- Music
- 03 Jun 04
Turn have announced the departure of bassist Alan Lee from the band...
Turn have parted company with bassist Alan Lee just 18 months after replacing previous incumbent Gavin Fox who left to join Idlewild.
The band are now left with the not inconsiderable problem of finding a replacement in time for their Ticket Stage appearance at Oxegen, and starting work on their third album.
Talking to Hotpress, Turn mainman Ollie Cole stressed that the split is entirely amicable.
"For once it really was 'musical differences'!" he laughs. "When Alan took over from Gavin, we spent a year more or less playing songs that we'd already recorded and had a load of fun doing it. When it came round to writing this album, though, we realised that the chemistry we'd had with Gavin was done. We were turning up to rehearsals and not getting anything finished, which was as much our fault as it was Alan's. He's a great musician and a really cool guy but making a record together wasn't going to work."
With no automatic replacement waiting in the wings, the band are holding an open audition for a new bassist at Dublin's Temple Bar Music Centre on Saturday June 19.
"We're going to open the doors at 12 noon and hope a diamond walks in."
What about the suggestion on the www.turn.ie that they lure former JJ72 woman Hilary Woods out of retirement?
"I think she left the JJs because she didn't enjoy playing music anymore," Ollie reflects. "Man, girl, monkey, I don't care who we get as long as they're shit hot."
The gauntlet has been thrown down!