This story is part of the Comox Valley Record鈥檚 summer edition of Trio Magazine, published quarterly and available throughout the Comox Valley. The summer edition is available at the Record office (407D Fifth St.) and at businesses throughout the Comox Valley.
鈥� 鈥� 鈥�
Jasper Myers
Special to the Record
Local musician Austin Diotte-Turner, who goes by ADT Music, began his music career in 2019 with an online music production course. Today he has an album and posts a cappella covers online that have even been noticed by a few celebrities.
The course Diotte-Turner took was by music producer Andrew Wong, and he said it was a great experience for him.
鈥淚t was like you got to collaborate with all these other people and feedback with each other. It was a good learning experience, and I鈥檝e just been working on it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always loved to just record stuff, and I鈥檝e always had that drive to just make cool-sounding music.鈥�
He said he鈥檚 played music most of his life, but only started taking it seriously within the last five or six years.
The a cappella work was inspired by the song Take A Picture by Filter when he heard the harmonies.
鈥淚 just love vocal harmony so much,鈥� he noted. 鈥淚 was like, what if you just make the whole song vocal harmony and just get rid of the instruments? And I鈥檝e seen lots of people in the past have done a cappella stuff. I just tried it myself and I鈥檝e just been really loving it.鈥�
Not everything Diotte-Turner does is a cappella. Videos online show him playing with instruments at times, but the covers are all instrument free - the A cappella Builder Series.
Diotte-Turner said he can play a variety of instruments and loves playing each instrument for a different reason. However, if he had to pick a favourite, it would be piano.
鈥淚 think piano is honestly probably my go-to because I feel like most comfortable there and I can just get what鈥檚 in my head out, and that鈥檚 what I love about it. I love playing every instrument, but I think piano is home for me.鈥�
When Diotte-Turner was a kid he was at his aunt鈥檚 house fiddling around on her piano. He said his aunt told him he sounded pretty good, but he never really thought about it after that - until he was a bit older.
鈥淚 was at school and playing marimba, and the teacher thought I was picking it up so quick, she鈥檚 like, 鈥榶ou should play the piano part along with this,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 like, okay, I don鈥檛 play piano, but sure, because I still never really played at that point. But I managed to do that and she was like, 鈥榳ow, that鈥檚 great. Just play accompaniment for us from now on.鈥� And that was like Grade 8 or Grade 7鈥� I felt like, wow, this is the first time I feel like I鈥檝e done something that鈥檚 good in my life.鈥�
Now he posts covers and other musical content across TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram - something he鈥檚 always wanted to do.
鈥淚 felt like I鈥檝e been searching for a way to make music my whole life, and I think one opportunity these days is the online scene. Content creation is becoming such a big thing and there are real jobs there, and it鈥檚 a really hard market, for sure, and really grindy. But I think I do really enjoy making videos.鈥�
Diotte-Turner鈥檚 videos have garnered attention from some of his favourite bands - Def Leppard, Marianas Trench and Tears for Fears.
鈥淒ef Leppard posted me on their Instagram story, reposted my cover when they were doing a contest,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 did a cover of their song Armageddon. And I was like, 鈥楬oly smokes,鈥� that was an insane moment.鈥� And Marianas Trench also reposted my cover completely on their channel.鈥�
Another one of Diotte-Turner鈥檚 favourite bands, Tears for Fears, also commented on one of his songs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my three moments of fame. You鈥檝e done a good job. I guess. So clearly, I鈥檓 glad that people enjoy it enough to share that. It鈥檚 very humbling.鈥�
Diotte-Turner is also part of two choirs - Island Voices and Quarantones Male Chorus. He said between the choirs, his full-time job as a chef de partie and making covers he has to really find the time to work on his own music.
鈥淚鈥檝e been saying for a while I want to do singles for a bit to try that out,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like, where do I put time for original music right now and surviving an adult life? I鈥檓 trying to figure all that out right now, see where I put what. But I would love to do some more original music.鈥�
He said he would love to put out another album and ultimately would love to have a full-time music career.
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