PREP

In 2015 the four members of PREP came together with a clear purpose and a clean sound. The mission? To kick out the elegant jams, the kind of smooth classics to make you dance while simultaneously luxuriating in the memories of late nights past. Deep grooves that mine contemporary R&B and electronica while hearkening back to the soft, sheer sound of the late ’70s and early ‘80s—what some listeners have retroactively dubbed yacht rock. The love for that style united vocalist-lyricist Tom Havelock, keyboardist Llywelyn ap Myrddin, drummer Guillaume Jambel, and producer Dan Radclyffe. With Steely Dan and Bobby Caldwell as lodestars, PREP is pop music that feels tip-of-the-tongue familiar even though you’ve never heard it before. "The songwriting is classic, but the sound is modern,” as Dan puts it. PREP’s sense of sonic possibility has expanded. "At one point we thought PREP would just be a studio project," Llywelyn says. “But we played gigs that went really well, and we spent some amazing time in Asia.” That trip overseas introduced the group to city pop, a Japanese genre popular in the ‘80s that has admirers across Asia; a Japanese friend asked them why they were so influenced by the slick sound. “And we’d never even heard of city pop!” Llywelyn says. But they dug into work from genre luminaries like Tatsuro Yamashita and were surprised at what they learned. “What Tatsuro and those guys were doing, they were taking influence from a lot of the same stuff that we’ve been influenced by, and adding their own fresh take on production,” Guillaume says. "Which is what we’re doing.” That freshness is a product of the four members’ distinct backgrounds. Llywelyn has a classical music education in composition and piano; Guillaume moonlights as a house producer and DJ; Dan produces hip-hop; and Tom works as a pen-for-hire songwriter in the pop music world. With such a strong vision for the sound and aesthetic, PREP is as much a concept as a band, meaning collaboration is welcome. The band’s method invites it. As Llywelyn explains, a PREP song begins as an instrumental demo that’s eventually sent to Tom, who pours himself a drink and lets the tune wash over him before writing the vocals. The thematic character Tom often seeks out when writing for PREP shines brilliantly. “Our groove is energetic, but there’s a desperate quality in the vocal," Tom says. “Someone who is pretty near the end of their tether.” The unique pleasure of a brief wallow in melancholy, tears on the dance floor mixing with cool sweat—that’s PREP. PREP's fully furnished space wouldn’t be complete without a live show that embodies the sophisticated spirit of the act. “I had a period where I wasn’t doing any of my own music—it was all in studios for other people,” Tom says. “And there’s a real excitement in hearing a song that you’ve written on the radio. But to get out in a room with a load of people and see their reaction—there’s nothing like that.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the artist