “If what Max wrote doesn’t make it clear, he’s recovering from a ‘PTSD breakdown’ and this is not really bipolar-related stuff. It’s a guy who followed his passion to the point of almost breaking who stopped and saved his own life for us and those who care. Which has left him joyful but needing rest and relaxation and positivity.”
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