The Australian band recounts jam trips, lineup changes, and the shift to a more direct sound on Being Here

Transmission 186: Interview with Turtle Skull

Turtle Skull is a Sydney-based band formed by Dean McLeod (guitar, vocals), Charlie Gradon (drums, vocals), Julian Frese (bass, piano, vocals), Dan Frizza (synths), and Ally Gradon (synths, piano, vocals). Their third album, Being Here, will be released on 23 May 2025 via Art As Catharsis (AUS/NZ) and Copper Feast Records (UK/EU).

Title: Being Here
Artist: Turtle Skull
Release Date: 2025-05-23
Genres: Doom Metal, Experimental Music, Psychedelic Rock
Label: Art As Catharsis, Copper Feast Records
Description: Turtle Skull talk about their album Being Here, the Sydney scene, existential themes, and instinctive recording sessions.

Tracked live at NoWave Studio in Mullumbimby, the album pulls away from the densely arranged layers of Monoliths (2020) in favour of stripped-down immediacy. With only vocals overdubbed, the band aimed to capture unpolished takes and retain the unpredictability of performance.

How did the earliest origins of Turtle Skull come together, and what initially drew you to create music within this heavy, psychedelic framework?

After attending some amazing heavy music festivals on some travels a few years back I was inspired to start a heavy psych project when I got home. Charlie and I started jamming immediately, playing loud riffs all day for months until we got some solid ideas and vibes together. We organised a jam trip in a cabin on a farm for a few days with Juli and Dan and brought along some recording gear and made the first record almost by accident that weekend. Which prompted us to play some shows and release the record and keep going from there!

Can you describe the atmosphere of the early scene when Turtle Skull was first forming? Were there particular local influences that helped define your direction?

We were just excited to be writing and playing heavy riffs! Seeing how heavy and weird we could get while just making music with friends. The sydney scene at that time felt really strong and we had many friends in great bands that were doing all sorts of cool things which was inspiring to watch and be a part of.

How did the process of recording Being Here differ from your earlier albums, especially in terms of your decision to embrace a live, instinct-driven approach?

Album 1 was a beautiful accident. Album 2 (Monoliths) was much more carefully considered. We put good time into arranging and then after tracking we spent many hours at Dan’s studio doing layer upon layer of vocals and synth and guitars. Which was very fun and the result was a beautifully textured album with so much to discover. This time around for Being Here, we tried a slightly different approach and recorded most things live and really cut back on over dubs and extra textures. The result is more raw and immediate. And allows the songs and arrangements to blossom.

The single “Into the Sun” emerged from older riffs. How did that track evolve during the sessions, and what made it the right choice for a lead single?

Charlie and Ally wrote a lot of the main riffs for that one at their place and put together a great demo for us to check out. Once we all got together on it we spent some time getting familiar with it, then chopped it up, rearranged it, found some vocal lines, added everyone’s unique touch. The result was a really fun and uplifting track we really loved and wanted to release a single.

We just wanted to feel connected again… Being Here is our way of processing that, and making something that we could believe in

Being Here explores themes like social media and the passage of time. How did these ideas shape the album’s mood and direction?

Over at Turtle Skull we all think a lot, for better or worse haha. So there is usually a lot of existential themes and lyrics. But actually we made a lot of the riffs and demos before writing melodies and lyrics so they came along naturally afterwards. And once we had all the songs and lyrics recorded, the mood and direction naturally presented itself and we found the right artwork and name for it!

Were there any unexpected inspirations or moments during the writing process that shifted the direction of the album?

It was a long writing process. We had 11 songs for this album (8 on the record, and 3 extra that didnt make it onto the record), and they were written over a period of maybe 3-4 years. Which meant there were many moments that came and went that gave us inspiration and found their way onto various parts of the album. An example is two very dear friends wedding that we attended and played at, and was so momentous for us that it influenced the lyrics of 2 of the songs on the record. It was fun to watch these songs appear and evolve too. 1 track almost made it onto our last record Monoliths (Being Here). While another was written about a week before we went into the studio (Apathy)!

How has the creative dynamic within the band shifted with the new lineup, and what impact did that have on Being Here?

Ally joined the band at a time when we were wondering what was next. She brought such an amazing fresh energy to the project and really influenced the direction and evolution of all the songs. She’s a great singer, bass player, pianist, synth player… to have that experience on board is amazing. And I reckon the live show is as good as it’s ever been thanks to her!

What upcoming projects or collaborations are you most looking forward to after the release of this album?

There is so much in the pipeline. We are just figuring out what to release next and what to work on. But there is a new record in the pipeline that we are currently visioning out, there’s a collab live session that happened with an amazing overseas band that is floating around and will make itself known at some point. More tours and weird shows. And even my personal solo project on the way too. And Charlie’s under his name, Charlie Gradon! Lots to get excited about :)

Photos courtesy of Turtle Skull

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others