☆ Q&A with Turtle ☆

Turtle on Life, Audio Engineering, and Fever Dreams

Enter the Turtle Verse — to experience a range of catchy beats and solid storytelling capabilities by San Diego based artist, Turtle. Turtle’s message to the universe is one of authenticity and dedication which is radiated through his genuine personality and consistent visually striking music videos.

Gaining inspiration from the positives and negatives of everyday experiences, we get a track like “Sun Don’t Shine” which has themes of anxiety and thinking about the past. On the other hand, we have a track like “San Diego” which highlights the beauty of the city through its references to real life characteristics that Turtle is familiar with in his day-to-day life—such as how he pays $5 parking for the entire day.

I had the opportunity to chat with Turtle over Zoom as he showed me his home studio and introduced me to his cool dog. We discussed his audio engineering knowledge, the stories behind the music, and how the music videos are connected. Scroll to read our conversation.

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Ale: Hey! I appreciate you taking the time to sit down with me today! Tell me a little bit about yourself, how long have you been making music?

Turtle: My name is Justin, and I'm 18 years old. I lived in Imperial, CA my entire life until I was 17 years old. I've been making music since I was 15. I moved up here [San Diego] a year and a half ago in the beginning of my senior year. I did the entire school year online. Music's really, really, really what I am dedicating my life to. It's what my purpose on Earth is. It runs deep into who I am as a being. I love it all.

Ale: What was your first experience with making music?

Turtle: I was just really into music and loved listening to music. I started off making songs on my iPad in GarageBand. At the time there was a lot of buzz surrounding Soundcloud rappers. I would try to make beats and just rapping. I definitely started off really hip-hop heavy.

Ale: I remember seeing you post on Instagram about getting a certificate in audio engineering, which I think is really awesome. Can you give me some insight on what that was like?

Turtle: After I graduated from Imperial High School, I went to audio engineering school here in San Diego. It was a 6-month program, and it ended in February. I got a certificate at the end of it. I am involved in everything when it comes to the creation of my music. The writing, production, mixing—I am a part of every step in the process. I am a huge nerd about all of that. All the technical things like on the computer, I know how to do all of that. I produce the beats on FL Studio and I record and mix on Pro Tools.

Ale: Can you give me some insight into the creative process of making a song in terms of instrumentation and production?

Turtle: I don't play any instruments—like, I don't know how to play piano or guitar. I have this thing right here though [shows autoharp], but I don't know how to play it [laughs]. I do feel that it holds me back in some aspects, but it does make me stronger in other aspects. Everything I do is computer-based. It's other people playing instruments like the guitars and different samples. I learn how to tweak the audio to make it sound different. The samples I have are day and night because of all the computer processing and effects. It's a lot of trial and error. I try to stay away from looking up YouTube tutorials for certain things because I like figuring it out for myself. I have produced for other people as well.

Ale: When you produce something, do you know immediately what's for you and what you'll give to others?

Turtle: There's some times where I'll make something and I'm like, "Ooo I gotta use this one. Like, this one's a hit right here." Or there's other times where I'm like, "You know what? The concept is really cool but I can't see myself flowing on it." Most of the time when I send out beats to people, that's how it normally goes. I'll usually send it to a friend. I used to produce a lot for other people and had other people in mind. Now, I just produce for me.

Ale: Where do you get inspiration from for your music?

Turtle: I am a really emotional person in the sense that I just feel a lot of things deeply. I have an absurd amount of emotions going on inside of me that just needs to come out. Music is the outlet of expressing my real life—whether it's problems of negative things, or really happy moments, or maybe moments where I am really at peace. As corny as this may sound, life's a rollercoaster—like there's high points and there's low points. Whatever it is that I am going through, the music is just a reflection of where I am at in my actual life. If I'm riding high and feeling really great about myself then the music's gonna sound that way. If I'm down bad [laughs] then the music's gonna reflect that too you know? I'm definitely more on the positive side than the down bad side though.

