Collective Soul's Will Turpin On The 25th Anniversary Release Of 'The Blue Album' And More

[Photo credit to Lee Clower]

Collective Soul's self-titled album, often referred to as the "Blue Album" has hit its quarter century mark and been the focus of a 25th anniversary release,  from Craft Recordings featuring bonus tracks, new liner notes, and more. Record collectors will be particularly enthused by the first-time ever vinyl release of the album in this edition, as well.

Accompanying the release of the "Blue Album" is also a first-time widely distributed vinyl release of the follow-up album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid. It was previously remastered for a limited edition Record Store Day release, but now you can order it at your leisure, too. 

I caught up with founding member and bassist of Collective Soul, Will Turpin, probably during one of the few times I might have easily spoken to a member of the band due to their typically intense live performance schedule. But during this down-time, Turpin has definitely not been sitting idle, I found. He has been spending time renovating Real 2 Reel Studios, working on solo material and band projects at the studio, and also Producing albums, with various bands coming in to work. But he still took a break to kindly share some stories with us about the recording of the "Blue Album", the band's origins, and their ongoing ethos to reach their audience in meaningful ways.

Hannah Means-Shannon: Are you someone who collects vinyl records?

Will Turpin: I’m just sitting here looking at a Peter Gabriel record, at an Allman Brothers record, just looking at my stack right now. There's Cheap Trick. I like all the classics, the good stuff. Here’s some Genesis. There’s music from The Wizard of Oz on vinyl. I’ll probably never listen to it, but it looks good.

HMS: There’s so much interesting stuff you can find. I always prefer to buy earlier issues of things if I can, since you can still get some pretty cheaply. Is there a sound difference for you, for vinyl?

WT: There’s definitely a sound difference. A lot of stuff matters. I can tell the difference whether its pressed on the thicker vinyl. You can tell a difference depending on which record player you use. But I love the audio thing that happens when the needle has to physically get onto the record and track the record. I love that.

HMS: When you’re Producing work, are you thinking about the format that it’s going to be released in, or are you just trying to get the best sound that you can?

WT: One of my Productions was having this discussion with me, Melody Kiser, from the band HeyDreamer, where it’s basically her and a drummer. She’s a great guitarist, great vocalist, and she was talking about the genre of the songs and how to package it. I don’t really think that way. I think of capturing her vibe, capturing the songs, and I leave it up to other people to try to categorize stuff.

As I was telling her, it sounds like her, it’s Rock ‘n Roll, it’s a little bit new, but on the creation-side, I try not to let those lanes that are used on the commercial-side get in my way necessarily. I don’t want to waste time thinking about it. I just want to capture things and make them sound as cool as possible, period. If it’s really good, the cream will rise to the top, and what genre it is will work itself out.

HMS: That makes a lot of sense. Have you seen many changes in the equipment use for Production in recent years, or has it mostly stayed the same? A lot of people are going back more toward analog approaches.

WT: We keep analog gear around, but the analog thing is a lot of work and has more quirks. The audio is really clear otherwise, so unless it really is your thing to use old-school gear, there really is no audio difference. The computer audio has really surpassed anything analog. It can do all those things. Twenty years ago, analog was still warmer, but all the major audio companies are investing time and energy into research and development with digital. And of course, they are trying to emulate or outdo what the original, analog equipment sounded like. At this point, they are clearly doing it. If you’re analog only, it’s because you like working on analog gear.

HMS: The actual experience of it?

WT: Yes, and I get that. I do get that. I have analog pieces that I still plug into all the time.

HMS: That’s cool. Is there anything that you’re particularly happy with about the remastering of the sound on the 25^th anniversary album? Was there anything that was tweaked there to bring out the best?

WT: Yes, we did get to hear the remastering of it. We’re real happy with it. We love listening to the early pressings so we can check the masters on the vinyl. That’s really a throwback experience and we never got to do that. When we were younger, that was already out the door. Nobody ever checked the master on vinyl. Now we’re back to the early pressings, where they are really only good for 20 pressings or something like that.

HMS: [Laughs] That’s great. There are a fair number of extras for the 25^th anniversary album. There are some live tracks and liner notes. Did you have input into choosing which live tracks were going to be included?

WT: Yes, we knew which performances were good to capture it from. As long as the audio was captured properly, it was good. We are a good Rock band, and we take pride in what we do, but there’s no reason to overanalyze it. We were a good Rock band every night, and that’s what we took pride in, so if the audio was captured, we’re good with it.

