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Turn Pale is one of many new, dark-independent rock bands making rounds
throughout the US. So far the band has released one record, Kill the Lights which is available on their website. Several MP3's are also freely available on the same site, including a track off of Kill the Lights.
What seperates Turn Pale from the rest is their wide appeal from so many different scenes. An average concert draws emo kids to deathrockers and everyone inbetween. And while the band is amazing on CD, they have to be seen to be fully appreciated.
While you won't find the band on MTV or in Blockbuster Music, if you live on the east coast check your club listings regularly because Turn Pale will be touring next month and chances are they'll be playing near you very soon.
Turn Pale is based out of Bloomington, Indiana and features Michael Anderson on
vocals, Martin Sprowles on drums, Nick Quagliara on guitar, and Chris
Lombardi on bass.
Michael Anderson and I recently spent a couple evenings chatting in an informal interview, and here's how our conversation went...
Dead Atlanta (Adrya) : hey Michael :-)
Turn Pale (Michael Anderson) : Hello.
DA: Ok, well will it be just us tonight?
MA: Yes.
DA: No problem :-) So, let's start with a few basics. Turn Pale is an interesting name, does it hold any special meaning for the band?
MA:
It took us a while to come up with a name, actually. We
needed something, obviously, and we all came up with lists of names and
words and I really liked the name Turn... then, we came up with Turn Pale,
which is a bit of a joke. Like, 'We're so intense you'll turn pale.' There
was no real preconceived idea behind it. I think it's funny that it is also
a command.
I have since heard some cool theories on the name from other people, like
how there's references in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in various Buddhist
texts. But, it's really not as deep as that.
DA: when did Turn Pale first meet, and how?
MA: Turn Pale started writing songs together in... summer
2000. Pete, our original bassist, had a band called Sway Kiss, which was
pretty great. He wanted to do a 'new' band, called The Sway Kiss. Pete,
Marty and Nick had all been playing together for a long time, in different
bands. Mostly in a band called The Panoply Academy. The sound was darker
than other bands they'd done. I asked if I could try out as singer, since I
was really into what they were shooting for... We did a couple shows that
summer/fall. We played our first of many shows with Love Life. Then, we
took a break for almost a year...
We were all doing other bands and Turn Pale started as more of a side
project for us. I was doing solo stuff as Drekka (still do) and also doing
SPK style noise in a band called racebannon... then the next summer we
tried some more shows, and it took off from there. We've been a full time
band since summer 2001.
DA: And you guys tour quite a bit... What is life really like for a
touring band? is it as fun and easy going as many might first think?
MA:
Yes, we tour as much as possible. By the end of 2004,
we'll have done over 200 shows in three years. Touring is great, but since
we are a relatively small band, it's tough to make ends meet. We wind up
losing our jobs to go out... at least I do. Bloomington is a great town,
but it's not got such a great job market...
...as for the lifestyle... it's great to go out and play shows and it is a
definite priviledge to make job out of playing music. But, there's a LOT of
boring downtime in between shows. And you put your whole comfort zones out
the window.
It can be tough, but it's more good than bad. It helps to tour with people
you really like.
DA: If you had to pick one show out of all the concerts you've played so
far as your personal favorite, which would it be, and what happened?
MA:
The one that always comes to mind is what we call 'The
Acid Church' show. We were on tour with Love Life, and played in
Minneapolis at this old church that has been converted into a sort of free
collective. We played with Neon Hunk and Animal Collective... I met Lungleg
(from the Richard Kern films), I almost ate pizza covered in liquid acid,
and by midnight there were about fofty kids of acid totally blissing out...
it was really weird! Awesome stage with huge stained glass windows... we
played there again a few months ago, and it just wasn't the same. That
night with Love Life had a definite magic going for it!
The real difference... for any show, is how the audience reacts. No love,
no fun.
DA: oh definately. what is neat to me about Turn Pale is that you appeal
to so many different "scenes". I found out about you from a friend in
California who loves dark rock & deathrock, but i know indie kids relate to
your sound too.
