Jimmy Turturici
Monterey, CA | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | INDIE
Music
Press
There is a certain kind of mystique & spark that never dims along the foggy & sleepy coast of the Monterey peninsula. Beyond the lore of the Jazz Festival, Monterey Pop & histories that date back to the founding of California; one of their many great local icons Jimmy Turturici has been busy working on a wealth of material, readying the release of his new EP Celestial Tabernacle available November 25 via his imprint Natural Satelite, presenting the premiere of “Cold Star”. Jimmy’s latest single takes audiences to the iciest dance floors of the cosmos, following his recent ambient work Beyond Dissolving, his extensive compilations The Past & The Future recently showcased the soundscapes previously embarked upon with a compass pointed to influential & exciting new directions from the elusive artist. His lauded Noumenal Loom single “Dancing By The Radio” & it’s follow-up “Aurora” were rumored to have partially informed & inspired aspects of the audio aesthetic Molly Nilsson’s Zenith where anachronisms of the digital & brass ages collide together in the synthesis of the audio ore created now in the current & common era.
The making of Celestial Tabernacle saw Turturici employing Ben Herod once again on both tenor & baritone saxophone, and Harvey Birrell on mastering duty while commissioning Giant Claw/Orange Milk sound & visual art-maestro Keith Rankin to make one of his Salvador Dalí of the thirty-first century album cover art pieces. The result is a three-dimensional rendering of a statue bust of a cartoon like figure staring forward & skyward amid a backdrop with a deep blue, yellow, magenta, pink & silver color palette that resembles cross sections of the stratosphere seen through psychotropic lenses that reveal the layers & levels in all things. Jimmy tunes the controls to mirror & mimic the brightest & most brilliant moons & satellites seen from observatory stations & high powered telescopes beamed toward the most keen constellations & cosmic coordinates. But don’t let all the outer space allusions & motifs get it twisted, “Cold Star” is one of the biggest dance singles the Sicily by Monterey artist has ever made. Having been part of countless groups & projects over the years with an amassed solo arsenal that continues to grow with time; Jimmy Turturici’s “Cold Star” provides a ballroom blitz of tested patience where a stoic & fashionable dance party breaks out amid a rumble of rhythms & kinetic beat coordinates that pilots some of the most jagged & frenetic work built around paranormal synth hooks that will stay with you. Join us following the debut listen for an exclusive interview.
First tell us what the fall to winter passage has been like for you in Monterey.
It’s been kind of surreal to be honest; a lingering feeling of uncertainty has been building up. The weather is great though, as a member I visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium often to daydream; finding moments of happiness only after orchestrating my version of a synth opera. Definitely been more contemplative of late; the sadness in the passing of David Bowie has definitely crept into my music. Hence my recent release of Beyond Dissolving was pretty much a result of that.
Tell us about how your singles “Dancing By The Radio” & “Aurora” have brought about this evocative four track cycle with Celestial Tabernacle EP.
Almost immediately after completing “Dancing by the Radio” and “Aurora” I had began working on Celestial Tabernacle. In fact, I came up with the EP name on my way back home form my short European tour in 2015. Working with such a perceptive and amazingly talented musician like Ben Herod—who plays the saxophone—helped me to set the creative bar a little higher this time around. I was definitely more prepared and had a clear vision of what I wanted when recording Celestial Tabernacle. Any artist will tell you, being able to hum or simulate an instrument and then hearing it played back to you exactly the way you heard it in your head is an inspiring experience and one I only found when working with Ben…therefore it only made sense to incorporate more of his talents when creating Celestial Tabernacle. I’m definitely looking forward to incorporating more of the talented brethren in the local Monterey jazz scene.
What sorts of discoveries did you find along your path during the making of Celestial Tabernacle?
Solitude facilitates creativity and when feeling down or overwhelmed meditation can be used like a candle lighting your way out of a dark tunnel—metaphorically speaking. Also it’s best to record music on an empty stomach.
As someone who always has multiple burners going so to speak, what are you currently developing in the studio?
I’m currently working on a minimalistic [sic] electro synth pop set with a good friend local singer & songwriter Kristen Gradwohl [of local Monterey County band Valley Soul], her amazing voice and warm positive personality enabled a great working relationship, kindly helping me sift through while taking notes on most of my music form the past two years finding over 40 potential songs and ideas to work but the work always continues, even if I wanted to I’m unable to stop.
Hopes for 2017?
That its better then 2016, man… it’s been a very sad year for so many people on this pale blue dot.
Ways that people can have a voice in today’s weird times?
Take chances, be willing to step out of your comfort zone.
