It’s fair to say Future Generations’ music contradicts the assumption that music always reflects the objective time and space in which its creators operate. When penning lyrics at Fordham University, songwriter/singer Eddie Gore shirked references to collegiate lawns, Jesuit lineage and other specific milieu of college life. Instead, he wrote tender refrains to an introverted struggle with finding individual meaning in an infinitely vast world (moving to New York City from Nashville will do that to you) and sharing those anxieties with loved ones.
“For me college was not so much about learning a specific trade or skill. It was more about discovering who I want to be and learning about life in general,” says Eddie. “I’m from the south. I’m from Nashville. It’s not a small town, but it’s not New York. That’s why a lot of my lyrics are about bigger things, kind of “life” questions.”
By the time graduation rolled around in the spring of 2015, Future Generations expanded to include bassist and fellow Fordham graduate Devon Sheridan, along with original members Mike Sansevere and Eric Grossman. With school in the rearview mirror, Future Generations spent its first few post-college months in Eli Janney’s (Boys Against Girls) Brooklyn studio, finishing a full-length record. Along with two tracks from the 2014 EP, “Polysun,” the band recorded eight new tunes for the eponymous debut.
On Future Generations, which was produced by Claudius Mittendorfer (Temples, Neon Indian), Eddie’s lyrical transfixions reveal an eagerness to burst forth from the confines of collegiate ennui, still pondering the same existential quandaries that unfailingly tend catch his imagination. And the fuel for his escape comes from a formulaic synthesis of soaring guitar hooks and pulsing synths. It’s the melody that usually comes first, and the group has happily relied on that recipe for almost five years.
“With “Stars,” I had a reaction (to the music) that wasn’t about one particular thing, it was about discovering something broad about yourself,” says Eddie. “You have people who come along with you and people who don’t. The melody made me feel that.”
As a result, Future Generations flaunts an ambitiously large scope for a band used to writing and recording in the cramped confines of college dormitories and email chains. While continuing to grow, the band added a fifth member, drummer Dylan Wells, and four of the five moved into an apartment near Prospect Park.