Contaminated Intelligence: Unbroken Brotherly Bonds

Utah goth group Contaminated Intelligence will be performing on Friday, October 4 during the 2024 Dark Arts Festival of Utah taking place at Area 51. SLUG chatted with frontman Jourdan Turner about the band’s history, life trials and the new direction of their music.

Turner was in his late teens when his brother Adam Turner took him to the gothic and industrial club Sanctuary. The 18+ dance club allowed him and his brother to mingle with new people, play pool and listen to music. It was a sanctuary for them as growing up in Utah during the ‘80s and ‘90s, was a time that forced you to stand up for yourself if your appearance was anything different from the norm. Turner feels that it was a time when self-expression could lead to name-calling, stares and physical threats. In comparison to today’s culture, he says, “Nowadays having radical-colored hair, tattoos and piercings is the norm.” He adds, “Hardly anyone bats an eye at it—which is nice, don’t get me wrong—but it took a long time and a lot of us to make it happen.”    

On May 28, 2004, Turner lost his beloved brother Adam to a “speedball” overdose—a mixture of heroin and cocaine. This death was raw for Turner because he had seen his brother on his deathbed, which led to no resolution to the sibling rivalry they had in the months prior to his brother’s passing. “It hit like a ton of bricks,” he says. “My world was shattered because he was the only one in my family that made me feel included.” Unfortunately, darkness reared its ugly head again when his father committed suicide two years later.

Turner’s life spiraled into darkness as Adam was the person who introduced him to music and art. He says, “I was seven or nine years old when I first heard Skinny Puppy, Ministry, Bauhaus and more coming out of his basement room.” The two of them had envisioned themselves to be like Gary and Dwayne Dassing of Mentallo and the Fixer fame. The name “Contaminated Intelligence” was created by Adam in the hopes of pursuing this musical dream for the Turners. Creating art, musically or visually, became a way of processing grief and pain. It was an avenue of escape for Turner.

Although aspects of the Contaminated Intelligence project were started years earlier, it was not until 2009 that the band was officially formed. Turner was laid off from work, so he was able to focus on some of the work he had started with Adam. It was during this time that he took the work he had done in the Pro Tools and Reason software and narrowed them down to what would become the band’s first album TRACKS. This concept album is about a set of abandoned train tracks that the brothers walked together throughout their lives. “When Adam died, the rails and the ties were ripped out and removed,” he says. “It symbolized for me then that my past tracks, my childhood tracks were gone, and it was time to set new ones.”

In 2010, the album was mixed by one of his brother’s longtime friends, Seattle-based producer Bryan Tully. Turner was also connected with Gary Dassing through MySpace and shared his demo, which then led to collaboration with Dwayne Dassing on the track “Cutting Ties” as well as his mastering of the album. The power of manifestation arrived for Contaminated Intelligence as Turner was not only creating music like he and his brother had envisioned but was also collaborating with Mentallo and the Fixer. Turner reflects on how cathartic this was for him. He says, “I was able to channel those raw emotions I was having and put them to music. A few of the songs for ‘Tracks’ did not make the first release for the album but were then put on a re-release that was mastered by Martin Bowes of the UK band Attrition.”   

The current members of the band are Turner and Jeremy Dreher, and the focus of content is more on the future rather than reflections on the past. You will find an apocalyptic political theme on the band’s most current releases The Day Before… and Unforeseen. Turner says, “Digitally and physically, you’re monitored and tracked. There’s no escape, [so] be the role you were designed to be and embrace the machine.” Politics has always been at the forefront of industrial music, this is fitting for many in today’s climate as one can never predict what the future may evolve into.

Social issues are also important to Turner as he stands for equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community and feels that people need to love freely, with every right a heterosexual couple has. He says, “This life is limited; we’re only here for a little while, so why waste your time hating people and making laws against them instead of minding your business and living your life?” He adds, “Love supersedes all, it is the strongest emotion and we all feel it.”

He also feels that the underground community here in Utah needs to stop gatekeeping as it prevents many people from being engaged in community events. “We all started from somewhere, not knowing the culture [or] the bands” he says. “So give a welcoming hand, a kind gesture of support. A little help goes a long way.”  

Be sure to catch Contaminated Intelligence’s appearance at the 2024 Dark Arts Festival of Utah. You may purchase your tickets in advance here. If you can’t wait that long, you can also see their performance at Urban Lounge on September 24 with Leæther Strip and Damascus Knives.

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