It is rare that you get a chance to kick it with a girl group in its early stages. In my admittedly paltry experience in the matter, they emerge full-grown into one’s consciousness. Blame it on lax Disney Channel-watching regime, blame it on the commercial music hype machine — typically by the time one catches wind of a Miley Cyrus four-pack, they already have their own line of hair extensions and rapt fan club.
Which is why time was of the essence when the email from the PrezCotts‘s publicist came. “You HAVE to Check Out the Dynamite New Modesto-Based Girl Group the PreZcotts!” it preached. Unique capitalization, it was soon to be revealed, is a trademark trope of the PreZcotts’ canon.
“What I love about the girls is that they really represent what teens nowadays go through and look like,” said the email. “They avoid the artificial and sometimes overly matured look of their pop star contemporaries and stick to an empowering and inspirational message of believing in oneself and loving yourself for who and how you are.”
And so, I made a date to meet the PreZcotts. Westfield Mall food court, Monday afternoon seemed like an appropriate place and time.
Perched on some benches, the four PrezCott sisters were on their fourth trip to San Francisco with their manager, an ex-Metallica employee named Frank Munoz, who is on his first foray into the world of teen pop. They (the young women) were wearing vests and gold and pink and zebra prints, which inspired oddly maternal feelings in me.
What road had led AnaLeyna, ChaLyn, RaNelle, and MaRiah to this sister group? What did the publicist mean by avoiding the overly matured look of their contemporaries? What was the message behind their music? Was any of this their idea in the first place?
“We want to be role models,” said AnaLeyna, who as the songwriter and oldest sister was the first to provide the answer to most questions. She’s the gang leader, clearly. “A lot of our songs are emotionally inspiring.”
The PreZcotts get with god. They started singing in church at incredibly young ages. Their mom limited the kinds of songs they could listen to as young(er) whippersnappers. ChaLyn mentions that she is the only one who does not believe in evolution in her high school science class (but doesn’t preach contrary theories, at least not in the interview: “I don’t understand how it happened really, I’m not a scientist.”)
As Christians, they’re a bit leery of the scandalizing nature of pop culture. “We try and keep it honorable and appropriate,” AnaLeyna said. When asked how they will avoid the pitfalls of celebrity, a la Miley’s pole dancing or Lindsay Lohan’s… well, everything, the PreZcotts seemed sure that family and their religion will keep them on track. Of those who have fallen before: “They must be under so much pressure, like they crack or something,” AnaLeyna reasoned, graciously. The PreZcotts talked about their faith candidly, a remarkable feat in an interview with a Guardian reporter that gave one the impression that maybe no one has vetted the publication before the interview.
But they do seem ready to take their family vessel to the top, these sisters. They want to bolster kids their ages through tragedies, share with them what happened when their own dad passed away (his face and birth-death dates adorns their debut album’s liner notes).
Guardian photo by Caitlin Donohue
His passing hasn’t been the only rough spot for the girls from Modesto. All four of them have had to deal with bullying — AnaLeyna had to be homeschooled when the harassment got to be too much at her school. “MaRiah always feel like she doesn’t have any friends,” the eldest PreZcott told me, MaRiah quickly turning her face away at the statement. “Gossip” is AnaLeyna’s response to bullying. “It really is affecting people everywhere.”
Though at times the girls seemed unsure of how to answer questions, they haven’t been shoved into a gimmick yet. You get the impressions that their songs are comprised of things that they actually think need to be said.
But I’m sure it was Munoz who suggested that the girls cover a Metallica song.
The song features the PreZcotts and Japanese guitar prodigy Yuto Miyazawa. Through a neat trick, it was published on the Metallica Youtube channel, where at the time of writing it has recieved over 31,000 views. But as it is a Youtube video, it has Youtube comments — and reading through them after my interview with the girls it makes me wanna bash heads. Bullies!
“A lot of the Metallica fans were pretty teed off that a teen pop had covered the song — they were the ones commenting,” said Munoz. The girls seemed a little distressed, so we had a satisfying conversation about how people can get real pigheaded when they’re anonymous on the Internet.
The PreZcotts’ album smells like strawberries.
Packaged in pink and images of the girls in lights, its materials have been infused with a strawberry scent that persists a day or so past the time you tear off its shrink wrap.
The reason for this, Munoz explained to me, is to counteract the younger generation’s tendency to listen to all their music in Internet single form. Indeed, when I asked the PreZcotts what their favorite albums were, I was met with little more than searching stares. (Later we ascertained that some of their favorite artists were Alicia Keyes, Disney pop princess Selena Gomez, and Mariah Carey — though many of these singers release some songs deemed inappropriate by the girls).
As their publicist had promised me they would, the PreZcotts asked if I’d like to hear them sing something acappella. I said I would, and a few minutes later, in the middle of the mall, I am treated to a private concert.
“What do you guys want to sing?” asked AnaLeyna. “I want to sing ‘Free Your Mind’ by En Vogue.” Her sisters were fine with that choice, and without losing all of their endearing awkwardness, they start to harmonize like pros. Well, because they are, of course. “We’re here to tell you it’s okay, things happen.” AnaLeyna told me. “No matter what the latest fashion trend is, be yourself.”