Prince Daddy & the Hyena is an American punk rock band from Albany, New York, formed in 2014. They have released three full-length albums and four extended plays.
Prince Daddy & the Hyena | |
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 Prince Daddy & the Hyena performing at the Mill & Mine music venue in Knoxville, Tennessee, August 18, 2023. Left to right: Handford, Chmielowski, Gorham and Gregory. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Albany, New York |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2014–present |
| Labels | Pure Noise Records , Counter Intuitive Records, Big Scary Monsters (EU) |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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History edit
Formation and early years edit
Prince Daddy and the Hyena was formed in 2014 when Kory Gregory, Alex Ziembiec and Zakariya Houacine were inspired to start a band after seeing Rozwell Kid live. According to Gregory, Rozwell Kid was a substantial influence on much of his early songwriting.[1] The origin of the band's name is obscure; Gregory has stated that he "would make up a different dumbass story each time".[2] He has variously explained that it was derived from a game that Gregory played with the band's TM & merch person – Luis Wiest – at recess in elementary school, that it was the name of Gregory's childhood guinea pig, or that it is his parents' anniversary.[2] He has also tweeted that there is a comma missing between Prince and Daddy, due to a grammatical error.[3]
The band met lead guitarist Cameron Handford through house shows and mutual friends eventually leading up to his joining of the band.[4] Prince Daddy & the Hyena began in 2014 with the release of an extended play titled Skip Cutscenes! Blow Loud!.[5] In 2015, the band went into the headroom studio with Joe Reinhart (Hop Along, Algernon Cadwallader) and recorded their first album, but the release was delayed several times.
In the meantime, the band wrote, recorded and released the EP Adult Summers.[6][7]
Their first full-length album I Thought You Didn't Even Like Leaving[8] was finally released in 2016 on Broken World Media.[9] I Thought You Didn't Like Leaving was written during Gregory's high school days, the album was about working at Panera Bread and "being so sad about your friends leaving you that you lay in bed, eat Cheetos, and smoke weed".
In 2017, Ziembiec left the band on good terms due to exhaustion from touring. Daniel Gorham from Pictures of Vernon took over on drums.[citation needed]
Cosmic Thrill Seekers edit
In 2019, the band released its second full-length album titled Cosmic Thrill Seekers on Counter Intuitive Records, and embarked on several extensive tours in support of the album.[10][11][12][13] This tour would prove difficult for the band, as they were involved in a traffic accident which left the band and members of their team temporarily disabled. After recovering from this incident, the band's tour van was broken into, leading to the loss of $7,500 worth of equipment. The band went on tour Europe with Oso Oso in further support of the record in the fall of 2019. In 2020, the band embarked on their co-headlining tour with Oso Oso with support from Just Friends.
Self-titled album edit
In 2021, the band signed to Pure Noise Records and released the single "Curly Q.",[14] which Gregory wrote for his nephew.
In 2022, they announced their forthcoming third album, Prince Daddy & the Hyena, to release on April 15. The album is conceptually about the fear of death, and was inspired by a van crash the band experienced.[15] The album was also supported by the singles "A Random Exercise In Impermanence (The Collector)," "El Dorado," and "Shoelaces," as well as a headlining tour throughout the United States with Macseal, Insignificant Other, and California Cousins.
In November 2022, they announced original drummer Alex Ziembiec's death.
In February 2023, they embarked on a co-headlining tour with Drug Church, with support from Anxious and Webbed Wing.
