Michal Turtle

Michal Turtle

Michael James Turtle (* 24. July 1960 in Cryodon, South London) is British musician, producer and composer, living in Basel, Switzerland.

Life

Early Life

Michal was born (Michael) in 1960 in Croydon, south London, and comes from a musical family. In 1968, after watching drummer Buddy Rich on TV, he told his father he wanted to do that. A drum kit was bought, and Michal has been making music ever since. He spent the 1970s playing drums, piano and writing music, (on paper) as well as playing with the many youth orchestras and ensembles that proliferated in the area where he grew up. During his time at the Royal Academy of Music (1978-1981) he discovered the world of recording, in the college's (then) state-of-the-art recording facility (An 8 track analoge studio). Once portastudio technology became a reality, he bought one of the early models and began recording with any instruments he could lay his hands on. A job as a dance accompanist at the Laban centre put him in touch with a new circle of creative people, which led in 1983 to an LP release: “Music From the Living Room" on Shout Records. This album, as the name says, was recorded in the front room of his parents’ house. Ignored at the time, it would be a key element in the development of Michal's later career.

Equipment used

Michal started the portastudio years with an upright piano, an ARIA SB600 bass, a Crumar DS-2, a Syn Drum, lots of percussion including a vibraphone and glockenspiel, a microphone and lots of ideas. A Boss Dr. Rhythm DR55 and Soundmaster SR88 were the drum machines of choice, and eventually a WASP and a Juno 60 were added. A very important addition to this audio arsenal was an ARP 2600, and various outboard effects were also being used (importantly an elektoharmonix memory man). Michal dabbled with electric and acoustic guitars for a while, but he did not feel comfortable with them.

Collaborators

Michal was a member of “The Duplicates” and there he worked and collaborated with Geoffrey Armes, Finn Panton, and notably Tim Flitcroft and Lucianne Lassalle, who both featured and co-wrote tracks on the 1983 album.

After he started working at the Laban Centre he collaborated on a number of tracks with Jonathan Smart (who is featured on “Phantoms of Dreamland” and “Return to Jeka”)

Michal moved to Camden Town in 1984 and set up a small (4 track) facility recording local musicians, artists and creatives, as well as working with bands “A Bigger Mercedes” and “Swimming in Sand”.

Influences

Joining the Duplicates in 1981 widened Michal’s musical horizon. Through listening sessions, mostly with Geoffrey Armes, he discovered an alternative world, populated by Jon Hassell, Holger Czukay, Brian Eno among others, and after starting work at the Laban Centre, he discovered yet another host of creative artists, such as David Byrne, Meredith Monk and Tom Waits. At this time he started writing for student and staff choreographies, some of which eventually found their way onto the Music from Memory albums. The title track “Phantoms of Dreamland” is one such track, rejected for another piece he had written for the same choreographer.

Other work 1983-87

Around the same time Michal would often spend days in the Windsor home of Marius Kahan. He collaborated with Marius on many tracks for his own project “Shinara”, and recorded many tracks on Marius’ 8 track machine. It was at this time they were both introduced to the relatively new world of sampling. Working with a Greengate DS3 sampler on an Apple II presented a completely different way of putting tracks together. What was also important was the sequencer that came with the sampler.

A encounter in a studio in 1986 (or early 87) presented Michal with yet another possibility. Suddenly it was possible to hook up all your keyboards, and have them play via a computer. Impressed with Steinberg Pro24, he went to a music store, and was convinced by the salesman to buy CLAB Creator and an Atari 1040. This was one of the first sequencers of this kind, and Michal stayed with the various incarnations of the software right through to the time of writing (2018) with the successor now known as Logic Pro X

Move to Switzerland

Whilst touring with a band in 1987 Michal made connections in Switzerland which would lead to him settling there. This time also marks (more or less) the change over to CLAB software over live recording, though everything was usually (and still is) a mix of the two.

He spent much of the 90s working in studios, engineering, arranging and composing, as well as performing (as a drummer and bass player) with such artists as Thomas Moeckel, Bonnie Jeanne Taylor, Tea for Two among others. After meeting Jessica Knoll in 1999, he went on to record 5 studio albums and perform as a live band under the names "dust" and "wearedust". This was mainstream “Americana” commercial pop inspired mostly by Jessica’s once-in-a-lifetime voice. Renewed online interest in the 1983 album prompted him in 2008 to remix it, and make it available for download. Eventually Music from Memory contacted him, and in 2015 began a string of releases for that label, various projects on other labels, as well as a live act on stages worldwide.

Discography (as Michal Turtle)

Music From the Living Room - Shout Records (1983)

Are You Psychic? (Maxi single) - Music From Memory (2015)

Phantoms of Dreamland (Double Album) - Music From Memory (2016)

Relight - V.A. (Remix) -  Light of Other Days (2017)

Return to Jeka (LP) - Music From Memory (2018)

Middle of the Road Less Travelled (Maxi single) - Light of Other Days (2018)

[1] Static Journeys (LP) - Michal Turtle, Suso Saiz Planisphere Editorial (2021)

References

This article "Michal Turtle" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Michal Turtle. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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