“Monk Turner” (Used 5 times)

(See also  Robert Nagle's article profiling  Monk Turner, Monk Turner's  official website and Monk Turner's musical blog. All of his albums mentioned here are  free for downloading and available on FMA) His Emergency Songs album was reviewed on FMA in March, 2011.

How has your biography or geography affected the kind of music you make? What do you think is unique or different about your music?

When I started playing guitar, I learned mostly classic and alternative rock with deep roots in the blues. Then when I did the band thing, my focus became surf, hardcore punk and Latin music. Towards the end of my ‘band’ career I was playing gospel and country music. I had grown up playing in bars since the tender age of 15 and was getting burned out on it. I loved the art of songwriting but I was done playing music for drunk people and making money for alcohol companies. It was at this time I started focusing my efforts on writing and recording.

Geography has also definitely played a huge role in my music. I’ve been doing solo music under my name for 10 years as of 2011. For about 4 of those years I lived in Texas where, as you probably know, the weather sucks and there isn’t much to do. During this time I had the most creative output but a lot of those songs are pretty rough around the edges. Living in LA where the weather is almost always beautiful and there is an abundance of distractions, my output has slowed down quite a bit. I’m lucky to get one album released a year. The flip side is that  quality of my music has improved dramatically because of the incredible pool of talented musicians in Los Angeles. Living here is an inspiration unto itself.

As for the music itself, what makes it different is that I’m not restricted by genre, distribution, band members, or money. There aren’t a whole lot of people doing concept albums these days either.

What other musician or musicians have inspired you?

Elvis Costello is a huge influence and is by far my favorite recording artist. Not only do I love his voice and his music, but also I also love his artistic integrity. He’s never compromised and always made the music he wanted to make without worrying about a label liking it. That is such a rarity and thanks to that philosophy he’s got such a deep range of music.

That said, I’ve always considered myself more of a fan of music than a music creator. I just love good music regardless of the genre. I’m constantly inspired by music that is completely opposite from what I do. I’m also inspired by the musicians who play on the albums. The majority of the time when I sit down to write a song, I have a specific person in mind who I think would sound great on it. Duke Ellington did the same thing when he was writing his horn parts.

Can you name someone who is NOT a musician who has provided inspiration for your creativity?

I can think of something that is not music related that constantly inspires me. That would be advertising and the creative process. I studied creative advertising at University of Texas which gave me a strong foundation in conceptualizing. Think of a campaign like the famous ‘Got Milk.’ That is a huge idea that has been executed a ton of different ways but maintains its strong central idea. I also feel the role of the copywriter and art director in advertising is similar to the role of a lyricist and composer. I draw a lot from the ideas of effective mass communication when approaching a concept album.

Click below to read more of this insanely long interview!!!!!!!!!

Apocalyptic times inspire apocalyptic music. And while the FMA is home to plenty of outright doomish sounds, we also occasionally find some nice overlap with endtimes vibes seeping into the pop music realms.

When a terrible disaster struck Japan just days after the release of Emergency Songs, Monk Turner wrote an interesting post describing the dilemma he now faced in promoting the album he had just spent so much time on, lest it be perceived as opportunistic. Meanwhile, a group of South Korean video producers found the album here on the Free Music Archive licensed with the NoDerivatives clause, so they reached out to the artists asking to use "Start Again" as the soundtrack for an inspirational video, titled "We Love Japan"

At times when it feels like the world is really ending, it is really inspiring when people are able to come together through music and art. There are many benefit concerts (I know a bunch of people are heading to Maxwell's in Hoboken NJ for a Yo La Tengo benefit tomorrow). True Chip Til Death has organized a 90+ artist benefit compilation called Chip In: Japan, and really, who doesn't love the idea of chipping in through music? If you have suggestions of how to do this please share in the comments.