'I can't believe how far I've come' - Chandler's Ford man nominated for Mercury Prize

“Actually, it was a plus of living in that kind of place,” William Doyle says matter-of-factly. He is known to music lovers as East India Youth, an inventive producer within reach of stardom as a nominee for the Mercury Prize for British albums.

Moving to Chandler’s Ford aged 12, it was from his new surroundings that Doyle learnt to craft ethereal, forward-thinking electronic music. He was inspired by long, lonely walks around Flexford wood, Valley Park and the train tracks which connect Chandler’s Ford to the outside world.

“Living in the suburbs can be a bit dull,” the 23-year-old says. “Music that was sort of otherworldly was very attractive to me. I just hung out by myself and got obsessed with making music. It took on this transcendent quality.

“Most people think of electronic music as a sort of urban thing,” he adds, “but one of the most electronic things I ever did was based on something I got from walking through those woods. That kind of solitude was a big influence.”

Above: William Doyle performing at Barton Peveril College, where he was a student and music technician.

But moving to Chandler’s Ford was not just an influence, it was a turning point – Doyle had never touched a synthesiser until he moved to Coach Hill Close, attending Toynbee School and Barton Peveril college in Eastleigh.

“I’d only started playing guitar a couple of years before – I wanted to do something more than that. As soon as I moved to Chandler’s Ford I started to use my computer, downloading drum loops from the internet. I’d never listened to electronic music before that point. I was coming at it from an amateur stance.”

Suddenly inspired by the landscape of his sleepy new suburb, Doyle began to experiment with the electronic sounds and samples that would emerge a decade later, mature and fully-formed, on debut album Total Strife Forever.

But first, he wanted a taste of life on the road. He formed Doyle and the Fourfathers, a twee indie outfit who toured relentlessly and frequented Hampshire haunts like Southampton’s Talking Heads.

“I was in a band for the camaraderie,” he says. “Making that music in my bedroom was not a very social way of life, so I decided to knock electronics on the head for a bit.”

Above: Doyle and the Fourfathers at The Royal Albert Hall. Picture by Simon Fernandez.

The band won a small national following and looked set for big things. But for Doyle the bedroom, the laptop and the futuristic sounds he could wield with it called him back home. The Fourfathers split, East India Youth was born and Total Strife Forever entered its final phase.

The album is introspective and challenging, spanning the darker reaches of electronic music with nods to some of its great pioneers. The rapid advance of computers and recording technology has transformed bedroom recording from the last resort of inexperienced teenagers and starving artists to the modus operandi for electronic producers like Doyle.

“You just get lost in it,” he says. “I stay up all night and see where things take me.”

As it happens, those sessions have taken him to within touching distance of the most prestigious trophy in British pop music.

The Mercury Prize for original British records has launched the careers of era-defining artists like Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys and Primal Scream since its inception in 1992. Total Strife Forever joins FKA Twigs’ LP1 and Kate Tempest’s Everybody Down among the bookies’ favourites this year.

“It’s crazy,” Doyle says. “It plays big on my mind, it’s so important to me.

“I still imagine that place in Chandler’s Ford when I think of finishing that record. I can’t comprehend how I’ve gone from finishing the record in that flat up to this point. It’s something I don’t want to get my head around.”

The star-studded ceremony takes place in London on Wednesday, October 29. East India Youth, once a boy called William who lived on a quiet street in Chandler’s Ford, isn’t sure of his chances.

“I’d probably bet on Twigs, if I’m honest. I think I’m too unassuming and humble for this kind of thing.”