A truly original and fearless artist, Calgary-bred, singer, songwriter and producer Turbo, combines the gritty authenticity of outlaw country with hard-hitting hip-hop inspired beats and rhymes. On “Heart Stop”, his debut single for 10K Projects/ Homemade Projects/ Internet Money Records, out today, the musical maverick shows the sheer force of his emotionally raw lyrics, along with his razor-sharp instinct for crafting unforgettable hooks. “Heart Stop” reveals Turbo speaking his unapologetic truth about living fast with no regrets, set to a backdrop of gorgeous acoustic-guitar work supplied by labelmate Alec Wigdahl.
“Everybody wants to party with a rockstar but they got no idea what it’s like to be a rockstar,” said Turbo. “I’m the real fucking deal, outdoing everyone including myself. Hate me or love me, it’s easy makin’ that Heart Stop.”
Born Nicholas LaMonaca, Turbo grew up on country thanks mainly to his father (a famed guitarist in the international bluegrass scene), but felt drawn toward rap music and obscure electronic genres like hardstyle, the fusion of techno and hardcore. At the age of 12 he started making his own music, a move heavily inspired by Avicii’s progressive-house classic “LE7ELS.” “Once I heard that song I couldn’t get enough of it,” Turbo recalls. “I was so obsessed, I ended up downloading FL Studio to try to recreate the melody on my own.” Although he instantly discovered a natural talent for production, Turbo put music aside for several years, until he graduated high school. “On my 18th birthday I bought a laptop, keyboard, and set of speakers, and figured I’d have rappers come in and do their thing,” he says. “But after a while I just started winging it, making beats and rapping over them myself.”
As he pushed deeper into his artistry, Turbo began mining inspiration from left-of-center country singers like Colter Wall, a Canadian musician he stumbled across while stocking the shelves at his full-time liquor-store job. “Colter Wall has one of the raspiest, rawest, rudest voices I’d ever heard in my life, and it just completely took me over,” he notes. From there, Turbo tapped into his own country roots and created a full-length project titled Sixth Gear, a 2019 release featuring his breakthrough single “Light Speed.” Soon after YouTube curator Astari shared the song’s video on his channel, “Light Speed” caught the attention of 10K, quickly paving the way for Turbo’s signing to the label, along with Homemade Projects and Internet Money Records.
LISTEN TO “HEART STOP”
