Ian Lowery was born in Hartlepool in 1956. He studied art at Sunderland Polytechnic where in early 1978 he formed his first band, The Prefabs, along with Gordon Craig (guitar), Peter Balmer (bass, vocals), and Alan Henderson (drums), Lowery at the time going by the stage name 'Johnny Yen'.Parry, Brian (1976) "Pub Rock is the Road to Big Time", Sunderland Echo, 6 March 1978, p. 9 The band played regularly at local venues, but didn't release any records before splitting up later that year.