MA:
We play the sort of music we do because we love a
certain sound. There is no kitsch or retro to what we're doing. I've wanted
to be in a band EXACTLY like Turn Pale since 1987, when I first heard bands
like Swans and Cindytalk... and later The Birthday Party and such. I think
it makes a difference in how we are taken. I hope people can see a genuine
quality to our songs, and it appeals to anyone. The cool thing about right
now is that newer indie kids are getting into the whole Rough Trade/Factory
sound, so you have lots of new kids totally into the post-punk, dance-punk,
death disco sounds. It's great. And we're a bit... dark in our
presentation, so it also appeals to the goth community in the same way that
other like minded non-goth bands do... Liars, Love Life/Birdland, back to
Joy Division and Birthday Party.
DA:
Well I don't know about "goth" kids because they're so busy with
EBM these days.. but they shoud listen to you becuase your sound is
modern yet shares similarities with bands that helped form scenes that
later became known as goth.
MA:
Yeah... goth now seems to me to be just techno in minor
key. But when I think of the word goth, and the 'goth community' I still
tend to think of it as an extension of the punk movement. I'm old school, I
suppose! :>
DA:
Same here.. Punk is exactly where goth came from, without punk-rock
in the 70's goth wouldn't have developed as it did in the late 80's.
MA: Exactly.
DA: So who writes the music for the band, and who handles lyrics?
MA:
Nick, Marty and Chris write the music. We have two
approaches to it. A couple times a week, we get together and they play in
our space, coming up with ideas and working them out. I sit and giv
suggestions, but for the most part it's all them. We also get together once
a week and talk about albums and songs more conceptually. This gives
everyone the opportunity to suggest things... like Marty (drummer) can
suggest a guitar part.. etc. When the songs are somewhat cohesive, I will
write the lyrics... I record demos and listen to them over and over on my
headphones. I am responsible for the lyrics.
DA: Sounds like a very logical way of writing music.
MA: It's pretty basic. It's very democratic.
DA: One of the things I like most about Turn Pale is the lyrics, because
they are rich with imagery and the vocal delivery accentuates the story in
each song. Something I've noticed, and maybe it's just me, is your lyrics
are mostly positive, or at least very truthful (which I guess can sometimes
seem negative to some people). Where do you draw your lyrical inspiration?
MA:
Thank you. I try to tell stories when I write... The
songs are written, to me, in groups. The album 'Kill the Lights' is a story
as a whole...
I try to make all my lyrics positive, even if not always pleasant. The main
intent of my lyrics is to explore the tension that exists between someone's
mind and they're actions... particularily in regards to love and
relationships... both with lovers and friends and enemies. The lyrics are
expounded semi-autobiography... blurred lines between actual events and
mental extrapolation.
The truth is not what most people want to hear.
DA: Especially in this day and age.
MA:
Exactly. Leonard Cohen once said: "I wish I could say
everything there was to say in one word. I hate all the things that can
happen between the beginning of a sentence and the end"
The closest we can get is the word 'Love'
DA:
Perhaps I'm projecting my own life onto some of your lyrics, but i
sense something greater than human concern coming through in your stories.
some of the themes in your songs are reflected in religious texts of many
different persuasions. would any of you consider yourselves, um..
spiritual?
MA:
It's a tricky subject. Turn Pale tries to be very
non-political or have any agenda. Being the singer, I have the hardest
time, since any lyrics are going to be in the voice of the person writing
them. Most days, I would consider myself a Christian... some days I veer
towards Agnostic. But, I try to stay universal in my writing... Each member
of the band has his own ideas on spirituality, which we all respect. On
the whole, I would consider us a very positive group, made of four
individuals.
By nature of my following an imperative to teach love, this becomes a
universal desire for human concern... But, I am a very misanthropic person,
which creates many heated debates inside my brain... and to a large extent,
I guess this is what I am writing about in my lyrics. The clash between the
DESIRE for love and the REALITY of how things get so complicated more often
than not.
In fact... 'Kill the Lights' is a story about a boy and girl who love each
other, but by their different expressions of this love have more alienated
each other than brought them closer. The new album will be about the
sadness of things, which is... things exist today that are beautiful and
will soon go away and fade. These two lovers, the boy and girl, will be
arguing on whether these things are worth anything in the first place..
Whether to say YES or NO at every moment.