HMS: You have so much live performance history that it’s almost overwhelming. Among bands who play a lot, you’re in that top category. I can definitely understand that feeling.

You all released a live album in 2017, and I heard you had a lot of live performances to choose from on that. Did you have any guidelines that you used to make those decisions?

WT: We got pretty specific on the 2017 live record, and I took a big hand in that, too, figuring out which live performances we liked best. I knew that summer, when I think we were on tour with the Goo-Goo Dolls, and we recorded a whole two-month run. I even took notes every night that we’d play, if there was a certain song that got off, I was taking notes during the tour.

I relayed that to Shawn Grove, our longtime engineer and co-Producer. He took the notes, so he was already at step two by the time he was listening to 30 different live performances. He didn’t have to listen to all of them necessarily because I sent him to some hotspots.

HMS: That is so smart. So, you knew going in that you were working towards a live album, and started making notes at that time?

WT: We knew for sure. We were recording it digitally with a whole set-up for the live record. So that 2017 record wasn’t just drawn from one show, but it ended up being only from about five or six different shows. But those were the ones I highlighted. By the time that Shawn would have listened to 30 or 40 live shows, he wouldn’t have known the difference anyway.

HMS: That’s great. When I heard how many shows were involved, I wondered how on earth you did it.

Can you tell us a little bit about what your mindset was like when you were originally recording the self-titled album back in the day? What processes were going on during the actual recording of it for you?

WT: Speaking of digital and analog, that record is kind of historic because it was the first major label production done on a system called ProTools. In 1995, it was a brand new system, and our Producer Matt Serletic definitely knew it was the way of the future and wanted to use it. One thing that’s legendary about that to me is that DigiDesign, the company who made ProTools, was calling us while we were in the studio, sending us patches and updates so we could do things that we wanted to do.

This thing was a fledgling when we recorded on it. Back then, we still recorded on tape, and then into the digital atmosphere; that’s the way you had to do it because we were one of the first bands at that time to try to record an entire record on ProTools. As far as I know, no one has rebutted that. It was the first commercial release through a major label that was all done on ProTools.

HMS: That’s amazing. What made you willing to be the guinea pigs on that? Was there an appeal of ease there that was a step up?

WT: There was some stuff that could help us a little bit. Honestly, I wasn’t a Producer, I was focused on songs and being a player. I didn’t waste a lot of time thinking about it if they were good with it.

HMS: Did you hit any crazy problems due to how new the technology was?

WT: Yes, there were definitely some moments. The studio has those moments no matter what, but at that point in our career, we had two or three engineers in there hooking it all up, and we got it done. We just focused on the songs. At that time, we were at Criteria Studios in Miami, and that was kind of a trip, too. We were looking at the masters, and we’d see anything from James Brown to the Bee Gees, to Fleetwood Mac: Rumors. All the masters were just sitting in a back room, and every so often I’d go in there and just look at the masters and find another name. I’d be like, “Oh shit, Eric Clapton’s Layla was recorded here. God!”

HMS: Wow, that’s like being in church!

WT: Criteria Studios. Look up the list and see what came out of there.

HMS: Will do. When you all went into record the album, had you released anything from it as singles yet, or was it totally secret?

WT: We did record “Gel” on the road in ’94 and it was on that Jerky Boys soundtrack.

HMS: Oh, that’s right!

WT: It came out Fall of ’94, then was on the record that came out early that Spring.

HMS: Did anything prepare you for some of the reactions you got to this record and how fast the songs on it blew up? Did you think that that could happen?

WT: I don’t know what you had to be prepared for. The only thing that prepared us was that we were young, and we had fun as a Rock band, but we were, and still are, a very serious and very focused band about our artform and our music. That’s all I remember, wanting to record more songs for people to hear. Back then, everything was hanging on charts and singles, so I do remember after the record was done, and even through to Dosage, we were definitely still thinking, “I hope people like this. I hope this is successful.” We stuck together and we played Rock ‘n Roll.

HMS: Basically, it didn’t disrupt you or knock you down in your focus?

WT: No. And we were always thinking, “What can we do next?”

HMS: Back then, and also now, when you have albums coming out, how big a part does live performance play for you in supporting those releases? I know for most bands, financially, performance supports an album release, just to stabilize things. But also in terms of just spreading the word, is live performance still a big part of things for you?

WT: Yes, for sure. But now at this point, we’ve been allowed to be the soundtrack to peoples’ lives. For us playing live, it’s also a celebration of memories, the highlights or lowlights of your life, you can feel it in the room. While we do enjoy playing the new songs, and that is part of live that gets our blood flowing, playing the old songs is straight-up magical. It’s spiritual. There’s something about live music that people will always crave and always want. I can’t wait to get back to it.

