Say Anything’s Max Bemis has postponed a series of upcoming acoustic performances amid allegations that he sent inappropriate messages to underage fans. On August 29, Say Anything announced on Instagram that Bemis would take a step back “due to the need to prioritize his mental health and personal well-being.”
Accusations of inappropriate behavior by Bemis were first levied last week, when screenshots of his alleged flirtatious messages with two teenaged fans were shared to the Say Anything subreddit. The allegations have also shed uncertainty on the status of a forthcoming collaborative album between the band and Wavves, Cherry Soda, which is set to drop on September 18.
In a Wavves Patreon chat viewed by Pitchfork, frontman Nathan Williams wrote that “on a professional level [Bemis] was awful,” adding: “I don’t want to be associated with the guy, and so it’s as simple as that. Whatever I lose doesn’t matter at that point.” A statement shared to Wavves’ official Instagram echoed this sentiment, reading: “Not sure what to say but fuck Max. Fuck Say Anything. I’m sorry y’all. I spent 11 months making this record and Max spent 4 days so I dunno exactly what I’m supposed to do. I’m sorry guys.” Pitchfork has reached out to Wavves’ representatives for comment.
On Patreon, Williams also claimed that he composed the majority of Cherry Soda. When a fan asked if the album could be re-recorded as a solo LP, Williams didn’t rule it out as a possibility, explaining that it “wouldn’t be hard” since Bemis allegedly “barely wrote anything.” However, Williams pointed out that the “issue is 10,000 records [were] already pressed.” As of this writing, Cherry Soda is still available for pre-order via Rough Trade.
Williams and Bemis first announced Cherry Soda back in July, when they released the lead single “Deathx1k.” In a press release circulated at the time, Bemis said that the two artists “kind of wrote to each other’s situations. We’re both very different people, but we get along really well…I think we brought out some of the stuff that isn’t most obvious in each other.”
