For their second release, Turner Club present a four-track EP that highlights their unique sound and musical diversity, continuing their exploration of the profound experiences found on the dancefloor and in life, building on the themes and emotions introduced in their first EP, ‘Hearts and Minds.’
Before embarking on their production journey, Turner Club had a rich history in dance music. The duo met at a Danny Krivit gig and quickly became friends, eventually organizing their own events throughout the 2000s and 2010s. These nights featured notable artists like Moodymann, Theo Parrish, and DJ Spinna, who created unforgettable moments on the dancefloor. Inspired by these experiences, along with the ups and downs of life, they began to produce their own music.
Their debut track, ‘Hearts and Minds,’ showcased a carefully crafted relationship between synths, drums, and vocals, designed to evoke deep emotional responses and tell meaningful stories. The duo embraced a variety of styles and influences, resulting in thoughtful compositions that resonate with listeners.
‘Stronger’ expands on the groundwork established by their debut, exploring new stylistic avenues that refresh their sound.
We grabbed the guys for a deep dive into their new music, early beginnings, creative process, and more!
WWD: Hey Guys, great to meet you! What’s happening in your world at the moment?
Ross: Now then, great to meet you too, love the magazine and its features. Thanks for having us.
Nick: I’m good thanks, just making a load of music in the studio at the moment and juggling family life. Though most weekends we escape to our caravan in Helmsley which is in the heart of the North Yorkshire moors. It’s like a mini holiday every weekend and really inspiring for musical ideas.
Ross: Apart from making music, not a lot. I sit in a small dark room waiting for Nick to post music under the door for me to work on when he returns from his retreat. Then if I don’t have a track by daybreak he refuses to feed me for days.
WWD: Congratulations on releasing ‘Stronger EP.’ Can you talk us through the release?
Nick: I have a load of unfinished tracks on my hard drive and I send them over to Ross for when he’s ready to come up with something. We had been sitting on stronger for a while and kept tweaking it here and there, so it took us some time to get it where we wanted it to go.
‘Lost in the Silence’ was written in no time. I basically knocked the track out in one night, apart from the arrangement as we usually work around the vocal together. When Ross sent me his ideas and vocals around 20 mins after sending him the instrumental, I knew it was done and that we had something quality.
‘Dazzling Green Eyes’ was originally called ‘Gulls’ and sat on my old hard drive. While I was working on it, I could hear seagulls in the distance and I thought it sounded really powerful over the track ,so I grabbed the sample off a free sample website.Then sent it to Ross so he could do his thing.
Ross: As Nick said the lead track ‘Stronger’ we have had for a few years. It sounded so big and we loved it so we were just waiting for a chance to release it. We try to release EPs with a bit of scope and variety so all the tracks don’t sound the same or repetitive. The core idea of ‘Lost in the Silence’ was written in about 15 mins, it took longer to fully piece together my mind.
‘Dazzling Green Eyes’ was a beautiful piece of music from 2019 called ‘Gulls’ and finally put together into a love song with lots of twists and turns musically and lyrically. Then we were very lucky to have an amazing ‘Stronger’ remix by the great Craig Smith to finish the EP off in style.
WWD: How did your collaboration as a team come about?
Ross: We had been great friends for many years , we met at a party in Manchester seeing Danny Krivit around 2004 and Nick used to come down to a party I ran with friends in Middlesbrough called The Ghetto. I always thought Nick was not only a brilliant DJ , his music in the early days sounded so rich, the bass so warm and he had a great understanding of composition and finding that hook that others really struggle with. It seemed so natural to him. I’d always written music and been in bands , so we spoke a few times off our heads about collaborating. Finally in 2019 he sent me a basic outline to Confusion ( off our first EP Hearts and Minds ) and from there we thought maybe we are onto something.
Nick: Ross sent me a text a few years ago asking for an instrumental for a vocal. I honestly never thought anything of it, though I did know he used to sing in a rock and indie band. I still wasn’t expecting much but when he sent me the demos back for Confusion and Escape , they kind of blew me away.
WWD: What’s the easiest & hardest part of collaborating?
Nick: To be honest, we don’t really have any issues apart from procrastinating at times but we usually give each other a bit of a kick up the backside when we start slacking. We meet up a lot more these days which makes things a lot easier. It all works really well.
Ross: The easiest thing is making the actual music that’s the most enjoyable, natural, pure thing in the full Turner Club project. The early stages of making a track from start to finish. The fact we get on so well helps too.
The hardest for me is the social media element, the digital world we live in and having to be a part of it. Even scrolling through any social media for 30 seconds kills a part of me, if it wasn’t for TC, I’d be nowhere near any of it in truth, so that’s something I always struggle with. I know Nick feels similar , but thankfully we don’t have to go on much.But as the brilliant DJ and producer, our friend Glenn Davis said to us last year ,it’s a “necessary evil” and he’s right. Pointless me whining about it. Oh and Nick’s light in the studio, and an unexposed 150 watt lamp about 2 feet from your eyes when you’re trying to look at the screen. It’s like looking into the sun or a solar eclipse with Jack Duckworth glasses on! That’s the hardest part 100%.
WWD: Where and when was the EP made?
Nick: The EP was made in our home built studio in my garden. I’m a bricky by trade so I acquired most of the materials from the site, perks of the job and all that! We produced it over the course of around 6 months. It should have been a faster turn around in all honesty but we are still finding our sound and learning so it took a bit longer than we hoped. We have learned so much from these last two EPs. We are gonna have material out much quicker in future.