DA: mhmm, i think that anyone who truly believes in a greater love,
whatever ya want to call it, always question their surroundings and even
question love itself.
MA: Definitely.
DA: Along these same lines... and again I know this is a touchy
subject.. what do you think about Mel Gibson's creation in the theatres
right now? I saw his film last week and cried halfway through it, just like
I might with any other good movie. And the story spoke to me on a few
different levels. Suffering and love, and overcoming suffering with love..
both ideas anyone can latch on to and apply to their own lives, whether or
not one believes in the Christ diety.
MA: I haven't seen the movie... but, someone the other night told me that they thought it dwelt too much on the pain and blood of
the crucifixion. But, that's what the Passion is about. I think that the
general misconception of Christianity is that it is successfully followed
in the present day, which it is NOT. Most people's conception of
Christianity has little to nothing to do with it's true design. It is a
poem of sacrifice and total selflessness. MUCH harm has been done falsely
in the name of Christ. But also much good has been done. The bad tends to
be more visible, but that's not the fault of Christ's teachings, more the
perversion of it.
DA: Indeed.
MA: It IS a touchy subject.
DA: hehe, of course. and on that note.. what is your musical background?
when did you first show an interest in creating?
MA:
I remember very little before the age of... thirteen.
But, I remember a friend of mine when I was about that age... he had a tape
recorded and he'd hide it in his bag and ask people things or taught girls,
etc. We'd go to his house and listen to the tapes. I took to mangling tape
and playing it back... that's when I started being interested in what I
later knew as sound art. I got heavily into industrial and experimental
goth in the mid-80's. Then one night at a Psychic TV show in... 1990, I was
talking to Genesis P'Orridge and told him I wanted to be in a band. He told
me to go home and record something with whatever was around. So, I did.
From there, it was dozens of noise 'bands' and 'projects'.
DA: mhmm.. and in my opinion that's true industrial music.
MA:
Yeah. It was experimental in that it was an experiment
that would often fail... and industrial in that I used whatever i could
find. I never really learned how to play any instruments, which I sometimes
regret.. but I learned how to really improvise.
I was always in awe of people like Gordon Sharp and David Tibet, who don't
usually play instruments, but gathered together such intense sounds to
themselves.
DA: Definately, and really that's what is important anyway. so, where do you see Turn Pale five years from now? will you guys still be playing rock, or could you see yourselves going in other directions.. jazz, noise, blues, or will the band always focus on creating inspired underground rock-n-roll?
MA:
We've written a new batch of songs this winter that are
slower and more... something. I think we'll continue doing something
similar, but hope to grow and explore within what we've set out to do. I
wouldn't want to do a total switch of styles... it'd be a different band.
But, we have been exploring a bit with dub rhythms and such.
DA: That sounds cool.. So have those new songs been officially recorded yet?
MA:
We are still in the finishing stages of writing. Most
don't have lyrics.
When we get a song pretty much done, I'll record a demo. So, I have
instrumental demos of all the songs. I write on my headphones and record
vical demos... But, a song isn't really finished until we've played it live
a bunch. Then, it really settles into a complete song. Of course, when you
go to record them for an album, you alter them further, adding keyboards,
multitrack vocals, etc.
We've got about a dozen unrecorded/unreleased songs at the moment. Most of
them we'll begin playing live on this tour.
DA: so how does the band look at promotion, could you guys ever see yourself signing with a major label?
MA: It would have to be a very good deal, keeping power in
our hands. I have no desire to 'make it' if it means losing control over
our lives. We do a lot of self-promotion. We have a growing group of fans
who help us spread the word via the internet and such...
It would be nice to have a larger indie behind us to help with that aspect.
The whole selling part of music is so sickening, but necessary if we are
going to do the band full time. The less we need to deal with on that end,
the more we can focus on making the best albums we can. But, if no one is
there to do the work, then I guess I have to... Someone has to.
DA:
Which leads me to my next question actually... every band seems to
view Filesharing a little differently, and some have very strong opinions
either way. Would you say that filesharing is helpful or hurtful towards
underground & independant artists? And when does filesharing become a bad
idea, in your opinion? and how does Turn Pale view the issue?
