Frontman for Passion Pit Michael Angelakos has come out as gay in a recent interview with author Bret Easton Ellis on his podcast, B.E.E., SPIN reports. Agelakos told Ellis, “I am saying something that I’ve never said before publicly.” Listen to the entire episode here. (Angelakos addresses his sexuality at the 49:00 mark.)

He explained his decision to come out:

“I’ve told very few people in my personal small circles because I don’t know how to talk about it, you know? Talking with you—we’ve talked before—when someone understands what you do and what you make, it disarms you a little bit and you can just be yourself because you don’t have to defend your work. … This is the kind of situation every artist wants to be in—to talk to artists they really admire. When this was all happening recently, finally, I just decided it might be best to talk about it here. I don’t really know what happened, but it’s just one of those gut feelings. It’s the same gut feeling I had when I said, OK, I kind of just need to talk to people about the fact that I am. I’m gay. And that’s it. It just has to happen. This was exactly the type of situation where I don’t feel like I’m being threatened.”

He spoke a great deal about his marriage and divorce with stylist Kirsty Mucci, and how he came to terms with his sexual identity in the process. “I just wanted so badly to be straight, because I love her so much,” he told Ellis. “I think that was one of the most painful things when we decided to separate.”

Angelakos said Mucci had encouraged him to come out earlier this year. “When I decided to really deal with it head on—which was, I don’t know, in June—she was the one who spearheaded it in a way. … She said, ‘You need to figure out what’s going on with your sexuality because you can’t hate yourself anymore.'”

He talked about self-loathing, how he felt like he was not fully honest in his work, and much more.

Angelakos has discussed his personal life openly before. Back in January, he recorded a PSA for Glenn Close’s mental health awareness non-profit Bring Change 2 Mind, where he talked about his experiences with biopolar disorder.