Itching to write, record and release some new songs, long-time Collective Soul bassist Will Turpin found time in between touring engagements of that band to pull together material for what is in effect his debut full-length album – Serengeti Drivers – which was released June 8.
There were seemingly two prime inspirations for Serengeti Drivers. The first of which was the cancer diagnosis, treatment and ultimate clean bill of health for his wife Donna. The second was a recurring dream from which the album and title track earned their name.
“She is doing great now. She had a lot of surgeries last year, but she is cancer free, so we feel very fortunate. I was already tinkering around with music when this all happened. Not all the songs reference that on the album but there are two or three that are directly related to it and the whole shock it has in your life. All on You and the overall theme of On and On is about how life is finite. So, it’s talking about the importance of what you create in your life, the things that you leave behind. On and On is about all the stuff that you have gone through in life to make you who you are today, but that you keep moving forward,” said Turpin, son of legendary recording studio owner/engineer Bill Turpin of Real 2 Reel Studio, and a founding member of Collective Soul in 1992.
“And then with the dream, I hadn’t really done a lot of analyzation of it but after doing a lot of interviews I maybe should have a dream analyst look at that. It wasn’t like I remember a lot of the details of the dream it was more like a general dream I was having where I was in the desert, but I wasn’t lost. I wasn’t looking for something. I was totally comfortable, but I was definitely in the desert walking. And then I would see friends driving by in a car and they would be having a really good time and I was saying to myself ‘they are doing okay. There they are, there are my buddies. And they just kept going and I actually wasn’t looking for them to stop. When I woke up I thought it was weird that they didn’t stop.
“And they were mainly musician friends and I was just realizing okay, they’re fine and I am fine. They’re driving and having fun. And what I took from it was that they’re on their road and I am on mine and we sometimes pass each other I guess but that I was absolutely fine. I wasn’t struggling at all. That was what I took from it.”
With both such an emotional and reflective tone to the album based on these two powerfully evocative experiences, Serengeti Drivers is, unsurprisingly, a diverse and dynamic record that sees Turpin bending and blending several different genres – with his voice, and lyrical tone and vibe wrapping everything up in a cohesive thematic bow.
“I am in Collective Soul full time, so I didn’t have to overthink how I was going to market the record within a certain genre. My influences are diverse, and it just felt natural to me the way all the songs kind of tumbled out. This is the same way that we create in Collective Soul too; whatever felt natural, I went with it. I wasn’t going to overthink or over-analyze it based on the market or trends or whatever,” Turpin said.
“And in the end, I think it’s a cool thing that there are so many genres. Everybody has told me that it still has a flow even though it does cross over genres – there is a flow and a vibe that is constant. I will say this that it is kind of a calling card, just so that some of my other peers understand my skills as far as other collaboration opportunities. There is a little of that going on, but for the most part it’s just that creative things which I still think is the greatest gift you can have. Whether it’s creating new music with Collective Soul or my own music, that’s the adrenaline I crave. It comes from creating.”
One of the strongest and most emotionally upbeat songs on the record is Belong, which also happens to be one of the songs with the longest pedigrees of the 11 tracks on Serengeti Drivers.
“I was playing some shows in support of my first EP [Lighthouse which came out in 2012] and there are some songs that started from jams during rehearsals with that band. The guys had come up with this really sick groove and I was in the other room and heard it and there was this amazing creative flow happening. It was one of those things that just drops into your lap. So, the whole idea of the arrangement just hit me at that moment. And I walked into the room and said, ‘guys just follow me.’ And that song came out of it,” Turpin explained.
“The lyrical concept of Belong is really just about feeling that you’re in the right spot and you’re doing the right thing, which was kind of how I felt just enjoying being in that solo band at the time.”
One and Done is a song that basically asks the question should I or shouldn’t I?
“That was another one that came from my band jamming and it came out more of a rock song than many of the others. And it’s saying that we all have these thoughts, maybe you want to call them fantasies. And it’s kind of about how maybe some of those things should stay in the fantasy world, or maybe you should just try it once and be done with it.”
The song Make it Home is a gut wrenching and searingly heartfelt song about loss.
“That was kind of taken from the point of view of being a parent, but it’s specifically about something that happened to my niece – a tragic accident. She went into the emergency room with a slightly broken arm and the physician on duty accidentally gave her too much lidocaine and she had an adverse reaction and she never made it back home. That’s what the specific event is that I am referencing but I try to make this song and most of my others something that people can apply to their open personal experiences.”
Turpin said he will be doing a couple of shows in anticipation of the release of Serengeti Drivers in and around Atlanta, and perhaps a more comprehensive solo tour when Collective Soul takes a break from touring in the fall.
In the interim he and brothers Ed and Dean Roland drummer Johnny Rabb and lead guitarist Jesse Triplett will be co-headlining the Rock & Roll Express Tour alongside 3 Doors Down with special guests Soul Asylum making for a night of 1990s rock excellence. It starts in Collective Soul’s hometown of Atlanta on July 6 and travels throughout the United States, ending in Phoenix on Sept. 16 {there is one bonus date in late October at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in North Carolina.)
Unfortunately, there are no Canadian dates on this tour. The closest dates to Ontario would be at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville New York on August 16 or the Seneca Niagara Hotel and Casino in Niagara Falls, NY on Aug. 18.
“I don’t think we played Toronto at all last year and I can’t believe that. We have always had great shows up in Toronto and other parts of Ontario. But I am pretty sure we are going to be up there two or three times next year,” said Turpin
And that’s because Collective Soul is celebrating its 25th anniversary and will be doing extensive touring in a variety of venues – including a handful playing alongside some symphony orchestras. As well, there will be new Collective Soul studio material next year – the first since See What You Started by Continuing, which came out in 2015.
To tide fans over, late last year the band released its first ever live album: Collective Soul – Live, featuring a selection of the bands most successful songs, including Shine, Heavy, December, The World I Know, Gel, Precious Declaration and more from the band’s impressive legacy of hits since their debut album, Hints Allegations and Things Left Behind.
“I was like a lot of the fans and wondered why we didn’t do one earlier. I was always like, ‘guys we’ve never put out a live record and we are known as this great live band.’ It was one of those things where we just finally got around to doing it. And it was cool the way we did it. With today’s technology, we were able to record almost every show over an entire summer. I took notes as we were going along, and I remember there were a couple of shows where I felt that it really caught a special vibe. So, our soundman, Shawn Grove who is kind of the sixth man in the band, he sifted through all the shows as well and we came up with the performances that we thought were best,” Turpin said, returning to the subject of new Collective Soul songs.
“We did some stuff in the late fall last year and the in early April of this year we went to a studio in New Jersey for another session. We’ve got more than 20 songs frontloaded right now and we’re looking to do sometimes special for the 25th anniversary that ultimately might be a double album. But that has to be determined. I think it would be cool to have something out in the early spring next year and the part two in the late summer. After that put both parts together into a special double vinyl package.
“I feel like the stuff we’re creating right now is exceptional. I don’t want to sound overconfident or egotistical but we’re still creating exceptional music. And we are also still trying to gather material and content we need for that quintessential Collective Soul documentary at some point.”
For more information on Collective Soul, the Rock & Roll Express tour and forthcoming new music, visit www.collectivesoul.com.
For information on Turpin, Serengeti Drivers and possible solo tour dates, visit www.willturpin.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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