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Interview With Composer, Producer & Pianist Phil Turcio

Phil Turcio discusses his journey from the Melbourne music scene to collaborating with music legends, his ongoing passion for creating and nurturing new talent, his current projects, and more.

By Magesh MageshContributing Author

Phil Turcio is an in-demand musician, composer, and pianist. He has worked with artists like Virgil Donati, Olivia Newton-John, Richard Marx, Dave Weckl, and K.D Lang. Phil also leads his own jazz/rock band 'The Outernet'.

Magesh Magesh, Musicngear: You have played professionally in the Melbourne music scene since the 1990s. How have you stayed busy in the music business for such a long time?

I was out of home pretty young, and being the obsessed pianist/keyboardist that I was, I refused to do any other job than perform. I said yes to every playing job that came my way - whatever it took to survive each week. I had some incredible experiences as a young musician, and one job led to another.

I was also composing and programming music. Again, that also led to some great opportunities. I worked like a madman and any extra money I had I would put back into equipment. I divided my time between gigging and producing, and that has made me a decent living.

Nowadays, I’m a studio hermit. I absolutely love it. Whether it’s producing and developing young and upcoming Artists, or composing music for a variety of situations. It’s given me the freedom to pick and choose my performing schedule.

You performed for a long time in the band 'On the Virg' with Australian drumming legend Virgil Donati. This type of music is incredibly complex with many odd time signatures.  Do you have a system for transcribing such complicated music?

I was incredibly lucky to put that group together at a very young age. Virgil had approached me about using some tunes I had written, and the next thing you know OTV was born. It was an incredible education at a very young age. 

I had and still have a huge admiration for his dedication to the instrument. I’m still trying to apply that today. I wrote a lot of the material for OTV and people always ask me how to go about it. I think it comes from having been around lots of different styles of music growing up.

As far as odd times are concerned - I’m still working on it! I think throwing yourself into situations where you are forced to excel is the best way to learn. You have to accept failure many, many times - learn from it and start again.

Old-fashioned word of mouth has brought me many great opportunities

You are known for being an incredible piano player. How did you make the transition to scoring music for film?

Well firstly, I’m not a film composer! I know you may have recently heard some pieces I was commissioned to write/produce that are in the realm of that genre. It’s definitely re-ignited my passion for midi orchestration and has planted the seeds for some upcoming ideas.

Again, I grew up around lots of music - and also quite a strict classical piano background, but I think if anything it comes from my film obsession and having watched/listened to cinema for as long as I can remember.

You have performed with many incredible artists like Peter Chriss from Kiss and 80's icon Richard Marx. Can you talk about how these opportunities came about?

Old-fashioned word of mouth has brought me many great opportunities. I’ve been very fortunate to work with so many different Artists over the years.

It’s also where you place your focus at the time. I spent many years as a session/touring keyboardist. Right now my focus is on creation.

I’m still grateful for every day to be able to do music, learn, and strive to get better

Do you think it's important for young musicians to learn how to read music?

There are so many ‘facets’ to music. Every day is a lesson. Learning to read music can only add to your ‘ammunition’.

But then there’s ‘reading’ and ‘sight reading’. The latter comes easy to some and is an incredible skill to have.

What projects are you currently working on?

I have a few original projects that are out there at the moment. My band The Outernet is doing a consistent run of shows. It’s a progressive jazz-rock instrumental band. Very challenging and incredibly fun. I also have an acoustic trio which has a few shows coming up. It’s great to be able to go back to my piano roots.

I’m swamped with production work, developing many young and great Artists. I’m just at the end of producing a John Farnham tribute for Guy Sebastian that should be out soon. The midi orchestration bug has come back and I’m writing a few pieces to get my skills honed for some future endeavors.

I’m still grateful for every day to be able to do music, learn, and strive to get better.

Connect with Phil Turcio
Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Spotify

About Magesh Magesh

Magesh is a musician and producer who has worked with Rihanna, Lionel Richie, Ricky Martin, Chris Brown, The Pussy Cat Dolls, Nelly Furtado, and Vernon Reid of Living Colour. He released an instructional drumming DVD called "Unique Beats" where he mixed the drum kit with electronics and Indian hand percussion. He recently moved from Australia to the UK to explore new musical opportunities.
Website: mageshdrumteacher.co.uk

Contact Magesh Magesh at magesh.magesh7@gmail.com

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