Prefuse 73

Guillermo Scott Herren is a hip hop IDM producer/artist, now based in Barcelona. You may know him by one of the following: Savath & Savalas, Delarosa & Asora, Piano Overlord, or Prefuse 73. Discussed here his moniker, Prefuse, is known for his distinctive take on glitch, attracting a wide audience beyond the scope of just the hip-hop community.

He begun his career in Atlanta djing for a small local night club, later working in a commercial studio producing hip hop beats for “Dirty South” rappers. During this time he aspired to make his own music, slowly procuring various drum machines and other sound generating/sequencing devices. He later moved to NYC to attend college where he worked on and released his first full length LP in 1997, under the alias Delarosa & Asora titled Sleep Method Suite.

His first release under his more known musical personality Prefuse 73 in 2001, called Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives, was an immediate success both critically and commercially. Through the years he has released various EPs and LPs including a remix of a Books album in 2005 Prefuse Reads the Books. On his most recent release Preparations (Oct 2007) he again takes another step forward in his unique but somewhat predictable style—perhaps that is part of the curse of having so many aliases—although a good album in itself, the release comes with a surprisingly un-Prefuse/Savath/Delarosa/etc sounding “bonus” disk titled Interregnums. Though titled a bonus disk, being bonus as an unexpected surprise, this disk is in no way a haphazard collection of underdeveloped tracks. In fact it is 6 minutes longer than the actual release and in my opinion has much more to offer—though not as accessible—than the main title itself.

During his most recent trip through the Pacific NW, the producer performed with a live drummer and was introduced by NYC experimental/electronica group School of the Seven Bells. Included is a live sample (www.ctcmagazine.com/prefuse73.mp3) of his most recent show at the Holocene in Portland, OR. Which can be immediately recognized as that tasty Prefuse sound, because although predictability of an artist is an opening for criticism…when you make sick music, why reinvent your sound?