HMS: It’s hard to be on pause right now, especially during the summer season when things are usually happening.

I’ve heard bands say that when they release new music, it doesn’t really feel real…

WT: …Until they play it live? Yes.Half the time, though, we demo songs live in front of people!

HMS: There you go. You try out new stuff before you even get to the studio?

WT: We do it all the time. Half the fans like it, half are like, “Dude, we don’t even know this song yet. Can you at least record it for us?” It’s like, “No, we want to do it right now.”

HMS: I think that’s your prerogative, really.

WT: It doesn’t mean we’re going to cut out the old songs, either. We’re just adding more songs.

HMS: You all had an album out not long ago, Blood. What were some of the goals on that album in terms of tone and content? I know it had a lot of different style elements brought in.

WT: Every one of our records has been eclectic in its own way, and that’s been part of our success, really. You can’t really pigeonhole the Collective Soul sound. We’re a Rock band, and if The Beatles are a Rock band, then everything we do is under the Rock genre as well.

It’s gotten way past the technical side of recording. It’s all about, “How can we capture feel and emotion?”, and we have our different techniques and our ways that we do it. There’s a real, tangible thing, when you can come together on what you’re trying to do with the art form of a song. That’s where it kind of gets ethereal, but that’s where our heads are at, asking, “How do we make these songs jump through speakers and change the way somebody thinks or feels? How can you pour feelings and emotions into the songs?” We’ve got our own techniques and ways, and hopefully it works.

HMS: That is so cool that you’re thinking in that way. That’s almost more of a psychological or therapeutic approach to music and audiences.

WT: Yes.

HMS: Would you like to say anything about the role that Georgia has played in the evolution of the band and your music?

WT: Growing up in Georgia was a big deal to us. Between my father’s studio, and all the great music that you don’t realize is there when you’re growing up in Georgia. There’s something in the water here. We’re from the land of The Allman Brothers and R.E.M. That was one of the biggest, most powerful moments in my young life, was when I was 15 or 16 and the band from Athens was the coolest band around. There’s so much great music. My Dad taught me about Otis Redding, James Brown, Ray Charles. The list is strong.

We didn’t necessarily come out “Southern”, although those things are big influences on us. In the 80s, our ears were more into U2, R.E.M., The Cars, INXS, that was the sort of stuff we were listening to. We were all friends going back to junior high and high school, and that music was called “Alternative” back then. That was any cool music that wasn’t a hair band.

HMS: What sort of point did you start thinking about the bigger traditions you came from? Was it a few albums down the road?

WT: Yes, it was. You get those realizations in your late 20s, maybe your early 30s. You start thinking, “That’s part of us, the way we grew up.” There’s the amount of music that me and Ed [Roland] got to experience because of my Dad’s studio, too. That plays a part in why we are eclectic. We saw everything. We saw Bluegrass, we saw Gospel, we saw R&B, we saw Metal, we saw Americana. Everything went through my Dad’s studio, and Ed was head engineer there. I was the youngster hanging out. A lot of people remember me as “Little Willy”. A lot of musicians still remember me and saying, “I remember you when you were running around in a little cowboy hat, with a holster and two little guns at your side!”

HMS: That’s awesome. Did that experience make you assume that music was accessible, something that people do, an option?

WT: Yes, I guess it did. Of course, it was an option. My Dad raised a family doing it. He was a hustler. It’s not exactly a great business model to depend on musicians for income. He hustled around. He always made the dots connect somehow. That was always part of my life, and here I am now.

HMS: That’s really awesome.

You probably remember our Tower Records motto is “No Music, No Life” which is also written, “Know Music, Know Life”. Which of those do you prefer and how does it relate to your life?

WT: I like “Know Music, Know Life”. For me, the lyrics speak to me. Speaking of my father, he passed away almost two years ago, in December. I’ve been listening to a lot of Paul Simon because that was one of his dudes. It reminds me of my life, and it makes me feel great. It reminds me of the good things, and when I listen to the lyrics, and think, “Golly, what a songwriter!” It inspires you. It’s life.

HMS: Thanks for sharing that.

And thank you for putting stuff out on vinyl. I’m sure people are going to eat that up.

WT: I don’t think it’s going to go away. I think that vinyl is here. This is the way it’s going to be. You’re either going to listen to it off your phone, or you’re going to buy a record.