Ryan Rockwell von den MIXTAPES stellt mit YOUTH CULTURE ein weiteres Soloprojekt vor.
Unten gibt es das Album als Download gegen Spende - sowie eine offizielle ERklaerung zur Platte und deren Entstehung von Rockwell selbst:
"This album started when Ryan Rockwell had a lot of things to get off of his chest. After sinking to a low he never though he'd get to, he came out on the other side and made this album. Enlisting the help of Kamal Hiresh (drums, tamborine, background vocals) and Zach George (vocals, guitars, bass), the three took a month in Ryan's basement to make what would become I Hate How Normal I've Become.
Ryan had been touring for four years in his band Mixtapes that started after his father passed away. He started to watch himself deteriorate and become the type of person he hated the most. He tried things he never thought he would and got dangerously close to not making it out. While still trying to become the kid he was before his dad passed away he's found the ways to start to get there. Writing these songs and help from some friends saved him even though he was close to not making it, closer than his friends and family realized.
"I had never felt more alone," Rockwell says. "Friends that I have had for years literally just stopped talking to me, stopped responding, a large number of them. I turned to the only thing i knew, and I started writing about it. I don't know who was wrong or who was right, but I know how much it hurt and people that I have helped and would do anything for left me when I needed help the most. Other people stepped up and saved me. I don't place blame though...I became a different person for awhile. But I know if Mixtapes was the positive, brighter side, then Youth Culture is the darker side.
This is an album for people going through things they don't like to talk about or know how to express. We worked very hard on it and we hope you can relate to it. We did it all ourselves and paid for it all ourselves. First and foremost, we want you to hear it – which is why it's free. If you like it enough, we'd very much appreciate a donation to recoup costs and eventually put it out on vinyl. But as always with everything I've done, I just want it to get out there, so thank you so much for taking the time to listen, there's alot of bands out there, thanks for giving this a spin."
