INTERVIEW: Collective Soul’s Will Turpin likes to stay busy
Photo: Collective Soul’s latest album is called Vibrating. Photo courtesy of David Abbott / Provided by ABC PR with permission.
Chances are if a music lover lives on planet Earth, Collective Soul will be stopping by for a gig in the next few months. That’s how extensive and continuous this rock ‘n’ roll band’s schedule is, and they show no signs of stopping. The band is still pounding the pavement decades after they first broke into the mainstream, and they have a new spate of songs to celebrate: last year’s well-received Vibrating album.
Will Turpin is the bassist and background vocalist for the band. He’s an instrumental (pun intended) part of the group, helping to bring their unique sound to throngs of fans each and every time they have a concert. And when Collective Soul come to town, they bring the hits, including songs like “Shine,” “December,” “The World I Know,” “Heavy” and “Precious Declaration.”
“It’s a busy time,” Turpin said in a recent phone interview. “When we were younger, we were busy playing rock ‘n’ roll all the time and having children, and now I’m 50. My kids are older, and I’m in the studio all the time. And somehow Collective Soul we’re as busy as ever. We just never stop.”
Turpin, who released his solo album Serengeti Drivers a few years ago, has had a front-row seat to Collective Soul’s impressive longevity and continued success. He has seen it all, including the masses of people who congregate at music festivals and the thousands who pack a theater for a headlining gig.
“In the festivals, when we get in front of a bigger crowd, it might not be a hardcore Collective Soul crowd, but even in the festival, dude, we play a rock song, and everybody seems to be fine,” he said. “We play the hits, but when we play in front of a smaller theater, like say 2,000-5,000 people, we’re fortunate. Let’s just say the deeper Collective Soul fans, I think we started out trying not to be a filler band on our records, but it’s almost like no matter what song we play, the core fans would rather hear some of the stuff that’s not the hits.”
Collective Soul’s other bandmates are Ed Roland on vocals and guitar, Dean Roland on rhythm guitar, Jesse Triplett on lead guitar and background vocals, and Johnny Rabb on drums and background vocals. As a group, they are committed to recording new studio albums, like last year’s Vibrating. Being in the studio is integral to their musical story.
“That’s something that is always part of us,” Turpin said about the recording process. “I get that some bands don’t record as much as they used to, and I’m friends with a bunch of them from the ‘90s that don’t record like we do. It’s just something that is part of our DNA that is still there 30 years later. We have to get back and create, so Vibrating and the one before Vibrating, both of them were recorded over a one-year period. … We were just in a zone at that point, I guess, because we did 20-something songs. It doesn’t feel like we’re just doing it to do it. I still feel like creatively we’re exploring what we do and still trying to go places with it, and the feedback has been pretty intense, too. People are like, ‘It’s not going to be the ‘90s ever again when y’all were new, but your new records were crisp, fresh. They sound good.’ All that feels good to us. It’s like we get more critical acclaim now than we did 25 years ago.”
Turpin became a bass player almost by default. He was a music major at college, and his best friends were in a band (spoiler alert: Those friends would form Collective Soul). Turpin would be the “sixth guy” and sit in sometimes to play percussion. Eventually the bass position opened up, and Turpin told Ed Roland he’d play bass to be in the band. The rest, as they say, is history.
Collective Soul are known as a Georgia band, and Turpin’s personal story is also tied to the southern state. His mother and father were originally from Georgia. In fact, his father was a musician who auditioned for the U.S. Army band. After landing that gig, he was assigned to Fairbanks, Alaska, to entertain the troops as a drummer. That’s why Turpin was actually born in the most northern state, but eventually came back home and settled in Georgia.
Turpin’s connections to his father run deep. His father eventually ran a recording studio, and the bass player has inherited the facility and upgraded its offerings. Now Turpin keeps the legacy going at Real 2 Reel Studios in Jonesboro, Georgia.
“My dad has been gone over four years now, and when I came in the place, I knew I couldn’t let it go,” he said. “He died in December, and I probably came in here in late January and just decided I couldn’t let it go. The last five years of his life, it lost a little without him being here all the time and him being sick. It lost the energy, the amount of people that were coming in and out of there and such.”
He added: “Things are moving super-fast. This studio is clipping. The buildout out on this studio is what was important. You can put a studio anywhere, but this buildout is as good as it gets on any professional level. So I had gear, and I had a basement studio in my home. But this is totally different. It’s a true buildout. It’s a true tracking studio, so yeah last week we installed a new SSL board, and lots of stuff going on in the studio. It’s going to have a new lift. I’m calling it Real 2 Reel 3.0 because the first one would have been in a basement home in Stockbridge, Georgia, which was basically the hub for Collective Soul, and then this one was built in 2001 in Jonesboro. And this one was built to be a studio from the ground up. That’s 2.0. And then me, my ownership and all the things I’m doing, it is 3.0. Man, the building looks great. The interior is a mint design, and I’m bumping up the gear like crazy. … I’m surrounding myself with a bunch of engineers and producers. We’re just going to make music. The production company is passionate to me. I like working with other bands. I’m busy, but it’s a good thing.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Collective Soul are currently touring the United States and Canada. Click here for more information.
