Following the release of his critically acclaimed debut solo album When Facing The Things We Turn Away From, global singer, songwriter and musician Luke Hemmings covers FAULT Magazine.
The lead singer of international, multi-platinum selling Australian pop-rock band 5 Seconds of Summer grew the project out of a year of enforced stillness, presenting a raw statement of himself as both an artist and human. When Facing The Things We Turn Away From debuted at #1 on the ARIA Charts (Australia). In the accompanying interview, Luke talks candidly about quite literally ‘facing the things he’s turned away from’, protecting his mental health, and how a pre-pandemic trip to Vietnam inspired the new music he wrote during it.
On chasing highs and facing feelings…
“‘When Facing the Things We Turn Away From’ is a line taken from the chorus of ‘Saigon’ [album track]. It was inspired by a trip to Vietnam that I took right before the stillness that quarantine forced. In those moments, I spent months facing the things I turned away from. The good, the bad, my regrets, needing to get help. Through all of those times, I kept thinking about how euphoric that trip was, and how I wanted to keep chasing those highs I felt. Sometimes we can’t appreciate the best moments of our life until they’ve passed us by and are out of reach. I was messing around with the idea of multiple titles, but I eventually settled on that one because I feel like the theme of time slipping away is ultimately threaded throughout the entire album”
On personal growth since his debut with 5SOS…
“I’m a lot more confident now. I think as a teen who was thrust into the public eye pretty quickly, I got overwhelmed easily and felt constant pressure to be a certain type of person. Now at 25, I feel a lot more sure of myself. I dress in clothing that makes me happy, I make the music I want, I wear glitter and make up, I express myself better, I don’t feel boxed in. It’s pretty freeing.”
“I’ve had a lot of hurdles to overcome in my musical journey, but since coming onto the scene with 5SOS, we’ve really had to fight to be respected as genuine artists. The band, and myself, really pride ourselves on being passionate and writing our songs and showing the world we’re in music for the love of it.”
On therapy, and protecting his mental health during the pandemic…
“I’ve always felt like writing and creating music is similar to therapy, because you’re spending days, weeks, months reflecting on yourself and your life and trying to process everything and express those feelings out loud. It can be incredibly cathartic and healing. I’ve made an effort to spend as little time as possible looking at screens of any type, I don’t think humans were meant to have access to every opinion about themselves at their fingertips constantly, both good and bad. I also took a step that scared me a bit, which was to start actual therapy with a professional.”