Ross: Yeah Nick did a grand job, he built it and I came up with the name Turner Club Studios.
WWD: What message are you trying to convey through the vocals and the music sonically?
Ross: Sonically, I like that word. As with all our music, I always want whatever we do to sound real, honest and simply be us. It’s so easy to try and sound like something that’s all the rage at the moment or conform to a style you think may get played more. But I don’t think that would be true to yourself and you shouldn’t let that influence how you make your music.
I just write what I feel, I don’t know where it comes from at times and then others I’m deeply aware of where it has come from. Sometimes it’s just a simple mood, others it can be more personal in tone and nature. I’d like people to feel something when they listen to our stuff, if it’s in their bedroom, on a dancefloor, on a drive or wherever, good, bad or indifferent. You have to prepare yourself that your music isn’t going to be for everyone, and that’s fine, no music is, but as long as it gets people’s attention and isn’t boring that is always a positive thing for me. We have no real interest in producing cookie cutter house music.
Nick: With the music we try to keep it simple yet emotional to compliment the vocals. We also like to add a deep section in the second half of the track for the dancefloors. A bit of a nod to the old Mood 2 Swing and Jazz n Groove tracks from the late 90’s.
WWD: Did you use any notable gear or plugins to produce the EP?
Nick: Ableton Live, software synths and a mixture of stock plugins and VST’s. And many different drum samples we’ve built up over the years for the beats.
WWD: For those who are just discovering your music, what do you hope they feel when they listen?
Ross: Ah man, I really should read the further questions before wittering on for ages in previous ones. I’d like people to feel like they are listening to something a little different to the track they had on before if it’s on a shuffle for example. To escape in it a little bit perhaps, again if it’s sober, drunk, off your head, anything. If it’s a melody, a lyric, a synth, or a bassline. If someone could feel that even for a tiny moment, like we do when we listen to music it would mean the world to us.
Nick: I hope they feel like they have discovered something original and relatable.
WWD: Can you share some insight into your creative process? Any rituals or methods that keep you inspired?
Nick: Usually I start with basic drums and find a synth preset I like the sound of and get an interesting chord progression down, then a bassline and build like that and so on. I like to work as fast as I can, as I think the longer you spend tweaking it, the more you lose the initial magic and buzz for the track.
I’ll get a basic arrangement over to Ross when I’m happy with all the elements and once he’s got the vocals, melody and ideas over we’ll work the arrangement around them.
Ross: I am pretty weird when I come up with ideas or when I don’t. I’m not a jam sort of person really, like to just sit down and work non stop at something til it’s done, if I don’t feel it, I don’t feel it. And If it starts to feel mechanical, like a job or routine in some ways I just struggle. Probably some undiagnosed mental health thing really isn’t it (answers on a postcard) Lazytwatitis maybe?
I like to do it alone when I’m in the right headspace and just when the mood feels right. There’s no real set thing or place really. Although I do tend to like to work at night in a dimly lit room, ideally, sitting stroking a cat mwahahahaha.
I do only like to work on one idea at one time, otherwise I just feel like you end up with 10 different unfinished ideas and it pans your head.
I have an old tiny white Nokia phone from the mid 00s I recorded all the original ideas on, not like a “cool” vintage thing or anything, it was the worst piece of shit ever and of terrible quality. But I dunno I just like anything that keeps things simple, easy and me away from technology, then I’m more than happy. My little niece Heidi loves that phone too “your little phone” she calls it, so it always has a piece of my heart.
WWD: As someone deeply involved in the house music scene, how do you see it right now?
Nick: As I mentioned earlier, I’m either in the studio, having family time or away in the countryside. I don’t get out as much as I used to, obviously that is going to change in the next year or so when we start playing but from what I’ve seen on social media there seems to be plenty of great club nights still around.
Ross: Oddly we’re not as deeply involved as we were 10/12years ago when we ran our Werk parties, but we certainly plan to be in the next few years. There seems to be a lot of clubs closing which is sad. Day events seem very popular. I always think Giles and James always seem to still throw great parties (but separate now I believe), then you see people like Kyle Hall playing some of the most amazing parties all over Europe and the world. A few months ago, Ryan Elliott posted some videos from a loft space in Amsterdam. I think the party was called Multisex? That gave me goosebumps and looked out of this world, not many phones out people dancing having fun, so it’s still alive and well across Europe and parts of the UK that’s for sure.
WWD: What’s one thing you’ve learned about the music industry that surprised you?
Nick: It’s very difficult to be heard above the noise.
Ross: Not many people (bar the odd angel sent from heaven Craig Smith/Glenn Davis and a few others) will help you, so best you don’t ever really expect any. Contacts from the past ignore you, only reply if it’s in their interest etc. Soon as you figure that part out, it’s sound.
WWD: Finally, what does the rest of 2025 hold for yourselves?
Ross: We are releasing our 3rd EP in October and although every musician ever says this but “it’s our best yet” featuring another amazing remix. As well as starting our You Tube page (we are trailblazers), and we will be actively seeking management into 2026 and beyond. It should be all pretty exciting. Fingers crossed. Cheers.
Nick: Hopefully to get more music into a lot more ears! Thanks a lot for the interview, talk soon.
WWD: Very exciting! Thanks for the chat, guys 🙂
The ‘Stronger’ EP is available here