Prefuse 73/Scott Herren - Interview - 2002

Things go in cycles. And while hiphop seemed to be stagnating over the last few years, now seems to a time of experimentation and fertility. With new boundaries being crossed by artists such as Beans and Mike Ladd, labels like Ninja Tune and Low Life, and producers like the Neptunes, Missy and Timbaland bringing future hiphop to the mainstream, hiphop seems healthier than ever. 

One such experimental mind is Scott Herren; the Atlanta-born head who’s Prefuse 73 moniker has drawn much attention from a number of genre camps. Signed to Warp in the UK and Chocolate Industries [Chicago] in the States, Scott’s ‘One Word Extinguisher’ is set to continue the good work. CMU spoke to Scott about the latest Prefuse 73 album and how he’s arrived at it. 

“I grew up listening to a lot of different music, but hiphop was the first music that I got into on my own. I got into it in third grade like through a skating rink and dancing and corny shit like that… once you start skateboarding you get to hear everything, and it all kind of bridges together.”  

Most hiphop musicians find themselves behind the decks before they get behind the desk. 

“I’m a producer. I’m not a DJ at all. I’m actually a shitty DJ. I’ve been DJing for ten years now and I still suck. There were kids making beats around me before there were kids DJing. So it seemed more natural to make music than to play music.”

Atlanta has never been a major city on the hiphop map, so what’s the scene like. 

“Atlanta isn’t like ‘oh it’s so diverse’: it’s a black city. So I didn’t grow up with this miscommunication and separation that a lot of US cities have. It’s not like neighbourhoods change block by block; everyone’s in together – which is good. Atlanta was really fresh. It’s not as cool now. In the early 90’s there were free parties in the park and KRS [One], Tribe [Called Quest] and De La Soul would play, everyone would have fun and there was no violence.”

So how is this album different from the last?

“The techniques are different. On the first album I did a lot of chops and edits, but for this I left things a bit more, and focused on the musicality of it - I go further into the song.”

 Scott goes on to explain how most things come about through mutual friends… and the proliferation of your phone number. 

“A friend gave this guy [from Chocolate Industries] my number and he calls me for the first time at two in the morning. That was actually about the Urban Renewal project for Ninja Tune over here.”

Ninja Tune’s Urban Renewal compilation album was one of the first UK releases to showcase some of the new hiphop from Def Jux and Chocolate Industries with artists like RJD2, EL-P and Mr Lif.

Scott’s music is somewhat duplicitous. Prefuse 73 is predominantly instrumental hiphop, but all with an electronic and edge, while his Savath & Savalis pseudonym brings us ambient Spanish and Catalan folk for 2003.   

 “[Savath & Savalis] is super mellow – it’s completely different. There’s a guitar, and a singer and it’s simple [plays CD]. My father’s from Barcelona, I heard of the music and the language while I was growing up – and that’s why I moved there a year ago.”