David Turner is inspiring the next generation of music professionals inside and outside of the classroom as a Senior Lecturer in Audio and Music for SAE University College.
As with the majority of SAE’s faculty, Dave both teaches and does – alongside his academic career he is also a successful musician in his own right. He picked up an APRA music award nomination this year with his band Sweet Talk, and is an in-demand producer and session musician. Some of the artists he’s played with include Tina Arena, Kasey Chambers, Amy Shark, the Delta Riggs, Dan Sultan, Casey Barnes… the list goes on.
He says his incredibly diverse portfolio of work isn’t just creatively satisfying but also allows him to bring his students’ learning out into the real world, in real time.
“Luckily for me, my secondary career informs everything I do at SAE,” he said.
Dave said in an industry evolving as rapidly as music, developing diverse skills is essential to success, but he doesn’t see opportunities for musicians dwindling. In fact, quite the opposite.
“I don’t think making it in the industry is harder than ever, I actually want to say it’s nearly easier than ever,” he said.
“The industry is thriving, it is in this kind of interesting COVID recovery period, there are new opportunities coming up all the time.
“The age of the specialist is behind us – it’s about becoming a master at a few trades and a Jack of many others. Diversification of your creative portfolio is really one of the only ways a creative person can prepare themselves for success.”
Career wins
Dave has followed his own advice throughout his career. He is currently touring with his band Sweet Talk and celebrating the nomination for Most Performed Blues and Roots at the APRA Awards announced in April.
He says in the rush of a musician’s life it’s important to slow down and appreciate wins like the APRA nomination, and to take opportunities as they come.
Dave has played on national stages from Bluesfest to the Tamworth Music Festival, Triple J’s Like a Version and Live at the Chapel, but he said the performance he considers most life-changing was in 2018.
“I got a phone call from Amy Shark’s team asking if I would play MTV Unplugged with her, which was the first time I’d been offered a live gig in, you know, the five years since I’d retired,” he said.
He said he was going to turn down the gig – it didn’t fit with the career trajectory he was on – but something made him change his mind.
“My entire reason for making music was Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged from 1994, that was my genesis. So, when I thought about what 14-year-old Dave would have thought of 34-year-old Dave saying no to that opportunity, I just had to say yes. I’m lucky I did – playing that show was the beginning of my second life as a performing musician, which is now primarily what I do.”
Advice to students
He said his success as a musician has boiled down to learning a variety of skills, adding teaching, music production and touring to his repertoire, as well as to good old fashioned work ethic, a lesson he passes onto his students.
“Talent gets you in the door, but the drive and work ethic keeps you there,” he says.
He also advises students to pair their creative studies with business skills, something he did when he completed an MBA.
“If you don’t, then you won’t succeed as a musician,” he said.
“If it’s between you and the other person, and the other person has business acumen, they’re the ones who will succeed.”
His students are reaping the rewards of Dave’s career not only in their classes, but in career opportunities available to them through his connections, something he says is a cornerstone of SAE’s educational offerings.
“What makes SAE such an excellent place to study creative industries is that not only do we have all these different creative schools in one college, but we also have lecturers engaging in those industries and bringing that into the classroom,” he said.
“Multiple students of mine have careers that I’ve helped place. Dan Sultan’s front of house, one of the producers I work with in my band—both are ex-students.”
He said a bright future is within reach if up-and-coming musicians and creatives focus on the advice he and other SAE lecturers impart.
