Biography
Among the original founders of Hawkwind, saxophonist and flutist Nik Turner carved out the most extensive and eclectic body of work away from the band compared with any other former member. He wrote several of the space rock outfit’s enduring classics, among them “Master of the Universe,” “Brainstorm,” and “D-Rider.” Turner also fronted outfits such as the satirical punk-cabaret collective Inner City Unit, which issued five albums from 1980 to 1985, most notably the 1984 release Punkadelic. His range further encompassed 1995’s cassette-only Ska Stars Live and Nik Turner’s Fantastic Allstars’ Kubanno Kickasso, the latter showcasing his personal approach to Latin jazz fusion. Greatest recognition, however, came for his forward-looking reinterpretation of cosmic prog rock, heard on 1993’s Sphynx, 2001’s Transglobal Friends and Relations, and 2015’s Space Fusion Odyssey. Few limits constrained his musical curiosity or skill.
Raised in Margate, Kent, England, alongside future Hawkwind colleague Robert Calvert, Turner joined the band’s 1969 formation after playing in Mobile Freakout. He proved central to Hawkwind’s most celebrated era, supplying saxophone and flute as well as vocals and songwriting, including the group standard “Brainstorm” that featured on 1972’s Doremi Fasol Latido. His last recording with the group was 1976’s Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music, after which leader Brock dismissed the majority of the lineup, Turner included.
With this independence Turner journeyed to Egypt, absorbing its heritage and culture while capturing flute performances inside the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Backed by musicians linked to Gong, those sessions surfaced in 1978 as his first solo effort, Xitintoday, issued under the name Nik Turner’s Sphynx. He next appeared on Mother Gong’s 1979 album Fairy Tales and assembled Inner City Unit, featuring guitarist Trevor Thomas, bassist Baz Magneto (later replaced by Dead Fred Reeves), and drummer Mick Stupp. Their debut, Pass Out, arrived in 1980 and mixed prog rock, punk, and big-band swing. Turner rejoined Hawkwind in 1981 yet continued working with Inner City Unit, which delivered The Maximum Effect that year and Punkadelic in 1982. Also released in 1982 was Ersatz, an ICU project with his childhood friend and Hawkwind associate Calvert. Turner exited Hawkwind again in 1984, revived Inner City Unit, and issued New Anatomy.
In 1985 he settled on the western coast of Wales and established a new-age community in a remote rural setting. Inner City Unit released The Presidents Tapes the same year, Turner’s final album with the band; he departed in 1986 to focus on the smaller Nik Turner All-Stars, which adapted the ICU’s big-band swing leanings into more direct material. The ensemble never recorded, functioning mainly as a regional live act.
By the early 1990s Turner had relocated to California and begun collaborating with progressive, industrial-leaning figures including Helios Creed and Pressurehed. He restarted his solo career with 1993’s Sphynx, a delayed follow-up to the Egypt-inspired Xitintoday. Prophets of Time, issued in 1994, enlisted former Hawkwind members Simon House and Del Dettmar, frequent partners for the remainder of the decade, sometimes within the cosmic Anubian Lights, which also incorporated Pressurehed personnel and debuted on record in 1995. That same year Turner formed the backing group Space Ritual, largely dedicated to Hawkwind material; the ensemble toured in 1994 and 1995, documenting both runs with live albums titled Space Ritual and Past or Future? respectively.
Turner stayed active into the 2010s, regularly joining Swedish prog-rock ensembles such as Darxtar and the Moor while releasing solo projects that included the well-received 2013 album Space Gypsy on Cleopatra. The similarly progressive Space Fusion Odyssey followed in 2015, then the thematic Life in Space in 2017. The next year Turner and bassist-producer Youth jointly released Pharaohs from Outer Space on the British experimental-ambient label Painted Word; the pair characterized the recording as “a nod to Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane.” Nik Turner died on November 10, 2022, at the age of 82.
Raised in Margate, Kent, England, alongside future Hawkwind colleague Robert Calvert, Turner joined the band’s 1969 formation after playing in Mobile Freakout. He proved central to Hawkwind’s most celebrated era, supplying saxophone and flute as well as vocals and songwriting, including the group standard “Brainstorm” that featured on 1972’s Doremi Fasol Latido. His last recording with the group was 1976’s Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music, after which leader Brock dismissed the majority of the lineup, Turner included.
With this independence Turner journeyed to Egypt, absorbing its heritage and culture while capturing flute performances inside the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Backed by musicians linked to Gong, those sessions surfaced in 1978 as his first solo effort, Xitintoday, issued under the name Nik Turner’s Sphynx. He next appeared on Mother Gong’s 1979 album Fairy Tales and assembled Inner City Unit, featuring guitarist Trevor Thomas, bassist Baz Magneto (later replaced by Dead Fred Reeves), and drummer Mick Stupp. Their debut, Pass Out, arrived in 1980 and mixed prog rock, punk, and big-band swing. Turner rejoined Hawkwind in 1981 yet continued working with Inner City Unit, which delivered The Maximum Effect that year and Punkadelic in 1982. Also released in 1982 was Ersatz, an ICU project with his childhood friend and Hawkwind associate Calvert. Turner exited Hawkwind again in 1984, revived Inner City Unit, and issued New Anatomy.
In 1985 he settled on the western coast of Wales and established a new-age community in a remote rural setting. Inner City Unit released The Presidents Tapes the same year, Turner’s final album with the band; he departed in 1986 to focus on the smaller Nik Turner All-Stars, which adapted the ICU’s big-band swing leanings into more direct material. The ensemble never recorded, functioning mainly as a regional live act.
By the early 1990s Turner had relocated to California and begun collaborating with progressive, industrial-leaning figures including Helios Creed and Pressurehed. He restarted his solo career with 1993’s Sphynx, a delayed follow-up to the Egypt-inspired Xitintoday. Prophets of Time, issued in 1994, enlisted former Hawkwind members Simon House and Del Dettmar, frequent partners for the remainder of the decade, sometimes within the cosmic Anubian Lights, which also incorporated Pressurehed personnel and debuted on record in 1995. That same year Turner formed the backing group Space Ritual, largely dedicated to Hawkwind material; the ensemble toured in 1994 and 1995, documenting both runs with live albums titled Space Ritual and Past or Future? respectively.
Turner stayed active into the 2010s, regularly joining Swedish prog-rock ensembles such as Darxtar and the Moor while releasing solo projects that included the well-received 2013 album Space Gypsy on Cleopatra. The similarly progressive Space Fusion Odyssey followed in 2015, then the thematic Life in Space in 2017. The next year Turner and bassist-producer Youth jointly released Pharaohs from Outer Space on the British experimental-ambient label Painted Word; the pair characterized the recording as “a nod to Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane.” Nik Turner died on November 10, 2022, at the age of 82.
Albums
For The Love Of Money (2023 Mix) [Instrumental] - Single
2023
The Final Frontier
2019
Life in Space
2017
Flame Tree Featuring Nik Turner
2016
Space Fusion Odyssey
2015
Thief in My Dream
2014
Space Gypsy
2013
3000 Light Years
2012
Space Ritual - Live 1994
2010
Past or Future?
1996
Prophets of Time
1994
Sphynx
1993
Xitintoday
1978
Singles
Live
