Upcoming London-based producer and multi-instrumentalist Stan Pratt officially released his sophomore single, ‘Dopamine Beast’, this week. The young maximalist pop artist, whose debut single ‘Je Ne Sais Qui’ was praised on BBC Introducing London, not only benefits from his online presence, especially on TikTok, but also from his musical upbringing and his science degree. Ahead of his new release, we sat down with Pratt to cover all things childhood, songwriting, Neuroscience, and artistic world-building à la Euphoria.
Throughout his childhood, Pratt was “very much surrounded by music, and [his parents] were very much encouraging [him] to listen to and appreciate music”. His mum plays the saxophone and “has a very good ear”, which is why he values and respects her opinion a lot, and his dad “can play everything, but his main thing is bass”, having taught bands and other musicians and “built a career on being a musician”. Unsurprisingly, Pratt acknowledged his own passion for music at a very young age. “When I was a tiny kid, I used to put on Girls Aloud or ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ and dance to it or something, and make people watch me,”, he remembers with a giggle. “I listened to as much music as possible, but I had this almost rebellious thing in me, that I wouldn’t listen to music my parents suggested to me because I felt like I was being forced to listen to that kind of music, and it made me not want to listen to it. I was such a kid-“, Pratt interrupts himself with a laugh, “I wanted to annoy them in a way. And when I got older, I started listening a lot more different genres and varieties of music that I used to think was boring.” When he was 12, he taught himself how to play the guitar but his favourite instrument to play is the piano. “My parents forced me to learn it, which I am so grateful for as that’s what made me understand music theory a bit more.” “There’s one point where I really wanted to play the banjo so I would play that for like a year or two and my nickname was Stan-Jo,”, Pratt laughs, “But I’ve completely forgotten how to play that now, which is a shame!” An instrument of choice that he would love to be able to play is the drums. “I really like loads of energy when I’m doing something, which is why I think drums would just be so satisfying!”
A massive part of his upbringing, which he still credits for having an impact on him as a musician nowadays, was the British-Irish pop girl group Girls Aloud. “It was probably the first truly intense phase of obsessions I ever had,”, he admits, “I just remember there was something that captivated me, although their lyrics made no sense.” “But I remember my parents as well talking about how they have a group of really great songwriters writing for them and how their music is actually really good pop music! To me, it was good, polished pop music. And they were so big and dramatic! I think that’s played a part in the kind of music that I love and that I make. And I think all their songs had quite different identities, and I’ll die on this hill!” he states. “It’s just very unlikely for me and my brand to be like, ‘Yeah, love Bob Dylan, you know?” he laughs, and we agree and laugh with him.
In his teenage years, Pratt and one of his friends formed a duo and recorded Taylor Swift covers that they uploaded online together. “When we were 14, we wrote our first original song together, and I just remember messaging her, like, “Oh my god, should we do this? Should we actually be a duo?” and she was like, “Oh my god, yeah!”, so we decided to do that. And then we had a really amazing journey for years, we grew so much!” A couple of years ago, while their personal relationship stayed intact — “We literally live together, we’re best friends!” — the duo decided to go separate ways and Pratt decided to go solo, due to creative differences.
Pratt’s educational background, however, is completely different from what you’d expect from such an eccentric, flamboyant pop-lover — he went to university for Neuroscience. “Why?”, we ask. “Honestly, I think for a few reasons. At school, I was a bit of a nerd, I got the maths prize, not to flex!”, he chuckles proudly. “I loved maths and science, and I just found Neuroscience really, really interesting, because they’re still exploring more stuff about that. I also didn’t want to study music in case it took the fun out of it in a way. I didn’t want to risk that. I loved the idea of having a Science degree and knew that if it was something technical, I would quite enjoy learning about that, and I did!”
