Introducing:
Prey Drive
For Fans Of: Arcane Roots / Lonely The Brave / Deaf Havana
Prey Drive are back with a brand-new EP, Neon God, this Friday and on it, they channel the frustration of adhering to society’s expectations to a beautiful backdrop of intricate riffs and powerhouse vocals, but more on that later. For now, we chat to vocalist Bradley Smith about how the band came to be, recording and more.
Words: Renette van der Merwe
Interview
Tell us a little about yourself. Where the name came from, how long you’ve been going for and anything else new fans would want to know.
Hi, my name is Brad. I sing lead vocals in a band called Prey Drive. We are a four-piece emo(’s not dead) band from Norwich. The name ‘Prey Drive’ comes from the term used to describe an animal’s instinct to hunt. We’ve been a band for about four years now, but we have all known each other since high school.
“…if Prey Drive aren’t gracing the cover of music magazines by the end of next year there will have been a gross injustice in the music community.”
Concrete
Can you recall your very first memory of music?
I’ve got two older brothers, so when I was about six I was introduced to rock and grunge. I listened to A LOT of my brother’s cassette tapes of bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Bush, Soul Asylum, etc. I fell in love with the raw emotion and loud guitars instantly.
There’s an EP on the horizon, out this Friday. What can you tell us about it?
We are all super proud of it. I think it’s our most inspired work to date. There are little tasters from all of our musical influences growing up. We experimented a bit more on this record but it’s also the most coherent set of songs we’ve released. The artwork and vinyl colours look amazing too. The EP is called Neon God and with the exception of drums, (recorded at The Mill by Tom Joy) we recorded everything ourselves. It has a real DIY ethos behind it and we didn’t let COVID stop us from being proactive.
You’re doing this cool thing where you’re telling a story in three music videos. What inspired the idea?
I’m not really sure how it started to be precise, but I know we were discussing themes from the EP and what I’d written the lyrics about. One of which was being your own worst enemy, battling with inner thoughts and trying to face your demons head on rather than shying away from them. Another theme we explored on Neon God was religion and faith. So, we took these two ideas and mixed them together to create the cult of doppelgängers story line that flows between the three music videos.
Who’s on your wishlist of artists that you’d love to collaborate with and/or open for on tour?
I mean it would be a big list! I’m a huge fan of Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers and Hayley Williams, so to collaborate with any of those or sing with them would be the dream! I’d love to open up for a band like Circa Survive, Alexisonfire or Paramore. They all have such a great live energy – they would be fun shows to be a part of!
Speaking of live shows, what’s your favourite story from a show so far?
The funniest story was probably when Steve (Guitarist) jumped into the crowd during one of our songs but somehow his trousers came undone and when he returned to the stage his trousers were around his ankles.
Settle an argument for us (and the rest of the world) pineapple on pizza?
Yes of course. Pineapple on anything! Pina coladas, those little cocktail sticks with cheese and pineapple on from the 80’s, battered pineapple from the chip shop. All great. Such a versatile food.
Music
Inspiration
Rising to the challenge, Prey Drive have put together an electrifying collection of songs that best encapsulates the artists and music that inspire them as a band.
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