Meet: Emre Türkmen of Exit Kid

After releasing their immensely brilliant The Garden EP, read our review here. We caught up with Türkmen to find out about the band and their music, album art and the possibility of some Prodigy dance style music.

First off. How are you guys doing during this current situation? How has the pandemic affected the band? Any messages for your fans?

We are doing well. The pandemic stopped us in our tracks as we were getting ready to release a new EP and play shows. We played a warm up gig at the Fiddler’s Elbow in Camden a few days before lockdown 1.0 and then had to cancel everything, but in the grand scheme of things that doesn’t seem very important right now.

For people who may not be familiar with Exit Kid. Can you introduce us to the band and tell us a little about how you formed and why you chose the style that you play? 

Exit Kid is Dylan Bell (drums) and Emre Turkmen (guitars and vocals). Dyly was the touring drummer for my band Years & Years and we bonded over our love of 90s and 00s rock music. We would host Metal Night ™ on tour with the crew and blare out Tool and Deftones backstage once a week after shows. Exit Kid was a natural by-product.

It was the artwork for Working Stiff where you guys caught my attention. How much do you as a band put into the artwork? Do you find that the album cover is a dying art now that streaming has taken over?

That makes me rather happy because I think the best stuff always happens in a flash, before you have time to think. The artwork for that track was done very quickly! It’s a phone picture of some “installation art” I made using toys in a sandbox. I think album artwork is pretty much dead, unfortunately. It sucks because an image can really set the tone and fundamentally change the way you listen to the music. So in that sense, people are missing out on a wonderful part of the equation. Kids these days, eh?

I read a lot of your early work was written in hotel rooms and using your iPhone to record vocals. Do you find certain places, and being on the road, and using such methods inspiring? How do you absorb inspiration? Do you actively look for it, or is it subconscious almost optimistic in nature? 

That’s true, I wrote a lot of the early stuff on the road. I would set myself up in a corner of the hotel room, write a song, take a polaroid snap to document it and move on to the next city. I find the freedom of travelling very stimulating. You feel anonymous when your passing through a place and that’s quite liberating. It’s a bit like how it’s easier to talk to a complete stranger about your feelings than to a close friend. So it’s fertile ground for songwriting.

How does a track develop between you two?

I generally write alone and record a rough demo. Once I have enough songs I’ll whatsapp them to Dylan and wait for his reaction. If he likes any, we’ll go to my studio and record his drums. I consider the drums to be the spine of a track so I’ll usually record guitars and voice after Dylan has worked his magic.

Outside of the music. What do you guys do? What keeps you busy? 

I am trying to raise a small human being (my daughter) which, quite frankly, is a full time occupation. Dylan makes premium Gin (and drinks it).

Are there any bands past or present you would love to have played with or even been part of? 

Too many to mention! Smashing Pumpkins are my favourite band of all time (whether or not it would be enjoyable to be in a band with Billy Corgan is another matter…) and Dylan would kill to play with Rage Against The Machine. Out of the more current crop of acts, I reckon it would be a riot to play with Idles.

Difficult to talk about future plans, but what does the future look like for Exit Kid? I’ve read you have a few songs written. Will we get to hear some of them someday?

We write and record all the time. So when we have material that we are excited about then we will release it, for sure. We’re considering releasing some Prodigy style heavy dance music (not joking), but the jury is still out if that’s a good idea.

Lastly what music are you digging right now? Any bands or artists you think deserve a little more recognition?

I love the new Run The Jewels album. It’s pretty god damn great. And Circe is an up and coming artist that I would recommend wholeheartedly. 

Our thanks to Türkmen for taking the time to answer our questions.

Check out the track ‘Hell In A Handcart’, below: