East India Youth

Connecting the dots between Krautrock, ambient, Berlin-era Bowie, and dance culture via London's Docklands, producer and artist East India Youth (aka William Doyle) first came to prominence in 2012 after handing a demo to John Doran -- one of the editors of the esoteric U.K. online music website The Quietus -- at a gig. Doyle's intricate and awe-inspiring sounds prompted the website to set up their own label to release his material. Hailing from Bournemouth, U.K., Doyle's musical past was based in an indie band called Doyle & the Fourfathers. Self-described as a "tweedy" group, Doyle became uninspired by guitar music and found inspiration from electronic and dance culture. He subsequently quit the group and started work on his own sketches and demos. In 2013, he released the Hostel EP via the Quietus Phonographic Corporation to critical acclaim. Encouraged by the positive reaction to the release -- as well as the continued patronage of The Quietus -- he started to prepare his debut album, Total Strife Forever. Released in early 2014 on Stolen Records, it was nominated for a Mercury Prize, and Doyle found himself being lauded as one of the most exciting crossover acts of that year. That fall, he issued an expanded version of the album that included his nearly hourlong soundtrack for the 1916 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which had been prepared and performed live for a screening of the film at Isle of Wight's Bestival festival the previous year. Just a year after his debut, his equally impressive second full-length album, the electropop Culture of Volume, was issued on XL Recordings.
© Aneet Nijjar /TiVo