Scott Herren

Guillermo Scott Herren is a music producer and artist, who has been based out of Atlanta, Barcelona and New York. Herren releases music under various aliases, most notably Prefuse 73, Savath y Savalas, Diamond Watch Wrists, Delarosa and Asora and Piano Overlord.

Biography

Guillermo Scott Herren was born in Miami, Florida and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. His father is Catalan and his mother is Irish/Cuban. At an early age his parents encouraged him to play piano and other instruments; his mother "forced" Herren to play a wide variety of instruments, even going so far as to teach him the Suzuki Method, in order to "keep him out of trouble". Growing up, Herren's musical tastes branched out, and he became interested in hip-hop, punk rock, and electronic music.^[1]

Career

He began his career DJing at MJQ, a small night club in Atlanta, and then began working in commercial studios producing hip-hop tracks for Dirty South rappers. However, Herren wanted to create his own music, and started collecting second-hand instruments and drum machines during this part of his career. He eventually moved to New York City to go to college, and began recording his first major release, Sleep Method Suite, under the name of Delarosa and Asora. The album was released in 1997.^[1]

In 2000, Herren released a CD/LP on Hefty Records/Warp Records titled Folk Songs For Trains, Trees, And Honey. This album focused more on Herren's ambient and jazz influences, and was the first recording released under the name Savath & Savalas.

Herren first released music under the Prefuse 73 moniker with 2001's commercially and critically successful Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives. A year later, a 4-track EP The '92 Vs. '02 Collection was released.

In 2003, Herren released the full-length album One Word Extinguisher, one of his best known Prefuse 73 albums to date. A companion album, Extinguished: Outtakes was released after One Word Extinguisher showing off some of the production "outtakes" and remixes that were omitted from the initial full-length. Extinguished was unique in that it was a full-length, stand-alone album in its own right.

2005 saw the release of Surrounded By Silence, Herren's third album as Prefuse 73. The album featured more collaborations with a variety of musicians, including many rappers, both underground and mainstream. Herren's next Prefuse 73 release, Security Screenings, was released in 2006. It was announced on August 8th, 2007, that Herren's latest Prefuse 73 album would be called Preparations, and it was released on October 15, 2007. The album is sold with a bonus disc called Interregnums.

Preparations was leaked onto the Internet October 1, 2007

Along with partners Peter Rentz, Carolina Chaves, Ben Loiz, Carlos Niño, and Paz Ochs, Herren has started the Eastern Developments Music label, which is currently run by Herren, Matt Booth and Jennipa Han, is responsible for artists such as Eliot Lipp, Icy Demons,The Exposures and Daedelus. Herren describes his label as, "less concerned with being 'on some next shit', 'blowing the fuck up', or 'changing the face of anything'. 'We're more concerned with bringing you music we think you'll feel and understand in the same way we do."^[2]

In June 2008, Herren announced the formation of a new collaborative project, Risil, which includes members of Sunn 0))), Hella, School of Seven Bells, Pivot, and others. Initial releases by Risil will be vinyl-only followed by a full-length album. Herren also announced a new Savath & Savalas album, La Llama, due in 2008 and a new Prefuse 73 LP entitled Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian.^[3]

In 2009, under the name Diamond Watch Wrists, he contributed a cover of a Pivot song to the Warp20 (Recreated) compilation.

Discography

Prefuse 73

Albums

• Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives ( June 9, 2001)
• One Word Extinguisher (May 5, 2003)
• Surrounded by Silence (March 21, 2005)
• Preparations (October 15, 2007)
• Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (April 14, 2009)

EPs/Singles/Compilations

• Estrocaro EP (October 23, 2000)
• Radio Attack / Nuno (2000)
• Out Takes For 88'. (Never released, 2001)
• Wylin Out (Featuring Mos Def & Diverse) (2002)
• The '92 Vs. '02 Collection (2002)
• Extinguished: Outtakes (August 25, 2003)
• T5 Soul Sessions, Volume 1 (2004)
• Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked (2005)
• HideYaFace (February 21, 2005)
• Security Screenings (February 6, 2006)
• Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P. (July 11, 2005)
• Interregnums (October 15, 2007)
• The Class Of 73 Bells (Featuring School of Seven Bells) (September 17, 2007)
• The Forest Of Oversensitivity (June 1, 2009)

Delarosa & Asora

Albums

• Sleep Method Suite (1997)
• Agony, Pt. 1 (2001)

EPs/Singles/Compilations

• Crush the Sight-Seers (1999)
• Backsome (2001)

Savath and Savalas

Albums

• Folk Songs for Trains, Trees and Honey (2000)
• Apropa't (2004)
• Golden Pollen (June 19, 2007)
• La Llama (May 19, 2009) (Stones Throw)

EPs/Singles/Compilations

• Immediate Action #1 (Wednesday, July 25, 2001)
• Rolls and Waves (2002)
• Mañana (2005)

Piano Overlord

Albums

• The Singles Collection 03-05 (November 8, 2005)

EPs/Singles/Compilations

• Tease EP (2004)
• Torture EP (August 2005)

Guillermo Scott Herren

Albums

• Sleeping on Saturday and Sunday Afternoons (2003), Tour CDR in regular CD jewel case with handmade artwork (front and back inlays) that was sold (for $25) on 2003 Prefuse 73 tour with Four Tet and Manitoba.^[4]

References

External links

• Official site
• Warp Records
• Money Studies
• Chocolate Ind.
• Hefty Records
• Schematic
• Eastern Developments Music
• Synthesis.net interview with Scott Herren
• The Milk Factory: Review of Security Screenings
• BBC: Review of Security Screenings
• Prefuse 73 discography on Discogs
• NewMusicBox cover: Guillermo Scott Herren in conversation with Trevor Hunter, April 21, 2009 (includes video)