Ale: When it comes to the creation of an album, is there a concept that comes to mind or does it represent a variety of pieces made during a particular time in your life?

Turtle: From the very beginning, I try not to get anchored down to one idea. I'll create spontaneously and there will be a group of songs where I'll be like, "Okay this is kind of starting to become something." I will keep creating spontaneously and then later on look more into the finer details of things. I just don't want to be married to any ideas because life's ever-changing and my ideas change. Having a concept in mind from the start is not my ideal way to create.

Ale: Let's talk about your album "Seasonal Souls"! What was it like creating it and are there songs in particular that you would like to go more in depth on?

Turtle: "Sun Don't Shine" took me about 7 months to do because I had to record a bunch of times to get it right like how I wanted it to sound. I made and produced everything here in my room and mixed everything in an actual studio. "Angelina" just flowed naturally since it was about events from my real life but altered in a certain way and set in a different context for entertainment purposes. For "San Diego," I was driving home and listening to Sublime. I was just like, "It would be really cool to make a song like this." It sparked my idea for it ["San Diego"] and it turned into its own thing. I just did it and it came out naturally. Those events told in the song are real like the line "pay 5 dollar parking for all day" like you actually have to pay that in Belmont. All the little details were true. A lot of the songs, when I first made them, they didn't sound like that at all. All the songs were a building process over time.

Ale: Your most recent collaboration BUM SOCRATES with Jonah Verlice was really great! Can you tell me more about your experience with creating the song with Jonah and what that was like?

Turtle: Jonah is a little beast. He goes ham all the time. Me and him click really well and we have really great energy together. Everytime we get in the studio, we have these amazing, beautiful conversations about life and philosophies and then we make music. We try expressing our views of life in the music—like, really trying to involve our mindsets into the music. Jonah is super intelligent, super talented, and super young. His future is really bright. We're going to be performing together actually. He's this hyper kid and it's his first show so I am super excited for him. It's like a family: if I eat, he eats. Same thing with 2Polar, if one of us gets something, we share. Like that type of deal. . . that's family.

Ale: Your music videos have great visuals! Who do you work with and what is that like?

Turtle: It's always so fun to make a video. It's me, John, Isaac, and Adrian. We try making it larger than life. We try building a whole world. We literally made a story arc for "Seasonal Souls" like my soul got taken away. All the four music videos are connected. A lot of it is my brother's doing of, like, coming up with these concepts and executing them. The funnest part is making them, of course. It's an all-day thing—like by the end of it, we are tired and drained but we feel so good about it. It's mostly my brother—like, he is really hands on with all the videos. The zero budget is the best part of it, like how we are able to create so much with what's in our minds and what's in front of us.

Ale: Any upcoming plans or releases you want to share?

Turtle: The next album is called "Fever Dreams'' and there's a new collaboration EP coming out with 2Polar. When it comes to releases, I am always trying to stay two steps ahead. LIke, say if I drop a song tomorrow, that song's been done since four months ago. If I'm dropping a song four months from now, I made it today. I always like being ahead of things. It's nice to have a timeline ready

Ale: Lastly, let's do some get-to-know-me questions! What's your go-to snack?

Turtle: Fruit, any kind, but mostly apples

Ale: Dream vacation?

Turtle: Nova Scotia, Canada

Ale: Favorite song/album of all time?

Turtle: Lovers Rock by Sade

Ale: Dream collaboration?

Turtle: Erykah Badu

Ale: If you could be any animal, which one would you pick?

Turtle: A Turtle [Laughs]

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Follow Turtle on Instagram and Spotify to keep up with future announcements. Check out the most recent music video for the newest release, "Dedicated", down below!

Click here to view my playlist "can we live in a song?"

Click here to view my playlist filled with artists you need to "keep on ur radar".

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Article was written by: Alejandra M. (@alejandrmor)

Article was edited by: Martha M. (@marthaa.22)

Photos provided by: Turtle (@turtleloves222)