MA:
I think making music available on the internet is a
good thing for promotion. People all over the world can hear our music and
share it with others. The problem comes when people post whole sections, if
not all, of an album that is available. It is one thing to share the couple
mp3s we post on our site, or to post live bootlegs and such... I love this
idea. But, when people choose to steal whole albums instead of buying
them... then they are literally taking away the only thing that enables
independent bands to survive. I don't know how the other guys feel, but I
would guess it's about the same.
Rampant filesharing and CDR copying is killing many small indie labels.
DA:
Yes, and that is an unfortunate side effect of Peer-to-peer sharing.
i personally share but mostly look for records that I can't find in stores
or online anymore.. or to sample a new band to see if i like them enough to
buy a record.
MA:
Exactly. And it can be exciting to get a new album before it comes out and such...
DA:
But then you guys make it easy for potential new fans becuase you have a nice selection of mp3's right on your site
MA:
We try to put up songs that are both on and not on the
album...
I am trying to setup a filesharing site for people to put live recordings
of our shows, and I will also put my own recordings up there, as well as
some demos as they are worked up...
DA: oh that sounds interesting
MA:
I am a huge fan of bootlegs, and I love the idea of
sharing them. I have hundreds of Cure bootlegs, but would not copy an
official release for someone, unless it was very much out of print.
I love live recordings, and esp. demos. So, it makes sense for me to care
about our own demos and such.
DA: I think if more people realized proper filesharing etiquette,
independant artists would benefit greatly... like if you download a few
songs and like what ya hear, go buy their record, buy a t-shirt &
stickers... and go see the band live.. if ya download mp3's just be
thoughtful because few artists are in a position to create & record full
time, for free.
Would you ever consider having your songs "remixed" by an electronic artist?
MA:
Definitely. I always go looking for mp3 by new bands.
And if I like them, I'll go buy the albums. It's like a huge mixtape online.
As for remixing... We are currently having loads of people remix our songs
off 'Kill the Lights'. I am not really sure what we will do with them, but
there is a label in Atlanta who will be doing a vinyl release of some of
them. I just started the project as a way to see how people would take our
songs in different directions. And it's a way for people to become involved
with us in a tangeable way. We feel a huge sense of community in general,
and this is a way to connect.
DA: very good..
MA: Lumielle Records, that's who will be doing the LP.
DA: ok well i just have one or two more questions.. hehe, we don't want to give all of your secrets away :-)
MA: I have nothing to hide! :>
DA: What band, past or present, would you give anything to play with? and where would your gig be?
MA:
Hmm... There was a show in the mid-80's in Reykjavik,
Iceland... KUKL (pre-Sugarcubes Björk) opened for either Swans or Psychic
TV. That would have been a great show to play.
I would love to have played some of those old shows in the UK, where the
bill would be crazy like Joy Division, Wire, Throbbing Gristle and The
Cure... or Virgin Prunes and Birthday Party... insane bills like that.
Current shows, we've had nice luck playing with Black Eyes, Love Life...
and we're really looking forward to playing these upcoming shows with Radio
Berlin. I'd love to tour with... The Liars... don't know really. We're
doing alright for ourselves, I think!
DA: heh, so do I! and I can't wait to see you guys in Atlanta next month. Well, any final words for your fans?
MA: Our fans... nothing I didn't tell her this morning.
DA: haha
MA: Um... I suppose that the best thing someone can do for a band like us is to spread the word. Smaller bands need enthusastic people
to get the name out... post on boards, tell friends, flyer, do anything you
can think of. Because, it makes a HUGE difference.
That, and always remember, if you ask someone how they are doing then it is
polite to be ready to listen. Because they might need someone to hear them.
DA: yes, so true.. Well I appreciate your taking a little time to chat with us tonight, i've enjoyed interviewing you.
MA: thanks. I'll see you soon.
Official Turn Pale website featuring bios, show calendar, music, lyrics, photos, and more! http://bluesanct.com/turnpale/
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Monster Bash @ Starlight In :: June 6, 2004
Double feature: Evil Dead & Phantasm, Five Bands, Hotrod Hearses, Monster Dating game, Models, Horrific Art Show, and lots more!
Drop Dead II :: August 2004 :: NYC
Link to Dead Atlanta from your website!
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