Amen Dunes Opens Up About Childhood Sexual Abuse
In 2014, Damon McMahon of Amen Dunes gave an interview with No Fear of Pop in which he stated that collaborating with women was “not [his] vibe.” “I just don’t think chemically it’ll work,” he said. After his remarks caused controversy upon recirculating on social media, McMahon issued a public statement elaborating that he “did not feel comfortable having a woman in the band at that time” because he says he was sexually abused by “two different adult women” during his childhood and teenage years.
“I realize without giving context, my answer was not phrased well,” he writes. “At that time I did not feel it appropriate, nor was I healed enough, to explain my reason in detail.”
McMahon continues, “When I finally reached an age where I gained enough courage to begin to acknowledge what happened to me, Amen Dunes became a form of my own therapy. It was the one safe space I had to explore the feelings and the trauma from childhood, and to start to try and reclaim my identity and sexuality as a man.” Read his full statement below.
