Growing up in a church blighted Philip Strand’s childhood. Immersed in an environment which, throughout our conversation, he repeatedly refers to as “toxic,” the Normandie vocalist believes that the struggles he encountered later in life had their roots in the trauma he felt as a youngster. “I didn’t fit in there, and I was better off without it,” Philip reflects with a hint of animosity. “The closer you are to a deity, the more aware you need to be of the people leading those religious groups and societies. My view of religion was ruined by those experiences, and it took me five years after turning my back on the church to comes to terms with everything that happened and what I was feeling.” Philip’s present circumstances are a far cry from the past li...
