Into The Moshpit with Presence
Photo by Jack Lue
Into The Moshpit with Presence
The decade-long journey of Southern California recording artist Presence (a.k.a. Jonathon Martinez) became a therapeutic exercise to help an anxious, insular 11-year-old discover their true sense of self. His aspirations for both confession and catharsis evoke Martinez’s roots as a rap fan in Camarillo, California. Now at 22, Presence is signed with Nettwerk Records, and has unleashed Tears In The Moshpit! upon this great big world. The bold blend of post-punk, heartfelt hip-hop and earnest emo emerged from collaborations with Grammy Award-winning producer Sweater Beats (Lizzo, Woosong), Dillan Witherow (Lizzy McAlpine, Laufey) and co-writer Gianni Taylor. Presence recently did an interview with Highwire Daze as well as a Jack Lue photo shoot. Read on as we all go into the moshpit with Jonathon Martinez aka Presence!
We’re here with Jonathon from Presence. First of all, where are you based out of, and what is your local music scene like there?
I was born and raised in Ventura County, California, so just an hour from where we’re at right now in LA. The music scene really is an extension of what it is here in LA. Ventura County is very much like LA without being in LA. It’s the suburbs. If you’re going to a show, you’re usually coming out here, but there is a lot of cool creatives out there.
Tears in the Moshpit! Is there any overall story or concept behind that title?
Yeah, that actually happened after we had written I Don’t Wanna Be Like You, which is a very sad song lyrically. I had the opportunity, it could have been a piano ballad, it could have been ♪If I’m a mess, maybe it’s because I learned from the past.♪ But I’ve done that before. I’ve done a lot of piano ballads and more somber music. And the feeling that I wanted to get out in the song was like one of just anger and frustration, a feeling that I haven’t really, or prior to this, like expressed in my music. And as we were listening to it back, we were dancing to it. But we were also like, this is so sad. And then my co-writer Gianni Taylor was like “A whole lot of tears in the moshpit!” And it was like one of those moments where I had to stop the song. I was like, “Wait, that’s something right there.”
You know, he was just making a lighthearted joke about us dancing to this sad song. And I was like, “Oh, wait, no, I think that might be the title of this record.” And at that point, that was, I think, only like the fourth song we had written for the album. So we still had a long way to go until it was finished. I was like, “No, that’s the direction I want to go. Tears in the Moshpit!” So yeah, it started just as a joke and turned into the actual album title.
Photo by Jack Lue
Let’s talk about a few of the songs. The opening song, Scared of the Fall! Tell me about that and the inspiration.
That was actually the first song that we wrote on the record. So, it felt natural that it was the intro. That song happened – I just met Sweater Beats and Gianni that day. They ended up working with me on this entire record, but that was the first day I met them. And I just felt so comfortable with them from the beginning that I was like, “I’m just going to spill my guts out right now.” And so I was just talking with them about how it was just a year prior.
I had traveled outside the country for the first time after I had signed with the Nettwerk. I was like, “Okay, I got a little bit of money now. Let me go travel, see the world, do some things.” And I did have a great time traveling and I felt like this freedom in myself that I’d never felt before. And I was excited to come home and tell my parents like, “Oh yeah, I saw this and this.” And then as I was driving home, my dad’s like, “Oh yeah, we got to go to a funeral right now.” And like, “By the way, yeah, like your grandma Sylvia is really sick. So you should go see her this week. And oh yeah, like your uncle is really sick too. So you should go see him too.” And so it was like, I had reached this like really high point in my life. And then immediately when I got home, it was like, “Oh shit, like reality is here.”
And it almost felt like there was this feeling of the universe balancing itself out, because I never really felt that freedom that I had felt before, this joy that I had found in that month prior. And then it was just like immediately like came crashing down. And so I was like, “Oh wow, maybe I can’t let myself get too happy because then things are going to equal themselves.”
It was just kind of the universe balancing itself out, this irrational fear that I had. And so I just kind of became like numb for the months following that for probably about like half a year. I just didn’t let myself be myself. I was just in this state of confusion. And so that’s where those ideas of, you know, like, “Am I afraid of getting high or just scared of the fall?” That’s where that came from. And I had expressed that to those guys and they helped me really piece together that song to make it what it was.
I’m going to go to Bad Friend! Who’s the Bad Friend?
Me. Yeah. No, that’s I am singing about myself in that song.
That one’s a really emotional song. It was a good friend of mine from elementary school who, I mean, I grew up with. He was like a brother to me. And then we got a little bit older and we just didn’t, you know, as you get older, you stop communicating with people. I mean, everybody knows what that’s like to kind of fade away from your long-term good friends. And it really hit me, though, when somebody in his family had passed away, somebody that I had also grown up around because I grew up with him. And so when that happened, I didn’t know what to do other than just text him like, “I’m sorry this happened.” And then it was like, “Thanks, bro. Like, love you, man.”
And then like, that was it. And I hadn’t seen him after that. And so, I didn’t know how to because I was like, we haven’t talked in a while, but like, I feel, you know, still so close to you. And it’s like, I don’t want to be overbearing in this time, but I also want to show you that I care about you. And then just reflecting on it, like these couple of years later, I just felt shitty about it. And I let it out on that song.
Album Art (Photo by Ryon Seekins)
Why don’t you pick one song from the album, maybe one you don’t normally talk about, and the inspiration behind it.
One I haven’t really gotten the chance to talk about is No Remedy! Which is another angry song on the record, like stop telling me there’s No Remedy. And that one, it ties into the record, a lot of the themes throughout it, but specifically Scared of the Fall! Where I was expressing that feeling of, you know, being afraid because all these shitty things were happening to people around me. But then there was also like this feeling at the time of anger, not at… It was an anger at the world. And it was in some ways directed at people that I loved because I was like, I care about you so much. I love you so much. Like some of these things that were happening, I felt there were people that I loved that were, you know, like hurting themselves in a lot of ways. And again, maybe it was like a selfish feeling.
And, you know, there’s songs about it where I’m saying, I want to be there for you. But then there was also this feeling of like, as much as I’m trying to be there for you, you have to want to help yourself as well. And that’s what that song is about. Stop telling me there’s no remedy. That’s a song I haven’t really gotten a chance to like share what that’s about. So yeah, I’m glad I’m able to right now.
Thank you for sharing that. Now, your numbers on Spotify are just crazy. What are you thinking when you see numbers like that?
I’m just grateful, honestly. There was a long period where I let that dictate a little bit too much of how I felt. But now I think, especially just the consistency with like how long I’ve been able to do this, I’m just grateful in general that like people are still listening to my music. I started this project when I was 14. And then when I was 15, I first started having some success on YouTube. And so, to even just be 22 now, and people are still engaging with my music, I’m super grateful for that.
There’s definitely periods where I was like, “Oh, man, I’m not doing enough for this” Or, I’d let it get to my head and be like, “Man, I’m the total shit!” And now I’m just like, I just, I really, really just want to make music that resonates with people and that is able to be a release for me as well. And if people are connecting with it, and obviously, that means people are because the numbers are there, then it is a sense of just gratitude for sure.
What’s up for you in the New Year?
In the New Year, I definitely want to make new music. There’s been a lot that’s happened since I wrote this record that I definitely need to let out – get off my chest. I won’t spoil it for the fans yet. But definitely, some things that I need to write about. I’m itching to get back into the studio with Sweaters and Gianni and then hopefully also reconnect with some friends that I made music with prior to writing this record and make it be this big reunion. I have some friends overseas that I’ve worked with before, and they’re wanting to come to the US for the first time. And so hopefully, introduce them to the States and make a record in the process…
(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Jack Lue)
