Where to begin with a figure like Simon Fisher Turner? From teenage stage and screen star to illustrious recording artist for Creation and Mute and score composer of Caravaggio, Blue and The Epic of Everest - via a stint with The The and collaborations with Derek Jarman, David Lynch and Tilda Swinton, to name but a few - Turner embodies a distinctly modernist sensibility and boundless curiosity for sound. For us, discovering Deux Filles, his devilishly intriguing, perfectly camp project with Colin Lloyd-Tucker, was a significant moment in shaping our label’s identity.  In August 2023, A Colourful Storm presented Turner and Time is Away live at Spanners, London. Performed at the tail end of Blue Now, a series of events celebrating Jarman’s last feature film, Blue, the recording reveals a lifetime of significant events and influences: a private recording of Jarman reading White Lies; a live reworking of Terre Thaemlitz’s remix of Turner’s Shishapangma; a sample of Bertrand Russell; a room recording of his brother practising the organ for their father’s funeral. 

We asked Turner to reflect on these moments.

“Some of my earliest musical memories are hearing The Small Faces’ ‘Itchykoo Park’ on mum’s portable transistor radio in Whitsand Bay, Cornwall. I adored Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’. I went to The Marquee Club in Wardour Street all the time and saw everything from King Crimson, Focus, The Faces, Uriah Heep and Patto to The Spiders from Mars. I was a guitar freak but also appreciated minimal American composers, such as Terry Riley, Philip Glass and Steve Reich. The White Noise album was important for me, as was the first Faust LP and Tubular Bells.

“I love musicals but also new sounds. I love working with The Elysian Collective. Flamenco music was important as I grew up, as was ballet and modern dance. I went to a ballet school at 144 Piccadilly. Moving to London was life-changing. I was dumped in London so I explored and rode my bike everywhere after that. I lived with an odd family on Grape Street. Soho and The West End was my playground. The big smoke.

“The idea behind this performance was to strip down my recent Blue Live set and use sound textures that were location-driven and not too musical. I found a recording of my brother James playing the organ in my dad's local church in Great Rissington, in preparation for dad's funeral. I was sitting quietly by the alter at the other end of the church, recording away. I also used Derek Jarman tapes and a Terre Thaemlitz remix of a track of mine from The Epic of Everest. I loved the idea of a live remix of a remix. It was a very special evening under the arches for me - I don't often get the chance to make a racket like this and was astonished by the level of concentration in the room. It was a complete surprise.

“20 years ago, my wife and I lived in Brixton, near the venue, on Coldharbour Lane. We were above a takeaway shop. The air extractor was a nightmare and the flat smelled of grease. The market was a great place to buy fish. We adopted a giant snail, who we called Ayrton. I used to take him all over town and he loved lettuce and tomatoes. There was a wonderful small pizza shop too, which was so delicious. But back to the music. Brixton is music and I’m a lucky man.”