Turnedown was a skatepunk band from California that featured alumni from the hardcore scene. Boasting shared members with bands like Strife, Fury 66, Man Will Surrender, and downset., the band released a small handful of CDs and 7”s through labels like DoughMain and Sessions (AFI, No Use For A Name, Steve Caballero), and even appeared on Fearless Records’ compilation, Punk Goes Metal, the first of the infamous Punk Goes… compilation series.
Originally mentioned on this site in a 2017 interview with guitarist Andrew Kline, not much is known about this band in today’s day and age, as it appears that they were a side project for most of its members, who were dedicating their time to hardcore. Let’s see what we can uncover in our conversation with Kline, guitarist Carlos Gutierrez, and vocalist Joe Clements.
How did the band start and how did you find your sound?
(Carlos Gutierrez, guitar): The first lineup of the band was born from really early friendships. Jeremy (drums) and I have literally known each other since birth, since our parents were friends.
(Andrew Kline, guitar): The band started in high school, maybe ‘92 or ‘93. I knew our original singer since elementary school, and we used to meet up with our drummer (Jeremy) to skate in 7th and 8th grade.
We all went to the same high school and we were all in the same grade except for Carlos, who was a year older than me, but was one grade below me…I’m not sure how that happened!
(Carlos): We were all suburban kids into some mix of punk/hardcore, skating, surfing, trouble making, etc. Our high school years were spent playing parties and small shows that Andrew would get us on.
(Andrew): Jeremy, [original singer], and Carlos actually started the band before I joined. They had a few songs but the band didn’t even have a name (at least not one that I can remember). I initially joined on bass and we recorded one or two demos with that lineup.
We were all into the more melodic side of punk and hardcore and wanted to start a band in the vein of Descendents, ALL, Big Drill Car, Lifetime, Samiam, and more. I think we were a little ahead of the curve playing the type of music that we were playing. Pop-punk wasn’t really a thing. We definitely predated a lot of bands like New Found Glory, Rise Against, and some others who may have been our peers, had we stuck it out a bit longer.
How did you find time to do Turned Down when you were all in full-time bands?
(Andrew): The band was definitely a side project at first, but we got a little more serious when Roy Lozano (downset.) joined the band on bass. I think this is when we really started to define the sound of the band, as Carlos and I work really well together on guitar.
(Carlos): For me, (and everyone else) music and going to shows was a huge part of our lives at that point. I think there were a few times we couldn’t play a show or something, because Andrew would be touring, but from my point of view, I was just stoked to play music.
Being a smaller band, having guys in more legit bands only helped us in terms of getting on real shows, because of relationships those guys had from Strife and downset. We clearly weren’t in that same hardcore genre, so I’m sure some people who came to check us out hoping we were a hardcore band may have been bummed, but what can you do?
Tell us about the two bands you did splits with–Street Bulldogs and Homemade.
(Andrew): It’s kind of a crazy story how we met Street Bulldogs. In 1996 or 1997, Turnedown played Hawaii with Strife. Our flight to Hawaii was over booked and the airline was offering free round trip tickets to anyone that gave up their seats on the plane.
About half of us took them up on their offer. So in 1998, Carlos and I cashed in our tickets with our good friend Jesse and flew down to São Paulo, Brazil to see Sepultura’s first show in Brazil with their then “new” singer, Derrick Green.
Before we left, Iggor (Cavalera) told me what hotel he would be staying at and gave me the fake name he would check in under (they were that big over there). None of us had cellphones or anything and I guess I have always had faith about things working out on their own. Anyways, we landed in Brazil after travelling for about a day and a half, and I found a pay phone to call Iggor, but I couldn’t get a hold of him. I briefly started to panic, but then the hardcore gods stepped in.
We had a layover in New York on our way to Brazil and randomly Graham (Land) from Shelter was on our flight. Shelter was huge in Brazil and they had recently toured there, so I saw Graham and we started talking. Next thing you know, a big group of hardcore kids show up to pick up Graham and we hop in the car with them.
It turned out to be Drausio from Street Bulldogs as well as some of the guys from Point Of No Return. We ended up staying with these guys for a few days until we could finally meet up with Iggor, Sepultura, and our other friends in a band called Toyshop. These guys definitely saved our asses though and took us in like family.
Street Bulldogs asked us to do a split CD with them and of course we said yes. There was briefly some talk of us touring Brazil together as well, but it never worked out.
(Carlos): Drausio put out the split CD with us in Brazil. The plan was to release a split in the states, but it didn’t happen. My guess was we dropped the ball somehow...sorry, Drausio!
(Andrew): Homemade were another local band that played a similar style of music that we did. We played a few shows together and they were a perfect fit for a split release. Their guitar player, Tom, briefly played second guitar in Angermeans as well.
Did Turned Down do very much touring?
