Born and raised in New Orleans, Pretus began playing drums at the age of 9, and guitar at the age of 13. He started his first band, All She Wrote, at just 15 years old. In 1999, he joined the bandClimate Control, playing drums and singing backing vocals. Several of the band's earlier shows at The Neutral Ground coffee shop were shut down due to the packed crowd breaking the firecode. They released a full-length CD, "Clutch," and in 2001, recorded a 4-song ep, "The Timely Demise of Climate Control," which was released for free online in 2007. While attending Louisiana State University, Jonathan switched to guitar and lead vocals in the band tWeezer, a Weezer cover band. They won the 2001 LSU Battle of the Bands and opened for such acts as Stroke 9, and The Verve Pipe. Also during this time, Pretus played in the short-lived Monophonic, which featured the Pretus-penned "Waiting To Fall" on a compilation of up-and-coming Louisiana artists. In 2005, Pretus was a co-founder of New Orleans band The Garden District, in which he wrote, was co-lead vocalist, and rhythm guitarist. The group toured the Southeast, including a stop at the 2006 South by Southwest Festival. In late 2006, the group released their debut ep, "So Much It Hurts," which was produced by Fred LeBlanc of Cowboy Mouth and Tom Drummond of Better than Ezra. While the band leaned more towards the "emo" tag, Pretus' songs, such as "Avalanche," "Intrepid Inventions," and the live favorite "So Low," focused on a more straight-ahead, melodic rock approach. In addition to Garden District duties, he toured with Cowboy Mouth for several weeks early in the year, eventually joining Cowboy Mouth in 2007. In 2010, Pretus left Cowboy Mouth to start The Breton Sound with Stephen Turner. Fortified by New Orleans' Bourgeois brothers John and Joe, The Breton sound has since won the Louisiana Music Prize, released 4 EPs, and toured the United States including slots on the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Voodoo Music + Arts Experience, and the upcoming Louder Than Life 2018 Festival in Louisville, KY. The Breton Sound's most recent EP, self titled, was released July 20, 2018. It was Produced and Recorded by famed producer Jeff Glixman at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans.
