Following the artistic success of The Prayer Engine -- the result of a brief liaison with the now defunct Avalanche Trio -- Paul was eager to break some new ground with his songs.

Hooking up with David Holmes of Venn Productions proved to be just the ticket. Paul became aware of David through his work with the bands Jakob and Looma.

The first song from these sessions -- 'Easy' -- was picked up by Radio-Channel Z and hit A-rotate not long after. An NZ on Air funded video was completed and received numerous plays on TV4’s 'Most Wanted' show as well as RTR.

It was at this point that the decision was made to adopt Gramsci as a moniker under which Paul’s recorded output would be released. The decision was the result of a number of factors. The collaboration with the Avalanche Trio had been an enjoyable and fruitful one, though only temporary. The reasoning behind the adoption of the Gramsci name was much the same as that behind such ‘groups’ as Matt Johnson's The The or Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails: an individual working inside the concept of a group. This creates the situation where the songwriter is allowed a more honest platform for collaboration with an evolving group of musicians and performers.

The name Gramsci is borrowed from the political philosopher of the same name. Writing most of his famous texts whilst incarcerated during the first half of the twentieth century, Gramsci outlined the concept of "hegemony", and spoke of the idea of revolution as a process which happens from within existing hegemonies rather than requiring their destruction from outside attack, as an event. Change from within the system. It also has a nice ring to it!

While the vast majority of the album's parts were performed/programmed by Paul and David, there was always the understanding that the nature of the Gramsci beast would evolve to a group entity. Hence the recruitment of keyboard player Jaylan Boyle as a new songwriting partner.