Biography

Turner began performing and writing songs with his family members as a child. Along with his cousin C4 [Chris Turner] he joined his brother DubLT [Tim Turner] in the group the Modern Day Poets, which was later changed to "Joel Turner and the Modern Day Poets" to capitalize on Turner's fame from appearing on Australian Idol.    Turner's first single "These Kids" was written by Joel and Tim after a friend committed suicide and was later dedicated to Joel Turner's troubled childhood neighbour and friend. It debuted in the top 5 of the Australian singles charts in October 2004.  The self-titled Joel Turner and the Modern Day Poets album was released on 1 November 2004 and most of the songs featured Turner's vocal percussion, alongside eight tracks of pure beatboxing. Guests on the album included boxer Anthony Mundine rapping on a track called "Knock U Out" was released as the second single and reached #14; as well as Australian Idol contestants Rebekah La Vauney and Axle Whitehead, with Whitehead appearing on the track "Scatbox". In 2005, Turner and the Modern Day Poets embarked on their first national tour, accompanied by the Beatbox Alliance. In the same year, Turner was crowned World Beatbox Champion at the Hip Hop World Challenge in Leipzig, Germany, where his conquests included the UK champion Faith SFX and Belgian champ RoxorLoops. He also paired with Beatbox Alliance member Tom Thum as the duo "Attention Deficit Disaudio" to win the Team World Championship.