Prettyboy

Prettyboy is the recently adopted stage name of Jacob Abello, a glam-pop mainstay in the Oklahoma music scene. His latest release is a two-song EP reminiscent of ‘80s pop (when Prince became king) produced and co-written by Jarod Evans. The tunes are infectious and addictive, certain to rack up play after the play. In September, Abello’s Kickstarter for a new record, which included some dynamite rewards like his beloved gold unitard, was successfully funded. Now that you’re familiar, be on the lookout for more from the pop crooner soon. - Paste Magazine

In just a few short years, Prettyboy, also known as Jacob Abello, has achieved Oklahoma pop icon status. Known for his elaborate stage shows and costume changes, he's moving toward stripping down — this time in a more figurative sense — on the brink of his second album.

Q: After the release of your first record as Jacob Abello, you changed the name of your band. Why?

Jacob Abello: I wrote a lot of the first record (2009's “Nothing but Gold”) when I was 18 or 19, and it was more about figuring out the trials of youth. I feel like I've found myself now; I don't need to figure it out anymore, so I needed it to be an obvious transition for the music and for just who I've become.

The name Prettyboy came from a friend who was dressing me up as Cruella de Vil for Halloween. She was doing my makeup and said, “I thought you'd be a pretty girl because you're such a pretty boy, but you're not.” The word struck me. I grew up in a small town, and “pretty boy” wasn't a positive thing, so I kind of wanted to turn it around. That's how I feel about pop music: Take negatives and turn them into positives.

Q: Can you give us an update on the Kickstarter-funded full-length album?

Abello: We had a month at Blackwatch Studios (in Norman). We didn't get as much done as we would like to, but that's how those things go. I also had a respiratory infection for a month and a half that's finally gone, so we're scheduling everything now. It'll hopefully be out in the fall.

I had a lot of songs ready for it, and Jarod (Evans, producer) said, “We don't have very many love songs.” I wrote four or five new ones, and now the record is almost all love songs, so it'll be a different feel. I went through my first record the other day, and I don't think there's a single love song on there. There's something very challenging about writing a love song. It's been done so many times. I think when you're young, you have to bleed all your feelings out into your songs, but when you're older and you've figured some things out, the writing becomes more of an art form and less of an existential process.

Q: How has your longtime friendship with Blackwatch Studios, and Jarod specifically, affected your growth as an artist?

Abello: I met Jarod at Bible school. I think I was 6 years old. My first memory of him is going to his house. I got in trouble for jumping on a trampoline because I wasn't allowed to do that, and also Jarod made fun of me because I had never played Monopoly before.

We kind of lost touch a little bit, but I recorded a demo of “Why,” from the first record. It was the only song I had.

Jarod believed in it and in me, and he was excited. Chad (Copelin, of Blackwatch) and Ryan (Lindsey, of BRONCHO) were local idols of mine at the time, and he was friends with them. Chad introduced me at a bar as an artist they were recording and said they were some of the best songs he'd ever recorded. It blew me away.

That community of friends really believed in me without much to go on, and that became a friendship ... they're my family now. They've really helped me become who I am as a person and as an artist. So supportive. I wouldn't be myself without them.

Q: You're hesitant to perform if you don't have time to plan something big for the show, something really entertaining. Tell me about your process for planning a live performance.

Abello: I want to do something people will remember and talk about the next day, and if I can't do that, I feel like I'm wasting my time.

Before, I relied a lot on costumes and theatrics, and I probably will do that in the future. Right now, though, it's more of an internal process. I like to create a story. With this specific show, I'm thinking about growing up in Oklahoma, one of the worst places to grow up gay in the U.S. I'm thinking about what this community means to me. Even if people don't exactly know what they're seeing, they'll feel something.

Q: Your performance is in celebration of Norman Pride Night. As a gay person, how do you think you'd be different as an artist if you lived somewhere else?

Abello: This community has allowed me to be myself, to not think about it at all. I don't wake up and think, “I'm gay.” I feel normal. I do everything more honestly.

Lyrically, it hasn't affected me much, but for sure, performance-wise, all the bells and whistles stripped away, I can go up there and just project who I am, and that's enough. This place has allowed me to feel that way. It sounds sort of cheesy, but I feel like myself onstage when I see people are enjoying it. I don't have to think about being gay or even being a performer. I'm just myself. I have always felt connected to performers who do that, and I'm thankful for people who have allowed me to be who I am. - The Daily Oklahoman

It's always nice to see someone come into his or her own skin. With Dejvická, Prettyboy — the new moniker of Norman singer-songwriter Jacob Abello — does just that.

Abello long has been one of the most talented pure vocalists the state has to offer, but after dabbling in indie folk for a few years (and Christian music in his teens), he's fully embraced what is an obvious penchant for ’80s-soaked pop tunes. It suits him well.

Recorded in the Czech Republic, the two-track effort opens with "When U Say My Name." Taking off like the opening credits of a Top Gun remake, the Miami Vice synths and faint Flock of Seagulls guitar chords collide with more modern sensibilities that would have felt right at home on Twin Shadow's Confess. "Falling For U" brings early ’90s R&B into the fold, and the end result will garner totally warranted comparisons to Justin Timberlake.

Prettyboy's debut is definitely a step in the right direction for Abello, and it's a path that should take him far. Dejvická is available for download at prettyboymusic.bandcamp.com. —Joshua Boydston - The Oklahoma Gazette