Musical style edit
The band has self-identified themselves as a punk rock band in an interview with the The Fader.[16] Critically, the band has been described as "smartly crafted slacker punk" with elements of power pop, post-hardcore, and emo by AllMusic.[17] Pitchfork has identified the band as both punk rock and emo.[18][19]
Frontman Kory Gregory has cited Weezer, the Strokes, Jeff Rosenstock, and Green Day as major influences on the sound. In an interview with The Fader, Gregory described the sound on the band's second album Cosmic Thrill Seekers as "the soundtrack to a Disney film played by a punk rock band."[16]
Band members edit
Current
- Korneilious "Kory" Jophus Gregory – lead vocals, guitar (2014–present)
- Cameron "Cambo" Hanford – guitar (2014–present)
- Daniel “Podwick” Gorham – drums, backing vocals (2018–present)
- Jordan "J Nasty" Chmielowski – bass (2024–present; touring 2022–2023)
Past
- Zakariya "Hardly Knew Yee" Houacine – bass (2014–2019)
- Alex "Al Al Bean" Ziembiec – drums (2014–2017; died 2022)
- Adam Dasilva – bass (2020–2022)
Touring
- Jake Sulzer – drums (2017), bass (2023)
- James Ringness – drums (2017)
- Cole Syzilagyi – bass (2022)
Timeline edit
Discography edit
Studio albums
- I Thought You Didn't Even Like Leaving (2016, Broken World Media/2017, Counter Intuitive Records)
- Cosmic Thrill Seekers (2019, Counter Intuitive Records)
- Prince Daddy & the Hyena (2022, Pure Noise Records)
EPs
- Skip Cutscenes! Blow Loud! (2014, Wallflower Records)
- Adult Summers (2015, Broken World Media, 2017 Counter Intuitive Records)
Splits
- Prince Daddy & The Hyena/Just Friends (2016, Broken World Media)
- Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 420 (2017, Counter Intuitive Records)
Singles
- Adult Summers Pt. 2 (2015, Broken World Media)
- *HIDDEN TRACK* (2015, Broken World Media)
- I Thought You Didn't Even Like Leaving (2016, Broken World Media)
- Hundo Pos (2016, Broken World Media)
- I Forgot To Take My Meds Today (2017, Broken World Media)
- I Lost My Life (2019, Counter Intuitive Records)
- Lauren (Track 2) (2019, Counter Intuitive Records)
- Fuckin’ A (2019, Counter Intuitive Records)
- Prototype of The Ultimate Life-form (2019, Counter Intuitive Records)
- Curly Q (2021, Pure Noise Records)
- A Random Exercise in Impermanence (The Collector) (2022, Pure Noise Records)
- El Dorado (2022, Pure Noise Records)
- Shoelaces (2022, Pure Noise Records)
References edit
- ^ Chandler Davis (24 February 2020). "Poorly Edited Podcast". YouTube (Podcast). Lab To Twelve. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- ^ a b Brown, Ed (April 15, 2022). "Prince Daddy and the Hyena embrace unpredictability". Treble. Treble Media. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ "Tweet". Twitter. 20 June 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ "My name is Kornie Boi from Prince Daddy & the Hyena. We just released our second album COSMIC THRILL SEEKERS and are currently on a 6 week tour supporting it. ASK US ANYTHING". 21 July 2019.
- ^ "WF006: Skip Cutscenes! Blow Loud!, by Prince Daddy & The Hyena". Wallflower Records. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
- ^ "S01 E09 - Kory Gregory (Prince Daddy & the Hyena)" (Podcast). 16 May 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ Rettig, James (26 April 2019). "Prince Daddy & The Hyena – "Lauren (Track 2)" Video". Stereogum. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ "I Thought You Didn't Even Like Leaving, by Prince Daddy & The Hyena". Prince Daddy & The Hyena. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
- ^ "Prince Daddy and The Hyena: I Thought You Didn't Even Like Leaving (2016)". PunkNews. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ Ross, Alex. "Hear Prince Daddy & The Hyena's post-acid pop-punk concept album, Cosmic Thrill Seekers". The Fader. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ Gelfand, Zac (3 July 2019). "Indie Mixtape 20: Prince Daddy And The Hyena Turn Mania Into Rock And Roll On 'Cosmic Thrill Seekers'". Uproxx. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ Ysteboe, Taylor. "Prince Daddy & the Hyena Search for Home". Flood Magazine. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ Sacher, Andrew (26 April 2019). "Prince Daddy & the Hyena announce 'Cosmic Thrill Seekers' (stream a track)". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ Sacher, Andrew (21 October 2021). "Prince Daddy and the Hyena sign to Pure Noise, release "Curly Q" (watch the video)". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ Sacher, Andrew (8 March 2022). "Prince Daddy & the Hyena announce new self-titled LP, share new song & video (ltd vinyl pre-order)". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
- ^ a b Ross, Alex Robert. "Hear Prince Daddy & The Hyena's post-acid pop-punk concept album, Cosmic Thrill Seekers". The Fader. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
- ^ Monger, James Christopher. "Prince Daddy & the Hyena Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
- ^ "Prince Daddy & the Hyena". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
- ^ Cohen, Ian. "Cosmic Thrill Seekers - Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 26, 2023.