PEP originally began as the solo project of Starlight Girls drummer Karys Rhea. In the fall of 2011, after hearing ‘Runaround Sue’ playing in a clothing store, Rhea became nostalgic and downloaded over 100 albums from the 50s and early 60s. She started humming doowop style melodies while practicing monotonous drum rudiments for hours at a time. These drum parts and vocal melodies became the foundation for two out of the four songs on her debut EP, My Baby and Me, which features Emil Hewitt (Emil & Friends) on bass and was mixed by Jake Aron (Jamie Lidell, Grizzly Bear, Chairlift, Yeasayer).
Karys began recoring the album in early 2012 while she was on a three-month tour of the heartland with Starlight Girls. When she returned to Brooklyn, the next obvious step was to assemble a band and bring these songs alive on stage. After a few initial line-up changes, PEP has settled into a tight knit act that includes Morgan Lynch and Ilana Webber on backing vocals and percussion, Eric Jackowitz on drums, Teddy Williams on bass, and David Origlieri on guitar. In a live setting, the six piece set up truly breathes a vintage wind into PEP's unique brand of indie doo-wop.
PEP completes the picture with an army of back-up singers and choreographed moves reminiscent of 1960s girl groups The Shangri-La’s, Ronettes, and The Angels, who all clearly provide an inspirational spring board. A few highlights of their live show include “Get Physical”, which showcases Rhea’s percussive background and features Morgan Lynch on lead vocals, and a raucous cover of The Marvelette’s “All the Love I Got”.
