Article published in Hit Parader, October 1967
The Turtles | Learning About Themselves | HOWARD KAYLAN “You need objectivity to succeed in this business. I think our success so far has been based on our music. The fact that people dig the sound and recognize it as ours. We have never had a great deal of promotion or publicity – people don’t generally recognize us as individuals. But things are really moving for us now.
We’ve taken the responsibility for ourselves and now we can control our future. We’re going to get into film making and producing and really get it on . . .
“Pop music is becoming a magnet for all the other arts. It’s a powerful medium because it is reaching a saturation point. The public is constantly exposed to contemporary music and they are forced into making value judgements, good or bad. Because of this, artists and writers and creative people in general are being drawn into the syndrome.
Now it becomes a matter of selection and taste. There’s so much material and ideas and conceptions that you have to be really discriminating. Discrimination is simply a matter of recognizing quality.
“I think we’re accomplishing something that no other group is doing – we’re really trying to reach our audiences and we do it each time we perform. We touch them personally and show them a good time. They respond openly and uninhibitedly – it’s gratifying.
“We’re not freaks because that’s a gimmick – it’s not real. We express ourselves as we are, both individually and as a group through our music. Our music is positive and happy so I guess that’s where we’re at – it’s a good place to be.
The Turtles | Learning About Themselves
JIM PONS | “I’m really happy doing what I’m doing. In a sense, I’m fulfilling a life-time dream working in a group like The Turtles. Not that many people make it – I consider myself lucky. No, not lucky, but happy. I’m dedicating myself to something totally. I have a direction and I know where that direction is taking me. So I don’t feel a lot of anxiety and I only get uptight when that direction is threatened. But I know that if we work hard at being creative, there’s no threat.
“I was at college for three years and had no idea what I was doing there. There was no pressure but I was miserable not knowing what I wanted to do. Then I left school and formed my own group. It fell apart because there was no continuity and discipline. I went through a thousand problems, conflicts, intolerances. But I learned a lot and by the time I joined The Turtles, I was pretty well pulled together. It was a relief not to have the responsibility for the other members of the group. Mark and Johnny have natural drive and discipline, so I function more as a check and balance.
“Someday I want to retire and get fat and bald and just smoke and read. I’m coming to some powerful realizations about myself through scientology. It’s a type of metaphysics for realization, for self-discovery. It’s somewhat related to transcendental meditation except that you study certain natural phenomenon that explain universal truths.
So you work from the outside to explain your inner function. I am learning to develop my memory to the point where I can recall problems in former lives – so I can work out problems in this one. It’s sort of a backstepping process, step by step. But I’m not totally convinced of reincarnation. I’m beginning to think that it’s a matter of faith, of believing and knowing some things that are not concrete–of committing myself . . .
“I need more time to be alone, to think and relax and realize the importance and consequences of my own life.”
The Turtles | Learning About Themselves
JOHN BARBATA | “In the overall picture, the Turtles, aren’t any different from other groups that are playing happening music. Any group has a life span and you have to make material gains through that time. Then when things slow down, you can move into other things. But when it’s happening big, you don’t have time to relax. When you relax, you’re dead because actually you’re moving backward. So when the time is right, you work for security and money because our society is a money society, and if you have that, you’ll come pretty close to inner peace, which is what everyone works for.”
“Honesty is important to me because I expect it of myself and I expect other people to be honest, too. It’s easy for me to be honest because I say what I think to anybody – it doesn’t matter who they are. I am what I think, so I’m honest with myself and my friends.
“I hate bad service at restaurants and hotels and waiting for planes and girls who can’t meet you at your own level and phonies and disc-jockeys who put down groups because they think it’s cool.
“Life is exciting for me – never dull, because I’m always having new experiences, meeting new people, playing, traveling, recording, rehearsing. You have to be aggressive and it’s a tremendous responsibility. I want to be a great drummer – not just a rock drummer, but someone who is respected for his overall ability, like Krupa or Rich. There are a lot of things I want to do, like record my own album and have my own show.”
“Just bought a four and a half acre estate in Malibu – all on the beach. It was really a hassle getting it, but it was worth it. There are two houses and a guest house on the lot. The house I’m going to live in is only 80 yards from the beach. Anyway, it’s something more permanent and there will be time to develop my mental ability through yoga, meditating so that I can look through everything physical and material and really see myself. Time to relax and really get into myself . . .
AL NICHOL | “I guess everyone has some sort of avenue of creative expression. Mine is music. Of all the arts, music seems to be the most expressive and involving. But that’s because I’m a musician . . . obviously.”
“When I was seven years old, my parents decided that it would be a good idea if I began piano lessons. They decided; I didn’t. So I didn’t practice regularly because it was something I had to do . . . it wasn’t a free thing. Then when I was twelve, I got a trumpet and started playing. Then I bought a French horn. About this time bands started happening very big and I learned to play the guitar. Music comes very easily to me . . . it must be something I was born with. It is a way I can express myself on many different levels.”
“I want to communicate more completely to our audiences. That may sound very trite, but when you think about it . . . that’s what it’s all about. A nationally recognized group receives a lot from the public. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we owe them our lives. But there is a rapport established . . . sort of a give and take process. That’s why we work hard on our act. Along with being musicians, we want to be entertainers. When we perform, that’s when we are really The Turtles. People can identify and participate. Records are another dimension. There’s no visual element. No contact and response. That’s why we can reproduce our records in a live performance.
“I know now that I also want a personal life and have just got married and want to create a home and a family that will be somewhat distinct from my music. I guess what I’m working for is a balance. On one side, there is me as an individual. Then there is me as a musician, which is part of my individuality. But I am also a Turtle, which makes me a part of the group. As part of a group, I give a majority of my time and energy to the public. So, in a way, I’m a triple schizophrenic. It’s a difficult balance to maintain, but I’m working on it, and I understand it.
“I’m also working toward more diversity in my music – experimenting with new sounds. The electric sitar and the bag pipes add a new dimension. They have an unusual tone and an incredible range. I’ll keep working with new instruments because they’re a vehicle for discovery. When I compose and arrange, I discover and grow as a musician. This is my major contribution to the group because we have to keep growing and changing and improving all the time. That’s why we’re writing all our own material and producing ourselves. We know now that we want to be a self-contained unit. That’s where it’s at.
The Turtles | Learning About Themselves
MARK VOLMAN | “I was fifteen when I joined The Turtles. So I grew up both musically and personally with the group. I learned fast and sometimes the hard way, so I guess in some ways I’m really advanced and in other ways I’m not. But I’ve always had a lot of freedom to do what I wanted, wear the clothes I like, let my hair grow . . . and I’ve experienced many kinds of affection – from fans, from other people in show business, the other guys in the group. So I’ve learned to give a lot to the audiences and to my family.
When I’m on stage I know that I’m there to have fun and entertain. What more could you ask for? It’s like being a kid and living on a playground. So I’m happy doing my thing. I just bought a house and have two cars and a motorcycle and I’m comfortable. I don’t invest my money mainly because people can really get hung-up making money and more money. It’s groovy to have but I won’t let it govern my life. The really important things to me are my wife and my family. And, of course, the group is important to me. It’s important that we grow musically and every way.
That’s why The Turtles have always been a flexible group—musically and in our image – because we don’t limit ourselves. We’ll never become a trend because we’re aware of how trends and fads work and we stay away from them. I guess you could say that we have a perspective. We don’t want to get categorized, and we do this by remaining individuals. None of us want to submerge our personalities into the group, form a group ego. We want to be ourselves and do our thing together and continue to be successful.”
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