Hey everybody,
Fil here.
"I am a girl, trying on her shadow. I am a boy scooping up a snake. I am a man, yelling at the snake boy. I am a girl, sleeping in the shade." These are lyrics from a song called I am a Snake which will be on the next record. In some weird way it sums up something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.
I’m non-binary. I’ve been using the term for about a year — It’s something that I’ve known + experienced since I was a teenager, but never had the language to explain. Though I knew there were terms for people who landed outside the gender binary, and though I had friends who identified by some of these terms, I never felt like my form of gender expression fit into these established names, and never felt like I fit into the cultural box that gender non-conforming seemed to entail. But I’ve slowly accepted that my expression is in a grey area and constantly changing, and that there is no single way to be non-binary. I have gravitated toward this term specifically because it’s a non-description. Like atheist, non-partisan, non-guitar player…I have always liked the idea of being somewhere outside of the defined terms in a place where I can draw from a range of influences and follow a new path, even when that path is difficult or hard to define. I think this is also why both Emily and I gravitated toward the name and ethos of “people with bodies” - it’s one of the few basic truths of who we are as a band, and everything we build on top of that is up to us.
What this means in practice:
I don’t have preferred pronouns, and you should refer to me however is comfortable. For the unfamiliar, usually non-binary people use the pronouns “they/them" and as a general rule if you don't know, use those or ask. For me, I’m comfortable with whatever you'd like — I’ve got no requests of how you refer to me. Secondly, I have always occasionally dressed feminine on and off stage and will possibly do that slightly more. But in short, it ideally means very little to you, or you won’t notice. And if you do and if you have any questions (about me or your own self), feel free to ask. It’s something I’m happy to talk about and there are no bad questions. In the last year using this term, I’ve found that I can more fully understand and express myself exactly as I see fit. It’s not a gender marker that I’m moving toward, but instead a more accurate description of what I’ve always been.
I appreciate you all being here,
and we’ll keep you updated with more news. Still working on mixing this album and are kind of dying to share it with you.
Fil
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