Juliet Turner Interview
Juliet Turner is one of Northern Ireland’s most successful singer songwriters and no stranger to the pages of A:Muze Having just released her 4th studio album Juliet takes time to talk to us ahead of a busy summer tour.
People have names is your 4th studio album and is receiving some really favourable press. I don’t think we have seen anything less that 4 stars. Was the process any different this time around ?
When I finished recording the “Live from the Spirit Store” album, I was really burnt out and knew that when it came to recording again, I was going to have to look at a different way of doing it. I had worked with Keith Lawless before on some demos and he played on the live album as well and I really liked his work and also his attitude.
So I called him up and asked if he would be interested in producing a new album with me but working over a long period of time, not in one short, sharp burst. He liked the songs and agreed and so we worked on the songs over a period of about a year and a half, just talking and doing a little recording here and there. Then in Jan 2008, we brought the musicians in and finished up the process in a couple of months.
Trickster is a great song can you explain the story behind it ?
I had been reading Lewis Hyde’s books “Trickster” and “Gift” and was thinking about what it means to try and opt out of accepted ways of living in society, with attitudes towards money and the systems we live under. Then I came across this story in a news bulletin of artists in the Czech republic who hacked into the computer systems of their local tv station and made it look as if their local nuclear power station had exploded.
They were caught and given a two year prison sentence, but Prague National Gallery awarded them a prestigious art award for their work. As a society, we like to ignore the things we are secretly afraid of, the things we feel we are helpless to prevent or do without.
Do you have any particular approaches to song writing, do you plan a song out or do things happen my accident ?
The songs on “People Have Names” were deliberately kept structurally and melodically simple. I wanted to write songs that sounded familiar to people, to make them feel that they were part of the stories that were being told in the songs, songs they would find it easy to remember and to sing themselves.
Are there any songs on the album you are particularly proud of ? Pick a story is one our personal favourites and I think it is fair to say each song feels really personal to you ?
I love the lyrics of “Pick a Story” myself, I think it manages to be both innocent and menacing. And I love the simplicity of “People have Names”.
The album cover is great, is this your work, can you explain it to us ?
The concept was mine but the artwork and design is the work of graphic designer Chris Jennings who has a company called Design Joint. . He did the design for “Season of the Hurricane”, which I think I nearly drove him demented with, i was always looking over his shoulder on that project.
This time, I emailed him, told him I didn’t want any colour or photos, just my names with a circle of faces around my name and everything black and white, so I really kept things simple and didn’t bother him. He had already designed the “Juliet Turner” logo, which I love, and the faces are all out of his own head, I think. The closer you look, the more you start to think the faces look like people you know. Freaky…
You have a busy summer ahead touring with the new album. Are there any of the events you are particularly looking forward to ?
The Greenbelt Festival at Cheltenham. I’m going to do two gigs there and I’ve been going there for years. I love playing there and then hanging out, meeting up with friends I don’t get to see at other times during the year. I like their ethos of social justice, exploration of faith, music and they have great food on site. Love it. Also, there’s a gig on the `Moon River” boat on the Shannon. I love that gig too, and the one in the Glebe gardens Amphitheatre in Baltimore in West Cork. The more zany, the better.
Juliet is responsible for me and the wife being together. Her rendition of “Broken Things” would be our anthem
[...] NAMES” was released on the 6th June 2008 and has been garnering rave reviews. Check out our interview with Juliet about the [...]
hey I met Juliet today after a gig niciest woman yoou could meet and she gave me a real boast and some advice which as it came from her I will not take lightly. She is my idol all my friends know her music purly through me singing it I hope I do her justice. But as she said “write your own” and I shall