Summer of Love: Tweaka Turner Interview

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2018-10-25)

U2’s “Summer of Love” is currently number 7 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, and climbing. The song is being pushed up the chart by a series of remixes being created by DJs to enhance its club friendliness. One of the producers that has remixed “Summer of Love” is Tweaka Turner, who has taken the time out to answer a few questions for us on the project.

Tweaka’s mix was sent out for promotion on October 13, 2018, along with mixes by UNDERHER, Myke Rossi, and Leo Frappier. These have been sent out in digital formats only, and have not been pressed to promotional CDRs. For more information on the “Summer of Love” promotional release visit our discography entry.

Before we get into the interview, feel free to start listening to Tweaka Turner’s Nu-Trance Mix below:

So first of all — who is Tweaka Turner?

I’ve been a professional remixer/producer since 2011, and I am based in San Francisco, CA, USA. I have 13 different top 30 Billboard remixer credits, including six top 10s on the Billboard Club Charts. Some of the artists I’ve worked with are Kym Sims, Kelly Clarkson, The Former First Ladies of the Supremes, Jeanie Tracy, Debby Holiday, Martha Wash, and Elton John. U2 is the biggest group, and Lady Gaga is on the track so this is a dream project…

When did you first get approached to work on Summer of Love? How did U2 find you?

U2 and their record label hired Citrusonic Promotions in Los Angeles, CA to promote “Summer of Love” to the Dance Charts, and I got the gig from Citrusonic…

How did the remix compare to others you have worked on? Was it an easy mix to complete? Did it take a lot of work? Was everything you needed there from the start?

It’s funny at first I was like “cool, a song called ‘Summer of Love’, like Summer of Love — 1969 San Francisco — I’m living in San Francisco etc.,” But quickly upon hearing the track I realized how serious and deep the song was…duh, it is U2 after all…So I did work extra hard trying to strike the right tone in the mix between sounds that echo the serious nature of the story, and keeping it energetic and danceable. For example, it was very intentional on my part to input electro guitar licks in the mix to try to give it an edge…

The lyrics of “Summer of Love” deal with the Mediterranean and the Syrian war. Many of the artists who have remixed the song have chosen to leave out the verse dealing with Aleppo. Did you approach the remix any different due to the lyrics?

I kept the lyrics in place. I didn’t want to mess with the lyrics, but I focused on embellishing the track with a nice melodic structure and a driving beat.

Was there any guidance from U2 as to what they wanted to see in your remix?

There was no guidance from U2 or Citrusonic, which as a remix artist gave me free expression. I submitted my mix and I was not asked to change anything. It took about a week and a half to find out that my remix would go out to promotions…Hurray! It took about three weeks total from submission for my mix to go out to promo, the same week “Summer of Love” edged up 2 big notches from #10 to #8…

In the past you’ve worked with Leo Frappier, who contributed two remixes to the promotional campaign in the same week your mix came out. Did you compare notes?

There were no notes compared. Leo made it a point to steer in a different direction and present a different groove…

You’ve made prominent use of Lady Gaga’s “Love” vocal in the mix? Have your worked with Gaga or U2 in the past?

This was the first time (hopefully not last) remixing for these amazing artists!

Were you a fan of U2 before being asked to work on the mix? If so did you have a favorite song? A favorite remix? If you had a chance to go back and remix any U2 song would you have one you would like to do?

Who isn’t a fan of U2 on some level right? The contribution to the world stage as artists is enormous…

As a professional DJ since high school/college in New York, the music of U2 has always been on my playlists…Honestly though, I’m more in awe of their talents today than in the 1980s. So many songs to choose from but “Beautiful Day” and “Ordinary Love” would be my choices to remix into dance grooves…

What should U2 fans know about Tweaka Turner?

People should hopefully get that the Tweak in Tweaka Turner isn’t about drugs but rather Tweaking it — “takin’ it up a notch”…..I always strive to turn it out for the DJ’s and Dancers….

What other projects do you have out now? What other projects do you have coming up?

Besides U2, I’m also a remixer on the new ANGGUN release ‘The Good Is Back,” currently at #27 on the Billboard Dance Club chart, and Debby Holiday’s ‘Waiting For A Lifetime” which is at #30 on the Billboard Dance Club chart.

Where can those that are interested find out more about Tweaka Turner?

Check out my remixes at Soundcloud and listen in to our weekly live radio show.

Many thanks to Tweaka Turner for taking a few minutes to answer our questions. Additional interviews with producers of recent remixes can be found below.

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