Pratt now uses his knowledge about Neuroscience as an advantage to building “a specific niche in songwriting”. “I find it so interesting to know why people behave a certain way, why people are different, and how people’s brains are so different. It sounds crazy, but I have the same approach to studying and songwriting in a weird way. I think stuff I’ve learned helps me, if I’m writing about a character I’ve made up who’s a narcissist or something. But it’s less I’m actively incorporating what I’ve learned, it’s more I’m approaching it in the same way,”, he explains. Typically, when writing a song, Pratt starts with a melody. “My first step to my songwriting process is my voice memo app. Usually, at, like, 3 am or something, I record a thing I can’t get out of my head when I’m trying to fall asleep. And then I listen back to it the next day, and I’m like, “I have to make something out of that!”. I usually use a piano, sometimes a guitar, and flesh it out and maybe combine some of my other voice notes too. But lyrics, they take me a while.”
His biggest inspirations when it comes to songwriting are Imogen Heap and Fleetwood Mac. “With Imogen, you just never know where her voice is gonna go, and I think that’s really inspiring! And Fleetwood Mac made me understand what I personally now feel when it comes to songwriting – simplicity is key! Their stuff was so simple, but so effective! If you try to make stuff too complex, it doesn’t connect as much. They made me realise that. I do love weird chords though, but I’m still trying to keep it simple enough!” Two songs that Pratt wishes he had written himself would be ‘Killing Me Softly with His Song’ by Lori Lieberman and ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ By Chappell Roan — “I think I actually really look up to her as a songwriter too, even though she’s only just emerged now!”
Pratt’s very own brand new single, ‘Dopamine Beast’, is “very much tied to Neuroscience”. “Another big reason why I really wanted to do Neuroscience was because I found the science of addiction so interesting. ‘Dopamine Beast’ was one of the first handful of songs I was writing on, as I had just gone solo and was thinking about what kind of thing I wanted to do. I started to think that for each song, I wanted to have a different topic that I hadn’t sung about in another song. And so naturally, one of the first things I thought about was that it’d be really cool to write about the human experience, especially when it comes to addiction. I’m just so interested in the science of it, but I don’t know how it can affect somebody in a more personal way. So I just wrote this fictitious story from this character’s viewpoint, and it kind of goes through the reasons why someone might be driven to that. It was actually one of the few songs where the lyrics came surprisingly easily. I think it might be my best lyrics and the ones I am proudest of. When I first thought of melody, I immediately knew exactly what it had to sound like. I just knew it was going to be these drums that are really dark and dramatic and intense and theatrical.”
Pratt not only aspires to be a lyrical storyteller but to be a visual one as well, as aesthetics and fashion do play an important role in his creative identity. “I’m obsessed with the idea of building this world in my head where all of my songs fit into. It’s basically this city where it’s constantly nighttime, and it’s quite futuristic, and there’s neon and crazy spaces, but then there’s also really isolating cold. If I had to picture myself in there and the way I present myself, it’s in this kind of New Romantics fashion, like blouses and ties and suits. I’m very inspired by 80s aesthetics and films like ‘Blade Runner’ or ‘Lost In Translation’, or even, in terms of the aesthetics, shows like ‘Euphoria’ to be honest.” What would Pratt say is the feeling that comes with being part of his world and floating around in it? “I think excitement and euphoria, but also this underlying feeling of isolation and sadness. It sounds depressing, but I do think every song does have a bit of darkness to it; none of my songs are happy. Some of them are fun, but there’s always this undercurrent or topic that’s a bit off.” Like ‘Party 4 U’ by Charli XCX? “You!”, he points and nods, “You completely get it!”, he laughs.
When it comes to Pratt’s live performances, he describes them as “really different” compared to his recorded music. “I mean, I’ve only got a full band as of recently. I used to just do either acoustic shows or I’d have a backing track, which was kind of giving karaoke, which I didn’t really like,”, he laughs. “My live show with a band now is so different and so much better! My songs are very synthetic and electronic, but as soon as there’s real instruments involved, it just makes it feel different. But I think the thing that is consistent between the recorded versions and the live versions is the energy of the songs, I think they have very high energy!” His next upcoming live show is at the St Moritz Club in Soho, London, on August 29th. “I’ve played it before and it’s such a cool place!” he beams.
Pratt’s exquisite taste in music and fashion, his thoroughly thought-out creative identity, well-educated storytelling, imaginary world, as well as his bubbly and outgoing personality, are all factors that make him an absolutely captivating new upcoming artist, and we are so excited to see where his talent, his artistry and his brain will take him.
Written by Vicky Madzak
GEM Magazine 