Prey
Indian hotshot overcomes geographic and financial issues to colour the instrumental guitar scene
“I want my songs to be stories. In my head, I'll paint a picture, and write to that.”
Body//Throughout his hour long conversation with Prog, Prerak Joshi (AKA Prey), talks breathlessly. He operates his one-man project, which blends modern instrumental prog with strong melodic undercurrents, with a huge amount of care and passion. With the odds stacked against him, operating out of a country not known for its prog with a shoestring budget, his debut EP, 'Momentum Is Everything', is a prismatic representation of his creative soul.
“Growing up, I was the only person in my entire area who knew about prog, and I thought you needed a band to make music,” he explains. “Hearing Plini made me realise I can do it on my own.”
So, with his guitar and a thirst to create, he began writing an EP centred on his life mantra, that life rewards action. It’s perpetually high-energy, uniting his earlier musical loves of EDM and orchestral music with explosive-yet-tasteful technicality, even with lacklustre tools.
“I have nothing good to say about my guitar,” he laughs. “The neck is damaged, it goes out of tune every five minutes and I bought John Petrucci’s signature pickups, but they’re wired in wrong. It's falling apart, but I somehow manage with it.”
Acknowledging India’s not necessarily strong prog pedigree, he turned to Instagram to establish a global footing, and through his podcast, 'Beyond Time Signatures', he’s been networking and knowledge building daily.
“I realised that all my heroes have gone through the same processes that I have,” he reflects, with Connor Kaminski, David Maxim Micic, and Plini's foil, Jake Howsam Lowe previous guests. “Having validation and support from those guys gave me full permission to be myself. I would’ve moulded my music to get that feeling of validation if it wasn’t for them being supportive towards my work.”
Prey also sees his art as more than just music. His love of storytelling has seen him self-produce three very different music videos to underscore each track’s meaning.
“I feel like that’s missing from the guitar scene,” he says. “I want people to know me, firstly, as an artist, then maybe as a musician. I want my songs to be stories. In my head, I'll paint a picture, and write to that. People might not recognise that I'm shifting from a phrygian dominant scale to a melodic minor on this bar, but they’ll understand what that sound means to them emotionally. That helps drive the story.”
The biggest feather in the EP's cap is the fact he convinced his hero, David Maxim Micic, to play on 'Life Rewards Action', after Howsam Lowe had first persuaded him to feature on Prey’s podcast. But there was an issue.
“I was completely broke, so I fundraised, asking friends for small contributions. I raised the money in two days. It was unbelievable,” – he thanks his growing online community for that.
“I didn't even tell David,” he confesses. “I wanted to look professional. I woke up to his email one day, and from the first note of his solo, I was sold. It was ‘life rewards action’ manifest.”
- Phil Weller
PROG FILE
LINE-UP: Prey (guitar, bass), Sina Atash (bass, produciton)
SOUNDS LIKE: Emotion-first instrumental prog that unites Intervals forthright vibrancy with orchestral and EDM flourishes
CURRENT RELEASE: 'Momentum is Everything' is out now and is self-released
WEBSITE: https://preyrock.bandcamp.com/ Music | Prey