Reviews
Guard your Plimentos!
Guardian, 21 May 1998.
Palmerston North one-man band Bing Turkby Ensemble launches its first album on compact
disc at the Stomach tomorrow night.
Grabs you by the Plimentos, written and performed by Craig Johnston, follows
his three vinyl EPs.
It is a 70-minute compilation, in chronological order, of those offerings plus new
material.
Johnston, 24, is a mild-mannered city library worker by day but mutates into Bing
Turkby - a learn-as-you-go recording musician - once outside the library walls.
For Bing, nothing is impossible.
He learnt to play basic saxophone in one day off a video guide and he's now teaching
himself trombone.
"If you ask me I would say I'm a bass player, but now I've got a drum kit and a
trombone and saxophone. I like finding out things myself. I want to show people
you can play any instrument you want, not just guitars and bass."
As a result of countless hours experimenting with his second-hand four-track recording
machine, the former Wanganui Boy and Massey student has loads of material.
"I started doing stuff just to see if I could."
Bing moved to Palmerston North in 1992 and for a time played bass for garage band
Simnock.
He derives considerable pleasure from his hobby.
"It's ignorant rock?" he quips.
"I thought I was making punk heavy tunes but when I listened to it, it sounded like
pop. I'm stuck in the middle somewhere."
Simple is the key, Bing says.
"The songs with a simple idea to start with work out best."
"[The music] has a kind of punk ethos, but it comes out pop.
"I tend to write the music and the lyrics come off the top of my head," he adds.
Bing's light-hearted approach extends to his press releases.
"With his trusty Tascam 4-track tucked under his mighty pectoral muscles, and his
funky sax locked in place between his trembling kneecaps, Mr Turkby looks set to
either make it big in the music world or die looking really stupid."
The CD was cut locally at a cost of $12.50 each (run of 20).
Grabs you by the Plimentos is available through alternative record stores
for $17, or $15 at the Stomach (on Lombard Street) tomorrow night, and will be reviewed
in full next week.
"Some (songs) are duds but I'm still learning to write," Bing says.
Bing's web site is www.geocities.com/sunset-strip/studio/3596
"I've had an email from a Belgian scarfie," he says referring to his global impact.
* Tomorrow's gig will feature support from Sid Vishnu, Tangent and a rare appearance
from Simnock.