The story of the Quietus Phonographic Corporation began in the autumn of 2012, when a young fellow approached John Doran at a Factory Floor gig, waving a CD under his nose. M’colleague was impressed by the cut of his jib, especially the shirt he was wearing, and took the record home to play. Now, we listen to everything we get sent here at tQHQ, and it’s fair to say that this is sadly akin to inviting the Spanish Inquisition into your ears.
This CD, an album called Total Strife Forever by an outfit under the name of East India Youth, was different – enervated, electronic, clever and very pop. We liked it so much we included Total Strife Forever in our Jovian Bow Shock Award alternative to the Mercury Prize, and found William Doyle (for East India Youth is he) a smart chap to talk to when we interviewed him for an Escape Velocity new artist feature.
We then proceeded to tell everyone we knew at record labels to sign him. Now, we’ve always toyed with the idea of putting out a record, but until we encountered East India Youth hadn’t really found anything that we felt could, in the harsh and blunt realities of the current climate, shift a lot of ‘units’ and not send us into a black pit of debt and despair.
As John Doran puts it: “I’d always said that I’d cut my own head off using nail clippers before we started a record label. I’d learned too much from watching other sites and magazines pour all of their time, money and talent into them, just to watch them spectacularly implode. It was, I said, like withdrawing all your money from a cash machine and setting fire to it while simultaneously flushing your own head down a toilet filled with goat’s piss.”
We’re therefore extremely confident that, come March when the debut EP on The Quietus Phonographic Corporation is released, John will not be drenching his beard, and are very proud to announce that our debut release will be East India Youth’s Hostel EP. This is a 100% DIY release with no backers aside from our own pockets, no PR, no radio plugging, just a hell of a lot of love from all involved – John Doran, Luke Turner, John ‘magic ears’ Tatlock giving technical advice, Rory Gibb and Laurie Tuffrey in the Quietus HQ and distribution from Republic Of Music. With no further ado, you can listen to ‘Heaven, How Long’ from the Hostel EP via our Soundcloud below.
You can purchase ‘Heaven, How Long’ on iTunes here. You can preorder the 12" from Rough Trade here, Piccadilly Records here, and Recordstore here.
The 12” features artwork shot by Joseph Tovey Frost, and three more tracks: ‘Looking For Someone’, ‘Coastal Reflexions’ (when Luke described the track to Suede’s Brett Anderson, he said “that sounds like Pet Shop Boys meets John Betjeman”, which is pretty much spot on) and an Oh The Gilt remix of ‘Heaven How Long’. Forthcoming East India Youth live dates can be found at the foot of this feature. Now, we thought it best to have a bit of a refresher catch-up with William Doyle to find out what he’s been up to and his plans for the year ahead.
Hi Will, how is it to be releasing your debut solo EP?
William Doyle; It’s wonderful. A true delight. I’m as excited as anyone to hear it on wax in a few weeks.
What has 2013 involved for you thus far?
WD: I’ve been ill twice already and my USB ports are completely broken, though it’s been proven that apple juice cartons – and apple juice cartons only – weighing down the cables into your Macbook fixes them temporarily. 2013 is starting out positively enough, however. The gigs have been getting better each time, the response to the tracks has been overwhelming. I’m really looking forward to getting them out there into the ether again, after the self-imposed track embargo leading up to the EP announcement. Luckily people have taken that move as an anticipation builder and not a sign of arrogance or anything.
Why the fuck did you sign a record deal with the Quietus Phonographic Corporation?
WD: You were literally the first people to come running with money? You’re very persuasive chaps? I think what it really comes down to is that we both share common ground on how we think things should be done, be it what we think pop music could and should be like, how things should be marketed or sold and most importantly what kind of shirts should be worn. I only really want to work with people I like, even if that means sometimes missing out on opportunities.
Tell us three things – musical and non – that influenced the Hostel EP, and why:
- SSRIs (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) – I really couldn’t sleep without them towards the end of last summer when I was recording. I reference Amitriptylene in ‘Heaven, How Long’. That particular one worked a treat.
- Krautrock. Particularly the standard krautrock drumming style popularised by Klaus Dinger. It’s good for the soul. I had some classic Kraut moments during Bo Ningen/Damo Suzuki’s hour long jam at Cafe OTO last year. Total astral projection via driving motorik rhythm. I was even air drumming. I rarely do that in public.
- The stuttering, tiresome, relatively expensive coastal slog that is the South West Trains service from Southampton Central to Brighton. "…West Worthing… Worthing… Chichester… Barnham… Emsworth…". Many collective hours spent on that train to and forth over the past few years, all in pursuit of Brighton’s liberating nature.
What are you most looking forward to for the rest of the year?
WD: Other than a couple of gigs I’m not allowed to tell anyone about just yet, I’ll be quite happy just to escape from the winter intact, the cold is taking its toll now. I’m sitting on some new music at the moment that I’m very excited about. Things are starting to take shape for another record again. I’ll hopefully be playing a lot more gigs around the country. I’m not really sure overall, 2013 is still a bit unpredictable. Hopefully a lot of surprises are in store.
You’ve already got an LP ready to go and another one being written. How’s the music evolving? What do you want to do with it?
WD: At my most recent gig I realised how many styles and moods my music seems to travel through, sometimes without any regard for consistency. I’d like to explore those shifts further. Other bands can sometimes take that initial eclecticism and smooth it out as the albums go by. I’ve been home recording for years now and no single, prevalent style has appeared, no signature sound unfurled before me. I’m hoping I can spread out my strengths regardless of the texture, the beat or the conventions. I want to see how far I can stretch that idea before it starts to become a train wreck. The new LP I’m working on is perhaps even more stylistically erratic than the last, but hopefully with a clearer and more concise goal at the end of it.
You can catch East India Youth live at the following dates…
MARCH:
Wed 6 – Shacklewell Arms, London
Tue 12 – Kraak, Manchester (tickets here
Sat 16 – Birthdays, Dalston w/ Molly Nilsson (more details here)
Fri 22 – Roundhouse, London (more details here)
Sun 31 – Abattoir at White Rabbit, London
