From Smash Tournaments to Punk Shows: Meet Madison Turner 🏳️‍🌈

Sat beneath a shifting sun and a canopy teeming with chittering cicadas, Madison Turner and I ran the gamut. I first heard of her while I was covering the local music scene for a VCU student publication, and her angsty, self-critical, maniacally upbeat tunes spoke to my brittle emo heart. I’ve gotten to know her a bit through sporadic conversations, but getting into the blood and guts with her was something I’d wanted to do for years. Better to do so now with my stronger, yet still anxious, tender ticker.

Originally hailing from Tampa, Florida, and landing in Richmond circa 2015 after years of self-discovery and couch surfing, Madison has carved out a unique niche for herself hosting an increasing variety of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournaments and making good ol’ fashioned punk rock music.

Like most Richmond folks I’ve met, Madison is unassuming and easygoing from the outset, and that’s pleasant enough if an acquaintance is all you could ever call her. But to talk with her and to unpack her art reveals a passionate, earnest person with a genuine desire to improve her life and the lives of people she knows in any way she’s able to.

On June 6, 2025, Madison released her third record, titled Curtsy When You Land, through Richmond-based Say-10 Records. It’s somewhat of a departure from the sound that you might know her for; gone are the acoustic barn-burning folk punk and unambiguous ska cuts that featured more heavily on 2018’s A Comprehensive Guide to Burning Out. Instead, Curtsy finds Madison pulling inspiration from some of her favorite ’90s acts such as Harvey Danger, Ben Folds Five, and Counting Crows.

“There was a point where 50% of the songs on my setlist had the exact same tempo,” she laughed, calling the common folk punk strumming pattern “the Portland strum.” “It gets harder and harder. I’m just tired. I don’t wanna play that fast, there’s no reason to.”

She said that the decision to be less train-hoppy was deliberate, and it creates a unique listening experience. The breadth of genres is impressive: there’s a track that features a sax solo over a nu-metal riff, a straight-up incendiary hardcore cut, and the closer, titled “Diegetic,” is a clever show tune that could wrap up a ska-bent musical, showcasing Madison’s honed songwriting skills and an intersection of her dual interests.

The word “diegetic” refers to music occurring in a movie or video game in such a way that the characters in the story can hear it, and it’s a term commonly used to analyze the relationship between video game characters and the person holding the controller. Mario can’t hear the Super Mario Bros. theme in his debut game, but does your character like the radio station you tune into when you’re cruising around in Grand Theft Auto?

Admitting that she generally isn’t a fan of musicals, Madison said that she was inspired to write “Diegetic” after enjoying the tunes from 2021’s Tick, Tick… Boom! She also explained that it presented a tidy way to wrap up much of what the album’s lyrics are concerned with.

“It’s not a concept album, but a sort of theme to me is how bad it feels to be in the world,” she said gingerly, aware of the weight of such a phrase. “But also how you can lose yourself in media to make yourself feel better. How it’s okay if you’re listening to music, or watching a movie, or playing a video game, or whatever. It’s like you’re somewhere else. You’re in the art.”

“In the art.” I think it’s an apt phrase for someone using music and video game tournaments to support herself.

Armed with years of experience booking and promoting shows in her youth, Madison started hosting Smash tournaments shortly after the COVID vaccines were rolled out. After hosting them for a few years at Castleburg Brewery before they closed their doors, RVA Smash now meets on Sundays at Dawnstar Video Games and Arcade in Scott’s Addition.

Daunting as it can be to pick up a competitive video game as a hobby, Madison has helped to create an incredibly welcoming community which shares her desire to help others improve, reluctant as she may be to take credit for that.

“I’m lucky to have so many cool, easygoing people around who want to be there. It’s great that when somebody new shows up and they’re not sure what to do or how it works, I can be like, ‘Well, there’s T-Wade and y’all are gonna go play some games,’” she said, referencing a beloved local Samus main. “And T-Wade will be like, ‘Yes, let’s do it!’ And I know that that’s going to be a positive experience.”

Smash and music are fuel for the vehicle Madison has built to do what many a salary worker spends their days of cubicle-crunching dreaming of to remove oneself from the yoke of corporate capitalism and chase their true calling.

“I’m just trying to pursue music and gaming as the thing that I do, and not the thing that I do on the side because I have to be somewhere else for 40–50 hours every week,” she said somewhat sleepily. “It’s tumultuous because you just never know. When you have a job and you just go to work it’s certain, but in all of this work you have to do work to line up the work, and you have to do work leading up to the work to make sure the work happens.” A tired beat passed. “But it feels good to have the album out.”

I don’t get the sense that Madison is someone who is extraordinarily radicalized toward bucking the system. She did not speak in lofty platitudes about fascism or Marxist theory or aggressively making the world a more accessible place (though we did voice our mutual “fuck Israel” sentiments).

But through her actions, I think she is that radicalized system bucker. In a world increasingly more incentivized to convince you that you aren’t good enough unless you subscribe to our Fitness™ Wellness® Glowup© campaign, she has reduced her role in the racing rats, crabs-in-a-bucket, shepherds-eating-shih-tzus prison that the ruling class has built around us. She’s bushwhacking her way through uncertain territory while providing others with opportunities for social connection, personal growth, and self-reflection.

And I can’t think of anything more punk rock than that.

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