EMQ’s with Turkey Vulture
Hi Everyone. Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with Southern Connecticut based Metal/Punk/Folk duo Turkey Vulture ! Huge thanks to Jessie May for taking part!
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hi Ever Metal, thanks for talking with us! My name is Jessie and I play guitar and sing for Turkey Vulture, and also recorded the bass for our singles. The drummer Jim Clegg and I started this band in the winter of 2018 — but we have played together in different local outfits for more than a decade. So this is the latest project!
How did you come up with your band name?
I love turkey vultures for some reason. You see them all over the place where we’re from. I joked for years about starting a band called “Turkey Vulture” and eventually the joke became a reality.
What country are you from and what is the metal scene like there?
We’re from Connecticut, which is in the northeast region of the United States. There is an active local metal scene here, and some notable metal bands have come out of our small state — like Liege Lord, Fates Warning, and Hatebreed to name a few.
What is your latest release?
We are releasing a two-track single on June 28th, 2019 — an original titled “Boxer” and a cover of the Dolly Parton’s classic “Jolene”. We’re then hoping to record an EP this summer.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Both Jim and I enjoy a lot of different genres of music. For this band, folk music has been a conceptual influence on my end. Jim listens to a lot of punk and Metallica, which definitely comes through in his drumming.
What first got you into music?
I don’t know, I’ve been doing some sort of music since elementary school. Hearing the strings teacher play a bluegrass riff on the violin when I was eight made me want to play the violin — which was short lived, but got me into string instruments. I shifted over to cello and bass some time in middle school (a lot less ear-splitting when you’re learning how to play) and the rest is history!
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Brandi Carlile or the Indigo Girls, and write some kind of fuzz rock song with them.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Maryland Doomfest!!!! Or Psycho Las Vegas. Or the bar down the street, what the hell!
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Haha, we don’t have fans yet. But related to another band I’m in that has like three fans, one time a dude gave me some wampum he made himself — that was pretty cool.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
“Be our fan.”
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Robert Johnson. He never got to see his own musical legacy.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I love writing songs and connecting with people — music creates a common ground where one wouldn’t otherwise exist. But the older I get, the less I like sending endless emails and texts to arrange local shows. I think the future might be just recording and putting the songs online, and just playing a couple shows a year.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
I would want to go back to a time when a live band was the standard entertainment. My dad told me that when he was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, every neighbourhood had a couple of garage bands that would play parties and school dances and stuff. Now that idea seems so foreign!
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Thin Lizzy – “Live And Dangerous”.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs or Downloads?
I don’t think I’ve had a device with a cassette player in twenty years (ten for my car), so cassettes are out. And vinyl has the best sound and artwork, but I don’t own a record player and don’t see that changing anytime in the near future lol. So I’m a CD and download girl myself — I download a lot of music from bandcamp and burn it onto CDs, which I listen to in the car.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Well, I’m not a musician by day — I’m an elementary school librarian. So while I’m not doing music, I’m helping kids check out Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and telling them to “use walking feet” as opposed to sprinting everywhere they need to go. It’s not a bad gig.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Curtis Dewar and his wife, Matt Bacon (he doesn’t get a plus one), Nate Carson, and my friends Baldwin and Carrie. Jim would be my plus-one, so I guess that’s seven! But I’m a librarian and not a math teacher, so who’s counting….
What’s next for the band?
We’re going to record a couple more songs and play some gigs this summer. Hopefully people will dig what we’re putting out there and we can build a regional audience. I’d also like to put out a split EP at some point — never done that before, and I think it would be fun to collaborate with another band.
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
We are on Facebook, Instagram, and bandcamp right now:
https://www.facebook.com/turkeyvultureband/
https://www.instagram.com/turkeyvultureband/
https://turkeyvulture.bandcamp.com/releases
Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?
I don’t know what those are.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank YOU again for taking the time to include us on your site! We appreciate you for helping a new band get the word out.
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.