We recently connected with Scott Tournet and have shared our conversation below.

Scott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

I was not a good student. I hated homework and the whole classroom experience felt like punishment to me. I had one or two teachers that reached me and in those classes I did well so it wasn’t that I wasn’t capable, I just wasn’t inspired. After dropping out of college after my sophomore year, I found a progressive education school in Vermont called Goddard College. It was a weird little hippy school that let the students self direct their learning experience. I had recently fallen in love with music and I dove into school like never before. For me, I really needed to find what I was passionate about in order to really lean into learning. While I was failing out of my first college, I was reading a ton of books and studying music most of the day so it wasn’t that I wasn’t doing anything. It’s just that the curriculum in the traditional school seemed miles away from what I was truly interested in. I had switched my major to music but we were studying music from the 1800’s and the professors wore khaki pants and button down shirts. I wanted to study Jimi Hendrix and not dress in some formulaic/conservative fashion.

All this to say that I think the education system, particularly the arts, is way behind the times. Many people seem to think that studying Mozart and Beethoven is educational but studying Led Zeppelin or Jay Z is ridiculous and that’s where they lose the interest of a lot kids. Also, kids are directed toward instruments like the violin and clarinet when barely any current popular music uses those instruments. Those instruments shouldn’t be discarded but things like guitars, songwriting, and making music on the computer should be also be brought into the curriculum.

I can’t speak as much for theater and art but from what I see, it’s similar. I think we need to keep up with the times in the arts and take stock of what kids “want” to learn.

Scott, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I fell in love with music at the age of 18. It hit me hard but I had started late. I knew making it as a musician was a long shot and that I had to work extra hard to catch up. I had a strong drive but not because I had some crazy sense of work ethic. I was blessed because I loved music so much and it was just what I wanted to be doing all the time. I still feel this way now. When I wake up every day, it’s generally what I want to do most. To wake up in the morning with a passion for something is a gift. I don’t feel bored and wonder what I should do today. I wake up and I want to play the drums, guitar, piano, bass, mix, record, write, pedal steel, etc. When you dig deep into music there are so many directions to go and there will never be enough time to become a master at everything. I always feel like I could go deeper in a thousand different directions.

At this point in my career, I would say that I am the most proud of the breadth and depth of what I do. When you listen to an album by my band Elektric Voodoo, you will hear psych rock, afrobeat, latin music, americana, singer songwriter, country, blues, jazz, soul, pop music, rock, world, etc. Beyond the genres, so much has been considered. What kind of microphones we record with, different techniques, reverb, delay, the instruments have all been deeply researched and hand picked. There’s so much depth to every element. Decades of thought.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I want to connect the old with the new. I love traditional music. Blues, country, afrobeat, americana, jazz, soul, rock & roll, etc. I also love the evolution of music. I want to be a bridge between the old and the new while creating something unique. Rock & Roll started in Memphis, TN when blues, country, soul, and gospel all smashed into each other. In today’s world, we have access to every kind of music there is at the touch of a button. It can be overwhelming but it’s also very exciting. I come from a place where I have studied traditional music for years but I don’t want to recreated it. I want to expand upon it in a respectful and exciting way.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

2020. The Pandemic. We had just recorded our most recent album ‘Telescope’ and we had a National tour planned and then….the world changed. Like everyone, we simply retreated for a while and stayed safe. Then we got back on our weekly phone call and hopped on Zoom and continued forward. It was tough and we took a huge financial blow. In spite of this, we dug in our heels and continued on. We put more time into planning the album release and focused on 0ther aspects like publishing, socials, updating our website, merch, etc. When we finally released the album a year and a half later, the Omicron variant took hold and two of our members got Covid and we had to cancel our tour. In the face of that, we struggled a lot and all took a month away to take stock of if we still wanted to push forward. I’m proud of the fact that we got up and dusted ourselves off and found it in ourselves to carry on. Since then we’ve found a renewed conviction and are planning our summer tour. Onward!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elektricvoodoo.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elektricvoodoo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elektricvoodoo/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScottTournet
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ElektricVoodoo