MANDEL TURNER

Born and Raised in Brooklyn, Mandel Turner’s roots can be traced to The First Church of God in Christ gospel choir where his rich baritone voice was first discovered and nurtured. Later on the influences of early 80's Club Culture and DJ's such as Larry Levan, Tee Scott, Tony Humphries, further expanded the range to which his “musical voice” could be put to use. And thus a DJ was born. Emerging forms such as Disco and New Wave in addition to the more established genres of R&B, Soul and Rock opened his ears to the richness that is MUSIC and forever cemented his desire to become a part of this art form.

After a number of musical collaborations in New York, that included recording with famed disco producer / songwriter Patrick Adams (Inner Life, Musique, Phreek) and performing live at clubs like Tracks NYC, Mandel was anxious to seek new experiences and traveled to Paris in 1987.
Famed model Katoucha, got Mandel his first gig in Paris at Le Palace which lead to his residency 1987 - 1989. And the other Parisian institutions were soon to follow i.e. Les Bains Douches, Regines, Rex Club, Club de l’Etoile, Folies Pigalle, Le Queen, Le Casbah and Studio A, where he was to do the very first House Party in Paris (House Music All Night Long).

But perhaps his most significant collaboration would be with the renowned producer impresario writer, drummer Cerrone. This 13 Year collaboration has endured to present day with turner mc’ing, singing and traveling the world with Barbara Tucker, James D-Train Williams, Nile Rodgers who also collaborated with Cerrone (freak out at the Montreux Jazz Festival).

Throughout his time in Paris Mandel has released Save Me with Sven Love & Catalan FC, I Cry with Llorca aka Art of Tones, Can’t You See The Sunshine Through The Rain as Common Nature, Phase Two with Playin’ 4 The city, In The Spirit with Kalk, The Soul Of My Love with LifeLike & After All with Franck Roger to name a few. The list goes on…

Berlin has been on his radar since 2008 when Mandel started visiting old friends in the city or to do the odd gig here and there. But ultimately it was getting to know the city via these old friendships that eventually cemented his 2014 decision to make Berlin his home. 

Since then he has made his niche in the city connecting with Berlin producers such as Terranova which was to yield the 2015 Underground hit Underverse (Kompakt) and also, Tyree Cooper & Bobby Starr aka Jack the Box, Whirlpool Productions and Georg Stuby. 

Working various clubs in Berlin: Cookies, Trésor, Prince Charles, Watergate, kantine am berghain to name a few, helped him to develop a feel for the many scenes and atmospheres that make up Berlin's nightlife. In (2018) he started a bi-monthly called Da Soul Revival with Tyree Cooper & Robert Owens at Paloma Bar and in (2019) his weekly after work basement jam Press Play at Repeat Bar.