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I APPROACHED IT in a different way. It felt like a different thing to me and so I wanted to do it under a new name.And I thought: Factually, what has happened to me in the intervening four years? One thing was I wrote my PhD.
The other thing was I had a near death experience…
Musician David Turpin doesn’t want to say too much about his 28-seconds-long near-death experience, and it’s only natural that such an intensely personal event would remain private.
But on the rationale that no one wanted to listen to an album about his PhD, Turpin decided to use his near death experience to power some of his creativity for his latest album.
As he prepares to release his new record, it is clear that it has influenced him in a number of ways – not least that it prompted him to add ‘The Late’ to his performance name, while the record is called We Belong Dead.
“I was always fixated on ghosts and goblins and death”
There is a lot on the new record – which is synth-heavy, features Turpin’s measured, breathy voice and nods heavily towards 80s electronic pop – to do with the supernatural and with death, but Turpin says that his experience is not the only reason behind this.
“I made a record called Haunted in 2009,” he pointed out, before explaining:
I think that, you know, like all children I was always fixated on ghosts and goblins and death. Everyone grew out of it but I didn’t.
When asked to describe what it was like to have this experience, he said it is impossible – because in that moment he was absent.
“You’re briefly absent from life and then you come back. I wasn’t there in some sense,” he said.
But it did leave an impact on his future behaviour, making him realise that “there was no point in holding anything back for another day”, especially when it came to music.
“What it takes away from you is the assurance you’ll ever make another record,” he said.
Pleasure and entertainment
Turpin’s Dublin Fringe Festival debut in 2012 was with a sold-out show, and he is back again this year for a one-off theatrical concert at Smock Alley Theatre on September 15 that will officially launch We Belong Dead.
We Belong Dead was recorded over three years with collaborators including co-producers Stephen Shannon and Hunter-Gatherer, guitarists Conor J O’Brien (Villagers) and Colin Boylan (Bouts), violinist Cora Venus Lunny, and vocalist Cathy Davey, who, in true Turpin style, duets with a donkey on one song.
“I love working with other people, and I love that there’s parts on the record where I don’t sing the lead,” said Turpin.
His inspirations while making We Belong Dead included 20th-century choral pieces, vintage disco, trap music, Walt Disney scores pre-1967, and William Golding’s novel The Inheritors.
He imagines that there are two interwoven strands to the record (like a DNA strand), with one side being a pop record, “with all the pleasures and entertainment that the pop record should offer”, and the other a conceptual layer examining the end of human life, and the return of animals to take over the world.
“You create an imaginary world”
(DavidTurpinTV/YouTube)
He enjoys exploring these fantastical ideas on record, visualising things that people may not ordinarily think about. “You create an imaginary world when you make a record.”
He enjoys the abstract sense of music, giving people the space to imagine things using the aural clues he leaves for them.
Such clues incude the interesting vocals that feature in his music, and indeed a choir will occupy a large role in the Fringe live show. “I knew that I really wanted to do something with voices, something that centred on the voice.”
“As exotic as synths can be, as dramatic as all the strings on the record and all that kind of stuff, there’s nothing as beautiful and nothing as strange as the human voice.”
Irish culture
Being heavily immersed in the creative side of things, he is perfectly poised to give an insight into the Irish cultural landscape as it stands today.
While enthusing that there is brilliant music being made here, he added: “I think it would be irresponsible not to acknowledge that there’s a drain of creative people out of the country, who have to leave as life is being made impossible for them.”
He said that many of his friends have emigrated, not necessarily by choice, but because of circumstance.
Turpin explained that on a certain level “so much support has been taken away from people”, while “an inordinate amount of support has been taken away from artists”.
He also sees the grip of the recession as having influenced what sort of work is being created, and detects a “wildness in things that there wasn’t before”, due to the world becoming “more hostile”.
In response, people are making more work that’s wilder and ferocious and frightening – and I really like that. And I think that’s the best way to deal with difficulty.
As he freely admits he doesn’t know how to take a break, future plans for Turpin include writing for other people, production for other people, and writing a film score. “I think I’d be interested to do something instrumental,” he mused.
While there is life in him, he’ll keep on working.
We Belong Dead is released on CD and Digital Download on September 13.
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Thats nothing. Put a teenager in front of one and you don’t have to talk to them for years!
Parents should be very careful with allowing children access to tablets.
@Jack Cassady: airs actually really important to remember that tablets are vital communication devices for children with proven speech delay or who are non verbal. Please don’t confuse the two. Speech and communication are two different things. There are a huge amount of speech and communication apps that are vital for kids with speech and language issues. These are usually kids with pre existing conditions like Down Syndrome or Autism and are used in conjunction with a speech therapist !!!
@Catherine Sims: jack was being sardonic, the tablets he was referring to were not of the electronic variety. Btw I completely agree with your comment, my son is one of those who develop those apps.
