TURTLE SKULL

track-list:
Being Here
Apathy
Into The Sun
Bourgeoisie
It Starts With Me
Heavy As Hell
Modern Mess
Moon & Tide

lyrics and produced by Charlie Gradon
and Dean McLeod
recorded by Julian Abbott at Nowave Studio
and Charlie Gradon at his Crabbes Creek studio
mixed by Charlie Gradon
mastered by Michael Lynch
artwork by Graham Yarrington
graphic design by Jim Grimwade

Turtle Skull are:
Julian Frese – bass
Ally Gradon – vocals, synths
Charlie Gradon – vocals, drums
Dean McLeod – vocals, guitars

discography:

Art As Catharsis and Copper Feast Records are proud to announce Turtle Skull’s upcoming record, ‘Being Here‘, a lush and gritty exploration of neo-psych with indie and alt-pop sensibility, out this Friday, May 23, 2025.
Turtle Skull’s new album ‘Being Here‘ is a lush and gritty exploration of neo-psych with indie and alt-pop sensibility.
With ‘Being Here‘, Turtle Skull have evolved.
A new lineup.
A fresh approach.
A leap forward.
While the album builds on the sonic foundations of 2020’s ‘Monoliths‘, it’s a different beast.
Still hefty and considered but more immediate.
Made for the moment.
A record that values gut instinct over perfection.
Tracked live at NoWave in Mullumbimby, with a paired-back approach to studio tweaking, ‘Being Here‘ captures that ‘lightning in a bottle’ energy that happens when a band fully locks in.
New member Ally Gradon’s synths inject fresh energy, swirling around meaty riffs and driving rhythms.
It’s expansive yet raw, drawing from the likes of Black Moth Super Rainbow, Idles and Cause Sui with a nod to the cinematic sprawl of Spiritualized and The Flaming Lips.
A heavy, heady blend of melody and atmosphere.
“‘Being Here’ was much more about good songs that we had freshly written being captured live in the moment”
says Drummer Charlie Gradon.
“No click, no excessive layering, no studio trickery. The only thing that wasn’t captured live was the vocals. Choosing to self-produce and mix the album gave us the chance to preserve our initial vision, even if it nearly did kill me.”
The album puts a spotlight on songwriting, covering weighty subject matter, from the life-force drain of social media to the relentless march of time.
But it does so with a call to stay connected, empathetic and grounded.
In this way, ‘Being Here‘ isn’t just an album title.
It’s a philosophy.
A mantra.
A demand to be fully present, to embrace the chaos, the beauty, the weight of it all.
No strangers to sold-out headline shows across Sydney and Melbourne, Turtle Skull have a reputation for epic live performances.
They’ve graced festival stages at Camp A Low Hum (NZ), The Gumball (NSW), Vivid (NSW) and Ninchfest (VIC) and supported the likes of Frankie and the Witch Fingers (USA), Earthless (USA) and Stonefield.
Turtle Skull are a four-piece from the Australian East Coast serving a monolithic dose of psych-doom-pop.
Formed in 2018 with the intention of finding lightness in heavy music, they’ve honed an experiential blend of warm melodies and ethereal vocal harmonies over cell-bursting riffs, motorik beats, and warbling drone.
In 2020, Turtle Skull released their anticipated second album, ‘Monoliths’:
a long-form conceptual realisation of their genre-bending sound.
‘Monoliths‘ debuted locally at #1 on the AIR 100% Independent Albums chart, and reached #4 on the Doom Charts, a highly-regarded monthly curation of the best international heavy releases.
The album was well-received, garnering attention from local and international music media including NME.
They’re now gearing up for the second instalment of their own mini-festival, ‘Doom n Bloom‘, a showcase of local and interstate artists in the heavy psych, doom, noise, and experimental genres.