Clem Turner is a music artist based in Asheville, North Carolina who has recently gained growing attention on social media. At just 19 years old, Turner is making his own music and posting covers on YouTube and Bandcamp. He’s extremely talented, and his recent attention is well deserved. Turner has self-described his music taste as “Alternative, Indie, [and] A Mess," but says he is “quite fond of messy music in many cases.”
Although Turner is quite new to making music, the idea of music is not a foreign concept to him.
“I don’t think I’ve gone more than a few hours conscious without listening to music for a few years so I’ve always been pretty attached without making any noise of my own.” Turner said.
He started to learn how to produce music around two years ago, but met a man named Derrick Lee Johnson who, he says, helped pave the way for him to really get into music the way he has.
“Music has always been a sort of a companion to everyday life but I’ve always seen making music as something super inaccessible. In my head, I thought I’d need an agent, a production company, and a bunch of money to even consider putting anything out there, regardless of whether or not I could stand a chance at success. So, there was sort of a brick wall between consuming and creating.” Turner said. “I started with singing and posting covers because I felt that was the extent to which I could create anything musical.”
Turner had his cover mashup of “As the World Caves In” by Matt Maltese and “Cancer” by My Chemical Romance gain traction on TikTok, which is how I found out about him.
“It’s completely surreal. I remember I had posted a little clip from a cover to my twenty active followers at the time, said something along the lines of “don’t make fun of me,” and went to bed. And when I woke up, there were twenty thousand. And it just kept going,” Turner said.
I immediately started sending the song to friends, giving them directions to “listen with headphones on and just feel the music." This specific cover gives me chills every time I hear it. It is one of those songs that sends shivers down your spine and makes your eyes well up. There is just something so hauntingly beautiful about it.
Needless to say, I was hooked after that. I started to listen to more covers and the songs Turner has uploaded to Spotify. His voice is spectacular, especially for a 19 year old. It is soft and smooth, yet bold and solid. It’s not common to find someone with such a beautiful and wide range that he has. From the deepest bass notes to floaty high notes, each sound drips like honey. There is something beautiful about finding these voices as we don’t come across them often.
He has also uploaded other covers and mashups to YouTube that are just as wonderful. Some of my other favorites are his cover of “Come Along” by Cosmo Sheldrake and his mashup of “Oh Ana” by Mother Mother and “Jumpsuit” by Twenty One Pilots. They all have the same spooky yet beautiful tone to them and they’re amazingly unique. I have never heard anything like them before.
His covers are not the only things worth mentioning. Turner currently has three singles uploaded to Spotify titled “Malaprops," “Honeywell," and “Windowville." Each song is unique, but coherent to a style. I’ve added them to a playlist titled “songs for those late-night chill vibes” as that was the only way I could think to describe them.
“Honeywell” has more of a lo-fi feeling to it, it is relaxing and repetitive in a way that feels familiar. “Windowville” has an alternative vibe to it. The backing track is cool and calm, while the vocals are powerful and emotional. “Malaprops” is more upbeat, yet still cool and relaxing as well. It’s enough to bob your head to and sing along to, but it still has power and soul behind it. They are all easy-listening and I am certain you will fall in love with his sound.
I'm so glad to have come across Turner and his music. His songs have been fantastic additions to my personal playlists, and I’m sure they will be great for yours too. You can stream Turner’s music here on Spotify, here on YouTube, and here on Bandcamp.
