Sam Prekop
American musician
title: "Sam Prekop" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1964-births", "living-people", "american-post-rock-musicians", "american-male-musicians", "kansas-city-art-institute-alumni", "the-sea-and-cake-members", "thrill-jockey-artists"] description: "American musician" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Prekop" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American musician ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| background | person |
| name | Sam Prekop |
| image | Sam Prekop - Primavera 2013.jpg |
| caption | Sam Prekop at Primavera Sound 2013 |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | London, England |
| origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| genre | |
| occupation | |
| instrument | |
| years_active | 1987–present |
| label | |
| current_member_of | The Sea and Cake |
| past_member_of | Shrimp Boat |
| website | Thrilljockey.com |
| :: |
| background = person | name = Sam Prekop | image = Sam Prekop - Primavera 2013.jpg | caption = Sam Prekop at Primavera Sound 2013 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = London, England | origin = Chicago, Illinois, United States | genre = | occupation = | instrument = | years_active = 1987–present | label = | current_member_of = The Sea and Cake | past_member_of = Shrimp Boat | website = Thrilljockey.com Sam Prekop (born October 18, 1964) is an American musician in the band the Sea and Cake. He also has released five solo albums.
Early life
Prekop was born in London, but grew up in Chicago. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute.
Career
Shrimp Boat
Back in Chicago, Prekop formed the band Shrimp Boat, which was active from 1988 to 1993.
The Sea and Cake
After Shrimp Boat dissolved in 1993, Sam Prekop and Eric Claridge formed the Sea and Cake, and recruited Archer Prewitt and John McEntire.
Solo career
Prekop enlisted the help of Jim O'Rourke (X-Factor) to produce his self-titled first solo album in 1999. Bassist Josh Abrams, drummer Chad Taylor, and guitarist Archer Prewitt also contributed their talents. The album was described as soft and breezy, with tinges of Brazilian pop. In April that year, Prekop performed with Aerial M in Toronto.
In 2005, Who's Your New Professor featured drummer Chad Taylor and cornetist Rob Mazurek (both from the Chicago Underground Duo), bassist Josh Abrams (Sticks & Stones), and the Sea and Cake bandmates Archer Prewitt and John McEntire on guitar and drums, respectively.
Old Punch Card (2010) primarily featured modular synthesizer.
Released in 2015, The Republic further explored the emotional possibilities of the modular synthesizer. The first nine tracks (all named "The Republic") were assembled as part of an art installation by the artist David Hartt also called The Republic.
He then released Comma (2020). It was created by using modular synthesizer, drum machine, and additional synthesizer.
In 2022, he released a collaborative album with John McEntire, titled Sons Of.
Inspired by live performances with Laraaji, he created Open Close (2025).
Personal life
Prekop's father is the photographer Martin Prekop. He has two brothers, the furniture designer Hank Prekop and the painter Zak Prekop. He has two children.
Discography
Studio albums
- Sam Prekop (Thrill Jockey, 1999)
- Who's Your New Professor (Thrill Jockey, 2005)
- Old Punch Card (Thrill Jockey, 2010)
- The Republic (Thrill Jockey, 2015)
- Comma (Thrill Jockey, 2020)
- Sons Of (with John McEntire; Thrill Jockey, 2022)
- The Sparrow (TAL, 2022)
- Open Close (Thrill Jockey, 2025)
References
References
- "Sam Prekop Biography".
- (24 September 2012). "5-10-15-20: Sam Prekop". [[Pitchfork (website).
- "Shrimp Boat Biography".
- (29 March 2002). "Sam Prekop: Sam Prekop". [[The A.V. Club]].
- {{usurped
- (17 April 2005). "Sam Prekop: Who's Your New Professor". [[All About Jazz]].
- (26 August 2010). "Where in the World Is Sam Prekop?". [[Chicago Reader]].
- (4 March 2015). "Sam Prekop: The Republic". [[Pitchfork (website).
- Elingburg, Scott. (September 10, 2020). "Sam Prekop Discusses Summer Places and His Modes of Musical Creation".
- Slingerland, Calum. (April 23, 2020). "Sam Prekop Readies New Album 'Comma'".
- Sherburne, Philip. (July 25, 2022). "Sam Prekop / John McEntire: Sons Of".
- Cohen, Jonathan. (September 23, 2025). "Sam Prekop Stays Modular On New Synth LP".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::