(Carlos): Pretty much no real touring to speak of. Locally we were able to get on some amazing shows and we played with bands like Lifetime, Avail, Los Crudos, FYP, Pulley, Homegrown, Jets To Brazil, At The Drive, The Jealous Sound, In My Eyes, Good Riddance, and more.
We did lots of shows in Northern California once we got Joe in the band and plenty of other shows around Southern California. Before we stopped playing, I recall planning on doing a short two week tour with a skate brand. That fell through, but I’m sure that would have been fun.
(Andrew): We would just play as much as we could when we could. Besides the shows in Hawaii, I think the furthest we travelled was up to SF, Santa Cruz, Vegas, Tahoe, and some shows in Arizona. Most of our shows were in Southern California. We played Gilman with the Nerve Agents, which was pretty awesome.
How did you get hooked up with Sessions Records and how did Joe Clements of Fury 66 end up becoming your vocalist?
(Andrew): We ended up playing with Fury 66 at an Avail show in Santa Barbara (thanks Eddie Numbskull) and Joe approached us about signing to Sessions.
(Carlos): Once Joe got his hands on the demo we made, he liked it enough to offer to put out a record for us. We ended up recording a full length for them and (at least speaking for myself), didn’t really know what we were doing, in terms of being actually proactive in making sure it sounded great.
We got hooked up with great studios, but ultimately songs were kinda half baked, and the mix on that album is so weird. Anyways, cut to Andrew, Jeremy, and me wanting to try a new direction, and we asked [redacted] to leave the band.
(Andrew): We were having problems with [redcacted]. He had such a negative energy that he would carry everywhere and he would be too self-conscious to just let go when we played. I remember Carlos, Jeremy, and I hanging out at my house one night and we were trying to decide who was going to call [redcated] to kick him out of the band.
My roommate at the time had a computer that would read what you typed in a bizarre robot-like computer voice. [Laughs] We joked around about using that to kick him out of the band. In the end, I think Jeremy did it.
(Carlos): In hindsight, we could have handled that better, but we really wanted to play with Joe. With the addition of Ron Vickers (Man Will Surrender) on bass, and no shade to the previous lineup, the band just got a lot more focused and sounded better. Joe would commute from Santa Cruz to rehearse and really put a lot of work into it.
We were definitely a much more solid band once Joe joined and we played a few different snowboarding events and even did a few dates on the Warped Tour. As I recall, we were definitely turds and tested his patience, but he was always a great sport.
(Andrew): We all loved Fury 66, and Joe was a perfect fit for the band personality-wise and things just clicked once he joined the band.
In the end, the original singer was really butthurt that we kicked him out of the band.
READ MORE: 2016 Interview with Big DRILL Car Vocalist Frank Daly
Joe, how do you remember being asked to sing for Turned Down?
(Joe Clements, vocals): Carlos and Jeremy were drunk at a Sessions Records work party and they casually said, “Hey, you should sing for Turnedown.” That was pretty much right when Fury 66 broke up and I was still pretty thirsty.
I loved the Turned Down songs and I jumped at the chance to be in a band with Andrew. The dude's a living legend!
How did Joe’s addition to the band affect your last recording, the self-titled EP?
(Carlos): We just became an overall much better band, and I gotta give a lot of that credit to Joe. He’s a really great singer and took time to make his parts sound really good. My son loves all types of music and it’s the only record of ours that I can listen to with him and actually enjoy.
(Andrew): We really just became a better band. Our old bass player Roy connected us with the guys that recorded the first LP, When Things Go Right. We recorded at one of the best studios in the world, Conway, and we got a half ass recording with a half ass mix. The guys engineering it at the time were assistant engineers and had worked on some big records, but the mix on the first album is just really inconsistent.
I took back more control for the recording of the self-titled EP with Joe. We linked up with Dave Jagosz who recorded both [Strife albums] One Truth and In This Defiance and recorded at his new studio in Agua Dulce.
Dave was great and really knew how to record a record. We had a better singer, a better studio, and better songs. I am really proud of this recording.
Was it common at the time for extreme sports clothing and gear companies to be involved with music?
(Joe): I think Sessions was one of the first. Joel Gomez (the founder and owner of Sessions) has a deep love for music. He and Sessions did a catalog where you could buy band shirts, records, and CDs. This was before Hot Topic and the internet were more common for shopping.
Through doing that and the snowboard clothing, Joel became friends with a ton of musicians. He started Sessions Records just to put out 7”s by bands that his friends were in.
The first 7”s were by the Foo Fighters, Zeke, Audioslave, Supersuckers, and more. He and Clifford Winsome from BL’AST! ran the record label and started working with more obscure and up and coming local bands (Fury 66 being the first full length they put out). They also were doing this before Volcom or Hurley started working with bands.
Turned Down's "Broken Necklace" is featured in this old Xbox ad:
How did the Punk Goes Metal appearance materialize? Who in the band’s idea was it to choose Ozzy?
