Chicago Magazine Interviews Alum Sam Prekop

While some may recognize him as the frontman for The Sea and Cake or for his photography with an outmoded Leica M6 handheld camera, alum Sam Prekop (SAIC 1984-86) is reinventing his artistry. Prekop spoke with Chicago Magazine to discuss his fifth solo LP, Comma, an experimental electronic album that features mystical melodies without words or voices. The article describes the music as "soothing and unobtrusive, it’s not background music; the songs have verses and choruses, though they are hard to make out. In the gloom and chaos of 2020, it’s almost therapeutic." The songs invite the listener to imagine themselves in a specific location, attuned to city and nature. About putting together a sensory audio album like Comma, Prekop shared, "Subconsciously, when I’m really deep into it, if a piece is working for me, it will conjure a visual quality. Like, I feel like I could touch it in a way. When a piece is almost done, it’s so sensitized that if I move one thing just a little bit somewhere else, it changes everything."