Fans of Endless Heights will recognise the emotional honesty that bleeds through their music. With their sophomore album Vicious Pleasure in particular, the Sydney quintet’s songs explore struggle and the handling of it; where holding on to “some kind of pleasure, convenience, or control” had seemed helpful had become damaging and toxic.
It’s for this reason that Endless Heights’ frontman Joel Martorana was a natural choice to have a conversation with as part of our Mentally In Tune series. The series aims to have honest conversations about life as a musician, the challenges that arise (emotionally and mentally in particular), and the approaches that have helped.
Before Endless Heights’ show at The Forum, Melbourne, Liam Davidson (photographer/videographer) and I were led through a maze of stairs, down into the bowels of the theatre. We found a relatively quiet space in Ocean Grove’s dressing room and the conversation flowed. We touched on Joel’s introduction to music, transitioning from performer to artist, his perspective of music as a game, views on success, and balancing health. Here’s what happened.
“Does it feel like the music industry is a game?”
“To a degree. The question I wake up to most days is ‘Do I want to play it?'”
[Video and image of Endless Heights @ Unify Gathering courtesy of Liam Davidson]