(Joe): I was friends with Bob Becker, the owner of Fearless Records at the time. He really wanted to sign Fury 66, but then we broke up. He approached me when he heard that I was singing for Turned Down and asked if we could do a song. I don’t really remember who picked the Ozzy song, but my roommate at the time, Pete Saporito, was an Ozzy fanatic and he was pushing the idea hard.
(Carlos): It’s the only track I didn’t play on (I think I had to work)! Jeremy’s brother Jason filled in on guitar and shredded much better than I could have. This feels like it was Joe (aka Ozzy) who got us on this and picked the song.
(Andrew): I can’t really remember who chose the song, but I think it turned out great. Joe sounds incredible and everyone nailed their parts. Jeremy’s brother, Jason, played lead guitar on the song and crushed the solos. It was a really fun recording to make and we were laughing the whole time.
Did the band’s geography (Joe being in Northern California and the rest of the band being in Southern California) present any challenges for the band from a writing or touring perspective?
(Carlos): Definitely tough! But again, props to Joe for committing to the band and taking regular trips to rehearse and write. I remember picking him up a lot from the Burbank airport.
(Joe): I would travel down as much as possible to practice and write.
Like I said, I was thirsty at the time, still reeling from Fury 66 breaking up at a time that we were finally getting some recognition. We just came off a national tour with AFI and I was getting phone calls from labels like Revelation, Nitro, and Fearless. I was hoping that Turned Down would pick up where Fury 66 left off. I believed in the band and loved the music.
I think the only challenge really was that I had all these expectations and the rest of the dudes were just long time friends having fun playing music. I feel like I was pushing some kind of agenda that wasn’t lining up. All the dudes in Turned Down are amazing, funny, sweet and talented people.
I would come down to Southern California all ready to take over the world and they wouldn’t even have a space to practice. They would be so casual about it and just be like, “Let’s just hang out.” I would get super stressed. Looking back, I can say that I was kind of a dick if I am being honest. I love those dudes and I regret some of the ways I acted.
What caused the band to call it a day? When was the last time you played a show together?
(Carlos): Joe wanted to do other things. I won’t speak for him, but I’m sure it was a grind going back and forth from Santa Cruz to L.A. to do a band. Also, Andrew and I together at that time could be a lot. I’m sure Joe still loves us, because I still love that dude like everyone else in this band. I think the last show we played was in Las Vegas at a trade show randomly. If my failing memory recalls correctly, I think we were really good that day!
(Andrew): I’m gonna blame Joe [laughs]. Joe ended up quitting. I’m sure it was getting hard for him to keep travelling down to L.A. and we would all gang up on each other anyway, so it must have been hard to deal with for sure.
Our last show was in a booth at a snowboard convention in Vegas. Although I do recall playing (and bowling) at a very early rendition of Punk Rock Bowling. I can’t remember if this was the same trip or not.
(Joe): We played in Vegas at a Snowboard and Skateboard convention for Sessions Clothing. I started a band up in Santa Cruz that I was putting a lot of time into and I was getting burnt on going down to L.A. so much. I told them after the show that I was quitting. That night sucked. Another Joe “dick maneuver."
Was there ever the intention of making Turned Down a full time band?
(Carlos): We were all doing different things and different stages of our life when doing this band. [redacted] was always in school, Andrew was busy with Strife, and the rest of us had jobs/life stuff going on.
All of us in some way would have probably liked to do more with the band, but personally, I feel pretty good about the fun we had and what we were able to do with the group.
(Andrew): I loved playing the music that we did and I definitely saw the potential for the band to get much bigger than it did. Obviously that does take commitment and I just don’t think everyone was on the same page.
What are some of your favorite memories playing in the band?
(Andrew): We got to play some amazing shows with some of our favorite bands. One memory definitely stands out though. We had two good friends that worked the graveyard shift at a gas station in Moorpark.
We wanted to film some sort of music video, so we booked a last-minute show inside the convenience store at the gas station. We probably played at about 1:00 am and 50 or so people showed up! I still remember playing and seeing customers walk in to pay for their gas with confused looks on their faces!
I don’t even know if I ever saw the video footage from that show. It never got finished, unfortunately.
Is the self-titled EP is finally going up on streaming?
(Andrew): As of the time of this interview we will have the final EP up on all streaming platforms under the name “turned down." To be honest, we probably should have spelled it this way from the beginning.
The version you hear on streaming was fully remastered this year by Joe Clements:
Do you have any plans to make more music or play again with Turned Down?
(Joe): I am down to do anything with the Turned Down dudes. We have talked about writing again but it never gained any momentum. If they want to do anything and have me to be a part of it, I am in!
(Andrew): We have all talked about recording more songs for years. Carlos and I probably have 10 or so ideas recorded, so we can definitely make it happen.
I’d love to make more music with Carlos and Joe, whether it’s called Turnedown, Turned Down, or something else.
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The Turned Down EP is available on streaming music outlets.
Tagged: 90s hardcore week, berthold city, strife, turned down, turnedown, world be free
