Virginia Beach-based quartet, Turnover, is the latest example of a group that developed an innovative and captivating sound that genuinely embraces the band’s personal growth. With the release of singles like “Cutting My Fingers,” “New Scream” and “Dizzy On The Comedown,” Turnover pursued a more mature direction on their sophomore effort, Peripheral Vision, upon its release back in May. While a lot of time has passed since their Run For Cover Records debut, Magnolia, Turnover’s mesmerizing follow-up strays away from the pop punk stylings of their previous material, and introduces fans to a record that guitarist and frontman Austin Getz hails as “the record that we wanted to make for a very long time.”
Just a few weeks before Turnover hit the road once again to finish out the summer on a high note, I had the chance to catch up with Austin Getz and discuss their supporting tour with Pianos Become The Teeth and The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, as well the band’s personal and musical transition of Peripheral Vision.
Overall, how has the summer been treating you so far? Have you personally had a lot of downtime since the last time Turnover has been out on the road?
Yeah man, I’ve just been kicking back. I’m working until we go out on the road next, I have a summer class that I am taking, writing songs, and hanging out, you know what I mean? I’m enjoying it.
Awesome man. It won’t be long until your begin your tour with The World Is A Beautiful Place… and Pianos Become The Teeth. What are you looking forward to the most about finishing up the summer with this tour package?
I am very siked on that; that’s going to be very cool. We’ve done a little bit of touring with The World Is… a couple of years ago with Hostage Calm, so we know them kind of well, so we’re excited to see them again. We’ve actually never toured with Pianos…; we’ve played a couple of shows here and there, and I know that they’ve worked with [producer] Will Yip, so a friend of a friend is a friend, so that should be fun. I am looking forward to it.
You’ve played New Jersey several times in the past, and I remember the last time I saw Turnover, you had a very great reaction when you played with Such Gold at the Asbury Lanes a few summers back. With that being said, how does it feel to coming back to the Asbury Lanes this time around?
Yeah man, every time we’ve played the Asbury Lanes, it’s been awesome. Every time we are there, it’s so much fun, and the reactions are always great and the room is always cool, and you know… bowling there is always fun. So, I am looking forward to it for sure. New Jersey is always a cool spot, and any time we are always in the Northeast, it is always nice to go to good shows and drive to the next spot in two to three hours; it’s hard to complain [about] shows like that.
Nice. Glad you’re looking forward to coming back here. There is no doubt that you guys have a great following especially in the Tri-State Area. I’ve also seen you play on Long Island too a few years back, and that was a great time.
Absolutely, New York is really cool too. We’ve played there on the Fireworks tour at Webster Hall, and it was awesome, so we’re looking forward to being back there. New York City is actually a place we have more recently started playing. I don’t think we’ve played in New York City until maybe a year and a half, maybe two years ago for the first time.
Maybe it’s been more recently than that, but I remember we were really scared of it because we’ve played Long Island all of the time, and we heard that “the city is really hard to do well in.” Just because people don’t travel into the city from Long Island, or that it is expensive, or maybe it’s just a pain to drive around. But it’s always been so much fun—I love how Webster [Hall] sounds, I love that room, and I love being in the city because it’s so close to a lot of things.
I’m pumped to get back out there, I’m pumped to be out there with those two bands [The World Is… and Pianos Become The Teeth], and I think that those kind of “scenes” and “fanbases” that we have on this package interact really well, and it’s going to be a really good time.
This tour coming up will be your first run of shows since releasing Peripheral Vision. What was it like playing a lot of newer material around the time when Peripheral Vision was being released?
We’re anxious and excited. You know, Peripheral Vision is definitely the record that we wanted to make for a very long time. We love how it came out, and we’re really proud of it. Going into it, especially on the tour right before it came out—which was the New Found Glory tour and then Fireworks tour—was the first one we’ve done since it came out.
Just like on the Fireworks tour, on this tour also, we’re pretty much exclusively playing Peripheral Vision songs, which we knew was going to be a risky move. We definitely don’t want to alienate fans that like the old stuff, but at the same time, the older material was written when we were a different band. You know, not only were we all younger and were in different places of our lives, we also had a lot of different members.
So, we felt like the Peripheral Vision material was our best material, and the material that is the truest to who we are as people, and as artists now. We figured that it was the most honest and what would make it the most enjoyable for us to play, and you always play the stuff the best when you are enjoying it.
We were nervous about it, but we did it. We had kids come up to us after we’d play and ask, “Why don’t you play your old stuff?” And we would just tell them, “We’re psyched that you liked the old stuff,” and basically say everything that I just told you, and they were very understanding.
The response has been great, and we couldn’t be more excited than that. And I think it’s going to be even better this time because like you said, it’s been a couple of months since the record came out, so I have nothing but high hopes about it. It’s going to be a good time, and I am hoping everybody is going to like it.
Musically and personally, does the sound and esthetic of Peripheral Vision represent where you guys are at now at this point in your career, and moving forward? Or is that too early to say at this time?
I don’t know, man. I mean, it’s definitely more realistic than any of our records, and I definitely would say that Peripheral Vision is something that you would want to listen to get the best idea. But I mean, I’ve been writing a lot of stuff, and there are definitely similarities to Peripheral Vision, but I can’t even say, do you know I mean?
Like, I am always listening to different things and changing sounds, and like any artist, I’m always gaining new influences and changing my style, so I can’t say what the next record will sound like, but I am excited to see for myself. But Peripheral Vision is probably the closest thing to the stuff that I’ve been writing as of now.
This fall, you have a few supporting dates with Lydia and Seahaven well after the Pianos/World Is tour is all finished up. Any other cool plans in the works that we should be on the lookout for in the coming months?
No man, we’re going to be going, going, going nonstop. Unfortunately I can’t say anything, but I wish could. But we’re going to be out there, so we’re psyched, you know? We’re psyched for people to hear the new record, and we’re going to stay out on the road.
Awesome. Thank you so much, Austin, it was definitely a pleasure to catch up. Is there anything else you would like to add to conclude the interview?
Thanks for having me on the interview man, and like I said, we’re going to be touring nonstop, so I hope to see you and anybody else this time around and have a conversation.
Turnover will be playing at the Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park on Aug. 21, Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan on Aug. 22, and will return to the Tri-State Area this fall with Lydia and Seahaven at the Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan on Oct. 1, and at World Café Live (Downstairs) in Philadelphia on Oct. 3. Their sophomore full-length, Peripheral Vision, is now available on Run For Cover Records. For more information, go to turnovermusic.net.
