If you’ve ever seen Collective Soul live, you’ve noticed the oft mohawked bass player standing in the rear near the drum kit. Sometimes Will Turpin leaps off speakers, sometimes he moves in a definite Mick Jagger-like strut around the rear of the stage, but at all times he seems to be completely relaxed while performing in front of audiences ranging from a few hundred to thousands.
Currently the band is on a hiatus and Turpin has released his own 5 song EP, Lighthouse. I recently had the pleasure of talking to the laid back bass player, who as it turns out, also sings, plays piano, arranges, and co-produced the album himself.
nightMair Creative: This album has been in the works for some time – how long have you been thinking about releasing a solo album?
Will Turpin: I’ve thought about a solo album for about the last 10 yrs, but I didn’t start writing my own songs until about 6 yrs ago. The oldest song on the album is about 6 yrs old but most were written in the last 2 yrs.
nMC: So if we think about the first song you wrote for the album – is it still indicative of what you were thinking then, or has it changed and morphed over the years to become something totally different?
Will Turpin: I hear things in a pretty broad sense, so the general feel of the songs, the way I first envisioned them and the general feel is still there exactly the way I heard them.
‘Sailor’, ‘Her Way’, ‘60 Seconds’ were all there in my head when I started the recording process, and ‘My Star’, and ‘Sanity’ came about as I continued to record.
nMC: Do you have any favorite songs in how they turned out?
Will Turpin: Yeah I really like ‘Her Name’ a lot; the soul, the funkiness that’s in that one. I’m really pleased with it. Actually I’m really pleased with all of them – but ‘Her Name’ I thought was kind of difficult to get it to where I wanted it to be without maybe hiring an outside musician. That’s the one I was actually thinking of hiring a bass player (laughs). I wanted it to be really really funky and I’m more of a rock player but it turned out good.
nMC: How did you come up with the name of the album, Lighthouse?
Will Turpin: I just thought of a lighthouse as a cool image – it’s a reference to the lyric in ‘Sailor’ – “I can’t save the sailor from the storm.” That’s really what the lighthouse is. It’s there for perfect guidance if the sailor wants to use it. But the sailor has to choose to use the beacon.
nMC: Do you find that a sad song?
Will Turpin: yeah a little bit – in the chorus. “Don’t you put that hat on me’ can be viewed in a couple of different ways.
nMC: I really like ‘Sanity’, the close out track, and the most epic track of the album I think – what can you tell me about it?
Will Turpin: ‘Sanity’ is about getting caught in a rut so to speak, and whether that’s a drug addiction or relationship that you’re addicted to – to me those things can become a stumbling block to your happiness, but you can’t give up hope and must find a solution. That’s what the song is about in a very general sense.
nMC: I’ve found that your songs might seem a little bobby/pop sounding on the surface, but delve into the lyrics and they’re deeper and quite emotional. Did you find yourself putting more heart and soul into the lyrics than perhaps the melody?
Will Turpin: hmm.. more than likely its more of a ‘what came first the chicken or the egg’ for me. I think the hook and melody come first for me. The idea of the song comes with the hook/melody, but the details of that idea, the details of the lyrics usually come later. That doesn’t mean the songs aren’t emotional. I think they’re very emotional.
nMC: Which song do you think is the most light hearted song on the album – in terms of emotions or tune perhaps?
Will Turpin: Probably melodically and lyrically – (hesitates) – I don’t know if any of them are light hearted now that I think of them. (laughs) I have a new one I’ve written I can guarantee is light hearted!
nMC: you’ve played the songs live recently with your band Will and the Way. When you booked the first gig, did you go ‘omg I need a band to play this stuff live!” or did you have the band already before you recorded the EP?
Will Turpin: I didn’t really think about it actually – I was just interested in finishing the EP. When it came time to put a band together, it happened very naturally. I was already friends with some great musicians. I’ve known Jason Fowler for a long time and he’s an excellent vocalist. And Scott Davidson on drums is an extremely accomplished musician from Berkley – Jason reminded me that Scott lives here – it kinda fell in my lap to be honest and I feel very lucky in that regard.
nMC: How did you find the songs received in a live setting?
Will Turpin: I felt a lot of positivity…
nMC: Were you more nervous presenting your own material than you would be doing Collective Soul material?
Will Turpin: I didn’t even think about it actually – maybe I should have thought about it (laughs) Maybe I should have been nervous but I’m not nervous when I do Collective Soul either. I think that’s a good way approach it when its art. By definition you can’t control how people are affected by art so why worry about it… just send it to people’s ears and you can’t make them enjoy it or not enjoy it.
nMC: When you are playing live how do you find jumping back and forth between keyboard and bass?
Will Turpin: Musically it’s not a problem –arrangement wise we’d like to find a fourth musician but we haven’t found that perfect fit yet. The plan is to be patient while we build the core with us three, then the fourth one will come. We can cover our gigs at present with the three of us but if we go on a pub tour, we’ll have to have a fourth. We’re going to kind of wait for the right fit.
nMC: if you guys do a tour would it be a localized Atlanta tour or would you tour farther?
Will Turpin: I’d like to get in a van and do an old school tour – do selective cities and maybe go on tour with some buddies like Gareth Asher or some other musical friend.
nMC: I get the distinct impression that Lighthouse isn’t going to be a one-off thing … you mentioned touring and finding a fourth person – is there a possibility of another EP or?
Will Turpin: Right now I’m thinking of expanding on it – I did have 12 or 14 tunes when I started Lighthouse so I might do Lighthouse Part 2 or a re-release of the existing. It was my idea when I cut it down to 5 tunes, to release it now, but expand on it at a later date – start the ball rolling now so to speak. We’ll see!
“The Lighthouse” is Will Turpin’s first solo effort outside of Collective Soul and features collaborations with former drummer Ryan Hoyle as well as current band mates Ed Roland (who co-wrote two of the songs), guitarist Joel Kosche, and musician Peter Stroud (electric and 12-string guitar). Will sings as well as plays piano, bass, acoustic guitar and drums. You can find Lighthouse on CD Baby and Amazon.com
Great article, it’s neat to see how the inspiration flows.