Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander is Attitude’s new cover guy
Arguably the breakout gay pop star of 2015, Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander is the cover guy for Attitude’s new January 2016 issue, which is available to download now!
As well as his explosive, hyper-coloured cover shoot, the 25-year-old features in a full 10-page interview inside, in which he talks about music, mental health and the pressures of fame in a year he’s made waves both on stage and in the press.
“My whole family have mental health issues. I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression since I was around thirteen or fourteen,” Olly tells us in the interview.
“I was quite troubled at school, I was bullied … For whatever reason, like family life and my parents divorcing around that time, I had a messy childhood. Also, being gay feeds into trying to figure out who you are. Being a teenager is fucking horrible for a lot of people, anyway. Depression and anxiety on top of that becomes a very layered, complicated thing.”
Discussing his position as one of the country’s most prominent young gay figures, he says there was never a chance that he would stay closeted for the sake of his career.
“When the band started taking off, there were one or two questions about what I’d do. Would I be ambiguous? As soon as I was asked that question I realised I would never do that”, he says.
“What’s the point of making this music if I can’t be myself and speak about being myself? As soon as I realised that, I was ready for the interviews and I wanted to answer those questions.”
Elsewhere in the new issue of Attitude, we’ve got a hilarious interview with Alan Carr, a chat with the award-winning star of Transparent, Jeffrey Tambor, a look at gentrification and how it’s affecting London’s queer community, and a hot photo spread with some of the high-profile trans guys making waves in 2015.
The new issue of Attitude is now available as a digital download from pocketmags.com/attitude. It’s in shops next Wednesday, December 9 and print copies are available to order from newsstand.co.uk.
For mental health support and an online chat service, visit Mind Out.
Photography by Richard Stow
Creative Direction by Joseph Kocharian
Styling by Coline Bach
Grooming by Elaine Lynskey
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