@Catherine Sims: Not with a speech delay. A speech delay is when kids develop sounds at a slower rate than their peers. This may rectify itself, or may require a bit of speech therapy which will focus on oromotor skills e.g. tongue positioning. They are very successfully used as an augmentative or alternative communication device for those with severe language disorders. They are used as a communication device and can be life changing for those who may never develop oral communication to a functional degree. They have never been shown to be beneficial in typical speech or language development. As the study indicates they can actually delay development as some of the most important factors in child language development are interaction and eye gaze
@Anne Marie Devlin: you are talking about typically developing children and I am not. Unmade that clear when I referred to both Down Syndrome and Autism. My degree is in psychology and puts grad early intervention and actually I’m on the autism spectrum myself.
@molly coddled: Thanks Molly I’m not good at recognising sarcasm as I’m on the Autism spectrum. Has your son done any apps with pictures not icons maybe in two steps and no more ? Or a good virtual visual schedule ?? Let me know if you can. I’m always on the look out for communication apps more suited to children with maybe moderate to severe learning disabilities. Most are best suited to mild and moderate .
None too sure about the high percentage, I’ve a 4 yr old with speech delay/disorder & has never held or played with a device. Speech & Language delays & disorders were around long before wifi
@Twittwootou: exactly, my 10 year old had a severe speech and language disorder as did my 38 year old brother.
I’m sure it’s in our genes
@Lily: by the same logic, lung cancer existed before smoking, so……………….?
@Twittwootou: so based on knowing one or two people you think its a none issue?
You understand how research study’s work right? They use much larger groups and they use control groups too.
@Lily: It depends on the type of disorder. It is thought that genes can play a role in some speech or language disorders. Others may be the result of pre-natal trauma or environmental issues. However, the aetiology of most is simply unknown. What we do know definitively is that the typical development of language depends on a blend of cognitive, physiological, motor and social factors and that children whose development in any of these areas is hampered are much more likely to have a delay or disorder. From a social perspective, joint attention and eye contact are crucial. Cognitively what you need to encourage is symbolic play – pretend play such as using a banana as a phone. Spending large amounts of time in front of a screen can mean that infants are not developing in these areas.
@Twittwootou: this only relates to children who have access to a smartphone every day. ..
@Lily: exactly I had a speech delay, a couple of cousin’s had it too along with my 3 kids
@Twittwootou: That’s like saying smoking doesn’t increase ur chances of cancer because some people don’t smoke and they still got cancer. It just increases the likelihood. It doesn’t mean its the only cause.
What a load of rubbish. My daughter has been using a tablet since 18 months and can have a full conversation with you at 2 and a half. She watches a lot of education videos (Steve and Maggie) and her vocabulary is amazing thanks to it. Even if the odd word does sound like your listening to peppa pig, it’s a small price to pay.
@Trevor Beale: imagine what she could have been like if she had spent all that time interacting with you, instead of an electronic gadget.
@Trevor Beale: don’t think it’s something to be proud of really ..
I see you’re all rushing to judge Trevor with no context at all. Child could be on it for 15-30 mins per day which is proven to be beneficial. You’re all presuming the child is on it all day. Maybe have a look up yourselves from the journal and commenting on everything (see I can make presumptions too)
@Anto Curran:
Very true Anto or Trevor could be an experienced conmenter who knows how press peoples buttons.
Some parents might not have their kids playing educational apps. I’d say the ‘button basher’ type games would be a shade worse than sitting them in front of cartoons on the tv. On the other hand, an educational interactive app/game is probably a shade better than an educational tv program.
@Suzie Sunshine: Couldn’t be any prouder of my daughter Suzie.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: She spends plenty of time with her dad Sean. All productive.
@P.J. Nolan: Think you’d want to learn how to spell commenter before you start judging anyone P.J.
@Anto Curran: Anto and WJ, least there’s still some people with sense on this forum.
@Trevor Beale: WA
@Trevor Beale
: Now don’t tell me you hit the wrong button did you ?
Never happens to me.
@P.J. Nolan: lame excuse brains
@Trevor Beale: I have no doubt that you are proud of your daughter ..
I assume someone taped an iPhone to Michael Healy-Rae’s face for his entire childhood.
Keep the tablets out of reach, preferably in the locked medical cabinet!!
@Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: Then where do I put my children??????
@その男、凶暴につき: Under the stairs like the rest of us
Why not load the smartphone/tablet up with games that teach problem solving skills etc. My eldest was able to pick up coding via Scratch jr and my youngest knew all of her colours/shapes/fruits/vegetables and so on back to front long before she started Montessori.
Using them as a portable telly? No. Using them as a learning tool? Yes.
what to do if your child of 2years old keeps crying and your trying to eat your dinner in peace, or your trying to sleep and they keep crying for a smart phone. my daughter is smart phone mad she can’t live without youtube kids and its true she has a speech problem.
@Nasir Saeed: well that’s your own fault for getting her addicted to it in the first place
What a load of complete and utter garbage. Ive a daugher age 4 who speaks 3 languages fluently (2 by age 2) She watched about 20 minutes a day from age 2. Remember its just a small tv screen with the programs you select (as opposed to tv channels) this is just a technophobe article with nothing to back it up.
Go home iMoan, you’re drunk.
If you must have the tv on, put it on subtitles if a young child is in the room. A babble they don’t understand will make them turn off language development.
Well! No shit, Sherlock!!!
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