Imperial Teen frontman/Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum and his boyfriend Joey Holman’s Man on Man project shared a video for their new single “It’s So Fun (To Be Gay).” The video features submitted clips of proud gay couples, among which Patty Schemel of Hole, JD Samson of Le Tigre, Jibz Cameron of Dynasty Handbag, actor John Cameron Mitchell and actor Heklina can be spotted, among others.
Most of the video clips show people dancing, but there’s also a lot of lip syncing, kissing and couples simply spending time together. It’s fitting of such a simple song, in which the only lyrics are repeated like a mantra, “Come along, it’s okay/It’s so fun to be gay/Birds do it, bees do it/We do it too.” Bottum and Holman sing in harmony over relaxed guitar and floating keys with some lighthearted sound choices.
Man on Man wanted a heartwarming video to pair with their LGBTQ+ pride anthem. The duo states, “For the video we aimed to focus on our community. Getting through the hardships of the past year we leaned heavily on what we mean to each other in terms of support and understanding. We were in the middle of launching our Chosen Family project and had just finished linking people up for our pen pal program and sourcing art for our quarterly zine. We thought the best way to exhibit the joy in the song would be to have a video full of our chosen family – friends, peers, and heros.”
Chosen Family is an effort to connect the members of Man on Man’s community with each other through their new pen pal program and newsletter. The video largely features friends of the group, but there are plenty of Chosen Family members present as well, all sharing their love. “These queer testimonials are what make up the bulk of the video,” Man on Man continues. “Our togetherness and bond is key to moving forward in these times especially and we aimed to capture that bond and essence, particularly with Gay Pride 2021 on the horizon. It felt fitting to donate the launch-day’s sales to Born Perfect, which is a non-profit whose mission is to end conversion therapy.”
“It’s So Fun (To Be Gay)” is the fifth single from Man on Man’s upcoming self-titled album, following “Stohner,” “Baby, You’re My Everything,” “1983” and “Daddy.” The record’s set for release on May 7 via Polyvinyl Records. Bottum’s Man on Man project has been his creative focus lately, since the last Imperial Teen album Now We Are Timeless came out in 2019 and the last Faith No More album Sol Invictus came out in 2015.
Photo credit: Raymond Flotat
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