Jimmy Turturici’s Celestial Tabernacle EP will be available November 25 through his label Natural Satelite. - Impose Magazine
From the Celestial Tabernacle EP available now via Natural Satellite; Jimmy Turturici takes you on a journey through the spaces of dimensions & the expanses of time with the hyper drive of “Cold Star”. Excitement surrounding the thrill of the exploration & adrenaline rush of the chase is illustrated with an asteroid belt’s worth of synths & electronic items of extreme intrigue. - Impose Magazine
There continues to be a low key creative brilliance that shines about the sleepy coast of the Monterey Peninsula. Exemplary of this is local artist/producer Jimmy Turturici who debuts the unique and moody moonbeam ballad titled “We Watch”. It’s the sound of southwest country-western tumbleweed wonders rolling into the smoky and foggy serenity of the 831’s windy roads, sand dunes, forests and mystic enclaves—all along the rocky shoreline edges of the Pacific. The classic and dusty troubadour style gets updated with a haunted sense of pensive calm like a specter’s song sung like the winding howls and moans of the wandering and restless breeze.
“We Watch” is delivered by Jimmy like a weathered journeymen sharing tales of trials and tribulations seen and recalled at some gritty truck stop diner that sits lonely along the stretches of the 101 freeway. Turturici turns the ballad into something of a modern day highwaymen’s lament that is executed with a steady and purposeful engine rhythm and an understated synth progression that glows like the indigo illumination luster from a truck cab’s dashboard. The subdued melodies and subtle arrangement moves like the emotions that travel throughout the consciousness during the long stretches of dark night walks and long distance drives. The burdens of the day and the weight of the world are recollected like passages from the history books, magazine features and news articles that have yet to be published and printed. Jimmy Turturici’s single paints a melancholic electro portrait of our current day quagmires that searches for the solace and sanctuary of a better day.
Jimmy Turturici provided the following candid thoughts, observations and feelings surrounding the new single:
“We Watch”
Watching the clock observing life at a dispassionate distance…
A letter to a future and a reevaluation of what we choose to see and accept with a chilling yet comedic reminder that we have 6 billion years or so to worry about shit that doesn’t matter — but to be here in the now in order to be aware of it what is really important.
But I'll let the song speak its words.
Listen to more from Jimmy Turturici via Spotify and the artist’s label Natural Satellite. - Week In Pop
On a breezy wintry night in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood; the Bay Area was treated to a lineup of luminaries that gathered to share their own mystic, musical light with the world. Featuring a bill that consisted of Berlin-based electro-enchanter Molly Nilsson, Monterey Peninsula pop maestro Jimmy Turturici and San Francisco aesthetes of psychic Americana Hectorine—rising west coast photographer Shelby Pimentel Wilson was able to capture the entire scene. - Week In Pop
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Dwelling along the edges of the western pacific shorelines is California-born synth pop artist Jimmy Turturici. Based out of the peninsulas that connect the Monterey and the Bay Area — the prolific Pacific Coast artist has curated a vast oeuvre of a career as a singer-songwriter, producer, studio musician and more while operating the independent record label Natural Satellite.
Renowned for a distinct signature of layered synth melodies, Turturici’s catalogue works to create a cinema for the ear style guided by hauntingly familiar vocal breezes. Utilizing an avant-garde approach to synth pop, his first collection of early compositions was released in 2005 on the compilation Kindergarten Resources, shortly before working in collaboration with Johnny Aulenta in the Americana psych-dream act The Slowest Ride. It was here where Jimmy entertained his inner song composer and tunesmith chops, while nurturing his own expanding styles of future folk in hand with a continued survey of synthesizer heavy solo material on the side.
In 2007 he composed music for an independent film titled The Monarch of Evening Time before creating the comedic electro pop album Activate Lasers in 2011, again with longtime collaborator Johnny Aulenta, in a band called Hot Dogs In The Sun. In 2010 Jimmy would release his solo release Wires for Rootsin 2010. It would be the 2013 EP titled Natural Satellitethat would lead to the eponymous imprint establishment of the same name. Gaining new resources, instruments, gear and equipment for further developing new sounds — Jimmy’s single “Dancing By the Radio” debuted in 2014 on the label Noumenal Loom label’s expansive and lauded Compilation 1release, succeeded by the second solo album Lost Encoded Memoriesin 2015 that featured post-cyber reality fantasias. This opened the gates of increased experimentation and audio texture explorations as Jimmy created two unique pieces space pop odysseys with 2015’s Alien Garden, followed shortly after by Celestial Tabernacle(2016). On both pieces of work, Jimmy worked alongside the masterful talents of Ben Herod bringing a warm brass touch with both tenor and baritone sax.
Jimmy Turturici is currently working on a new full length body of work that promises to transport you to an alternate past set deep in the recesses of future galaxies (tentatively slated for release later in 2019).
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