San Diego, CA · darkwave · cholo-goth

Prayers

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Self-coined 'cholo goth' — San Diego darkwave with barrio imagery and genuine menace, a genre of exactly one.

Prayers began in San Diego in 2013 as a duo of vocalist Rafael Reyes, known as Leafar Seyer, and Dave Parley, with the band's name said to come from a dream Parley had. The pair recorded their first release, SD Killwave, in three days and put it out independently on CD and vinyl.

Reyes coined the term cholo goth for the project's sound, a cold, synth-driven strain of darkwave and post-punk pulling from Christian Death, Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, Pet Shop Boys and Xmal Deutschland, set against lyrics rooted in Chicano and barrio life. Reyes was born in Cotija, Michoacán, moved to San Diego as a child, and was jumped into the Sherman 27 gang as a teenager.

A video for 'From Dog to God' caught the attention of the Cult's Ian Astbury, who invited Prayers to open shows on the band's 2014 tour. That year also brought Gothic Summer, whose title-track video won awards at the San Diego Film Festival, and in 2015 Prayers won Best Alternative Band at the San Diego Music Awards.

The 2015 album Young Gods was produced by Travis Barker and featured Kat Von D, and its cover of the Pet Shop Boys' 'West End Girls' led to Reyes co-directing the Pet Shop Boys' own video for 'Twenty-Something' at their request. A later record, Chologoth: The Return of Pluto, brought in Christian Death, Pictureplane, Annie Hardy and Robert Harvey, and the band has released steadily since.

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darkwavecholo-goth