Born and raised in Croydon, Joe Turner is quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting young producers around. He grew up in a house filled with soul music and a dash of nineties electronica. His grandfather, a jazz pianist, was a major influence from whom he’s undoubtedly inherited the musical talent that saw him writing his first song at just eleven years old. Following his teenage years playing in various bands, it has only been in the past eighteen months that Turner turned his attention to writing once again. Following on from 2020 singles Malibak & Crystal Clear, Joe now releases ‘Influence’ – the cut that forms part of his debut EP ‘Textures’ out now. DMCWORLD dives in for a world exclusive!
Main photo by Alec Rawson
Hey Joe, thanks for chatting with us! You just dropped ‘Influence’, a brilliant track from your debut EP ‘Textures’, which is coming in November. Those keys and that vocal hook.. we love it! Can you let us know a bit more behind the production on this? Did you work around the vocal, or did the vocal end up fitting the otherwise-finished track perfectly?
Hey! Thanks so much for the kind words about Influence, really glad you’re into it. The vocal samples came after I’d started writing the track. I usually get a strong minute or so of music going before I start to think about adding vocal chops and samples. I wanted there to be a recognisable melody with the vocals and chose an acapella that I had previously recorded with my friend Krissy, who is an incredible vocalist – working with her vocals is just endless fun!
I wanted the song as a whole to progress right until the final outro. The main synths are processed through a tremolo plugin that helps create a sort of frantic and immediate energy during both drop sections.
What were your key go-to bits of gear for ‘Influence’? The track was built around an array of organic drum samples and fierce synth sections; What are some of your favourite synths / hardware?
This song is largely composed with my hardware synths in my studio. The bass is from my Moog Grandmother, which is a beast! Then all the main pads, plucks and general melodic parts are recorded from my Prophet 08 and Korg Minilogue. I’ve had those two synths for a few years now so feel like I can get the best out of them when I’m writing! Plus, all three synths have very distinctive tones that I think work really well together.
Can you tell us more about ‘Textures’ and what we can expect with this EP?
I’m so excited to release this EP! It’s been a long time in the making and I wanted it to be as best as I could make it. The whole EP has a flow to it, with some interlude tracks in there to make the whole record feel like more of a ‘journey,’ rather than just a collection of songs/singles.
There will be a few new songs on there too that haven’t been released yet, which I’m excited to get out there. Oh and obviously expect to hear a variety of textures from start to finish. I included a fair amount of foley recordings in the EP, to give the songs a sense of realness. In one of the tracks, there’s a long recording I used from when I was driving through London to play a gig – back when those performing shows was a thing!
You’re from Croydon, have you been based there through Lockdown? How have you found this whole experience when it comes to your music – has it inspired you in the studio, or have you found it hard to concentrate?
Lockdown has been a rollercoaster for me personally. I’ve spent so much time in the studio – which has obviously been awesome. However, I’ve also made a conscious effort to distance myself from the studio at times, to keep myself sane! One of the songs from the EP ‘Solace’was written during lockdown actually!
I think the main thing that lockdown has taught is to not be afraid to take days off. Being a producer can be pretty self-isolating at the best of times, so during the lockdown that feeling was obviously amplified tenfold. Getting the key balance between ‘working’ and living is absolutely essential!
Travelling is still pretty limited… but if you were on a desert island and could only get washed up with 3 bits of gear from your studio, what would you pick?
Wow, that’s pretty tough! I think if I could only pick three it would have to be my laptop, acoustic guitar and a microphone….Maybe I’ll record an experimental desert-folk album….?
‘Textured’ Smartlink: https://JoeTurner.lnk.to/TexturesID
