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Behind the Sound: John Perotti Talks About the Music Behind the Dark Stories of 'The Turning: River Road'
- Annika Dietiker
- Aug 6
- 3 min read
Independent podcast production company Rococo Punch recently released a new season of their sensational award-winning series, The Turning. Titled The Turning: River Road, this season dives into the disturbing true history of the River Road fellowship, the women who endured the cult, and ultimately its demise. It’s a story wrapped in tension and moments of extreme emotional intensity. Choosing the right music to underscore the storytelling was essential.
John Perotti, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Rococo Punch, was the executive producer of the series and knew exactly where to turn. I had the pleasure of speaking with him about this season’s production. James Trout, sound designer, pulled from APM’s library and mixed the right tracks with his own creations to nail down the right sound of this season, perfectly underscoring the dark stories of the River Road Fellowship.
John and his team look to APM Music for an endless repository of podcasting tracks.
“I have this stable of music over 10 years that I built up that’s like emotions and settings—we have such a giant collection of music that we can use. I never really don’t find what I’m looking for.” Perotti says. “I will say what I do use are the monthly New Releases, I’m in there all the time. Right when they come up, I blast through them, find the good stuff, and put them away. And I think the other way we do it is that when we find something good, I always look at who the artist is, then I go and find their music (…) if I find somebody good, I’m going to get all their records.”
Listen to the Official Playlist Curated by Rococo Punch as Heard on Their Hit Podcast The Turning: River Road
Throughout the series, music from APM Music plays a critical role. Subtle ambient beds underscore interviews and archival tape, while sparse, tension-building cues help guide listeners through moments of revelation, fear, and reflection.
One of the biggest challenges in investigative storytelling is keeping the listener consistently engaged. And music plays a huge role in that. It has to support the narrative without overpowering it. The APM catalog gave the Rococo Punch team a wide range of options that fit naturally with the mood they were building, from minimalist drones to haunting melodic motifs.
“Sometimes you’ll listen to these narrative podcasts and people will have music in there just because it’s boring, and they think they have to put music in. So, most of the work is making sure that the thing isn’t boring first. When we’re putting music in, we’re not trying to cover up that we have a boring part happening. It’s more like, do we need support here? Do we need to make you, the listener, pay attention? So sometimes the music is there to pull you in and say ‘hey, you need to be listening to this part.’”
John and his team also enjoy using certain tracks to warn the listener, making them feel a sense of dread for what’s coming.
“It’s really good to have something that’s almost completely the wrong feeling; that way that it can grind up against an emotion. If you have music that’s completely opposite, that can do a lot of interesting things for you too. So, I think the main way that we use it is to be supportive, but there are times as well where if you heard the music by itself, or part by itself, it’s okay, but when you smash them together, you get something that’s more than just the two parts by themselves. I think we have a lot of cool moments like that this season, like sort of moments of religious fervor where music kind of takes you the rest of the way there.”
The Turning: River Road has already attracted hordes of listeners and we’re proud to have played a small part in shaping their listening experience.
At APM Music, we’re always inspired by how our music gets used in powerful, creative ways. Podcasts like The Turning prove how crucial sound can be in nonfiction storytelling, not just as background, but as an emotional anchor for listeners.
🎧 Listen to the whole interview below.
👉 Are you working on a podcast that needs just the right tone? Check out the following playlists as well.
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