Meet Daisy Turnmire | Singer/Song writer/Producer/Music Artist (golden ghoul)

We had the good fortune of connecting with Daisy Turnmire and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Daisy, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Over the years, I would record bits and pieces of songs that I would hallucinate while living my daily life. I thought well when I die, these songs would live forever out in the ether, so I started releasing my own music by myself. I use pictures of my pets or life on the covers of my songs to also immortalize that time in my life. While music doesn’t pay the bills it is a nice release for me to see all that I have accomplished through out the years.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I make music that I hallucinate in my head and try to reproduce it as close as possible in reality. It is like a second language that repeats in my brain until I can get it out. It can be an instrumental that makes no sense at the time, or a heavy hearted sad song packed with lyrics that are real and raw. As a queer artist, I sing and write about how wild it is to live this life. I grew up when being gay was not cool and made you a target for harassment or worse, some of my songs reflect that. I sometimes feel like when I make these songs that are so personal that I am re-traumatizing myself and going back to that place in time and trying to correct it or make amends with it. Since I mix, make, distribute, and promote myself on my own, my music reaches to a limited audience but those people are usually people that already know me and have given me a positive response even to my very sad but honest songs. I am not afraid of crying or going to the places that created those deep traumas because I have a solid support system unlike back in the days from where some of my songs come from.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Here where I live, in Columbus, Ohio, we have some of the best vegan/vegetarian foods and amazing taco trucks all over the place. I used to be a vegetarian for over 20 years but still eat that way for the most part. I tell everyone that likes kale, to go to Harvest Pizza and order the Kale Caesar salad because it is the best salad that has ever been made. The best taco truck in my opinion is Los Agavez Taqueria. The food is amazing and so is the family that runs it, Elvia and David Reyes, are sweet awesome people that know all of their customers names! Lavash is another restaurant here that is always good all the time. I tend to take my friends to Evolved Body Art to get new jewelry or body art. Then catch a movie at Studio 35 while munching down on their in house pizza that is so good! Ace of Cups is the best music venue in town and we usually pop in there to see some doom folk or small touring metal bands. Our city has a wide diverse population that allows us to have so many fun spots to hang out at.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First my wife Deb Steele has been a solid force behind my madness of creating weird beats in our basement. Without her support, I would not have made a music studio in our home. She got me a full Pearl drum set to help me create my odd songs. She takes care of her father who has Dementia and Parkinson’s while working as an elected official to our township we in live, she does all this with grace and kindness. She is honest and lets me know if the song sucks or is too long. She knows the process and respects my time to create and sometimes she likes what I make and other times she suggests to make the song shorter.

Second person responsible for me being able to gain access to instruments is my buddy Jared Anderson. He is a music mastermind that can play any instrument and dang if he can’t shred like a monster on the guitar! He has gifted me many reverse neck guitars, guitars that I would never be able to afford let alone play around with, a 90s synthesizer, bass cab, and some other weird odds and ends that I use in my songs. He doesn’t even realize how much of a positive impact he has on me and my sounds. He is one of the best body piercers in the world and I get to work with him at Evolved Body Art.

My friends, Hehther (yes that’s how I spell it), Sparkle Mark, Megan, & Tabbie who all give me feedback on first draft of songs. These folks are there to lend an ear and give a suggestion or just listen and support my releases. I am lucky that some of my music is enjoyable to them or at least that is what they say, maybe they are being nice but it keeps me going.

My death metal bandmates also hear some of my silly side project/solo stuff and support me on my solo music. But watching them over the years has greatly improved how I write songs and play. Nick, Wil, and Jake are amazing thrashers that allow me to scream over their creations. Graces of Death is our name and we mostly play in Nick the drummer’s basement. These guys and I are older and just like the exercise of writing music and doing metal covers of our favorite songs. We don’t take ourselves seriously and tend to have fun at our practices. They have taught me to be humble when I mess up a song and to power through it.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldenxghoul/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmsmyBf1_Tp4wk5BY4cYNqA

Other: https://linktr.ee/goldenghoul