East India Youth: Momentum
“One morning I decided that I’d finished the album. The title TOTAL STRIFE FOREVER was simply a throwaway phrase I had written in one of my notebooks around the time of completing (the at the time untitled) TOTAL STRIFE FOREVER III, yet one that I couldn’t get out of my head and relate to the time of making the songs that would make up the record. The fact that it was a pun, in all caps, seemed initially at odds with the mood of the record. Yet in this absurdity it also seemed to fit the themes of the album perfectly. I then sequenced the tracks in such an order so that it flowed between its many different styles and rhythms as well as it possibly could.
There were many different strands at work here; neo-classical, noise, Detroit techno, pop and it was a difficult task making sure the track list flowed. I made plans to move to London, kindly being offered temporary residence at the flat in East India that I had initially sought refuge in at the start of 2012. Thus, the name East India Youth seemed obvious. Both in the flat’s ‘Hostel’-like utility and how the place saw the birth of this period of creativity that would grant me my next steps being an artist. A month or two later I handed the CD of the first finished version of TOTAL STRIFE FOREVER to The Quietus editor John Doran after spotting him at a gig, and the rest is very well covered history.”
East India Youth will be using the Momentum funding to invest in production for the live show and to marketing the recently release album on Stolen Recordings.