The initial lineup of American Princes began in Brooklyn in early 2002, with David Slade (vocals, guitar), Matt Quin (drums), and John Beachboard (vocals, bass). By the end of the year, the band had left New York, relocating to Little Rock, AR. The southern city's cheap rent and central location made it an ideal base for musicians who wanted to tour nonstop - which they did, picking up guitar player and vocalist Collins Kilgore along the way.
The next two years were spent writing and releasing 2 albums (We Are the People and Little Spaces), and crisscrossing the country. The pressures of life on the road mounted, and after a whiskey-fueled punch up in a Tennessee forest, Beachboard left the band (amicably, it should be noted). Continuing in the tradition of bass players with great last names, Ryan Universe agreed to go on a few tours as a stand-in, ultimately stepping aside for Luke Hunsicker.
The beginning of 2005 marked a pivotal moment for the Princes. Glenn Dicker, head of Yep Roc, heard a copy of Little Spaces in an associate's car stereo and got in touch with the band, ultimately offering them a deal. The album was re-released on Dicker's label, followed by 2006's Less and Less, produced by Al Weatherhead (Lucero, Sparklehorse, Hotel Lights) at Sound of Music in Richmond, VA.
Less and Less garnered the Princes rave reviews, making multiple year end lists, including Magnet, The Onion, and Blogcritics. Over the course of the year, the band's live profile grew, seeing them share the stage with groups including the Roots, the Flaming Lips, Big Star, Lucero, De La Soul, Son Volt, Soul Asylum, Mudhoney, the Hold Steady, and Spoon.
By the end of 2006, Collins had relocated to Brooklyn, reversing the route the band had taken four years earlier. Additionally, Little Rock native Will Boyd joined American Princes as a third guitarist and vocalist. With Collins commuting from the Northeast for month-long songwriting marathons, the five musicians began writing what would become Other People, their latest release.
One night during this period, the band got an e-mail from a hip hop and R&B producer in New York named Chuck Brody (Wu Tang Clan, Beastie Boys, The Northern State). He was interested in recording with a rock group and, like Glenn Dicker years before, had happened upon American Princes' music and felt compelled. Brody offered to record a song for the band gratis to see how the two parties worked together.
Luckily, it was a perfect fit. By summer of 2007, the Princes were holed up at the Fireplace, Brody's Manhattan studio. Over the course of several weeks, the collaboration yielded an incredible collection of songs encompassing a vast spectrum of emotions and sounds. Everyone worked nonstop, sometimes going for days without sleep, pushing themselves to their physical as well as artistic limits. By the final stages, both the band and the producer knew that they had created an album that was leagues beyond anything the Princes had done previously. The end result, Other People, is the band's crowning achievement thus far.
American Princes are:
Will Boyd (Lead Guitar, Multi-Instrumentalist)
Luke Hunsicker (Bass)
Collins Kilgore (Lead Guitar, Vocals)
Matt Quin (Drums)
David Slade (Rhythm Guitar, Vocals)
gender
Male
birthday
January 01, 1985
4/12/2008
Little Rock, AR @ The Rev Room
4/14/2008
Austin, TX @ The Ale House at 8pm SxSW YepRoc Showcas
4/15/2008
Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
4/16/2008
Covington, KY @ Mad Hatter w/ Lucero
4/17/2008
Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small's w/ Lucero
4/18/2008
Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place w/ Lucero
4/22/2008
New Haven, CT @ Cafe 9
4/26/2006
Minneapolis, MN @ Hexagon Bar
5/14/2008
Austin, TX @ Stubb's w/ Northern State
5/15/2008
Dallas, TX @ The Prophet Bar w/ Northern State
5/16/2008
Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live w/ Northern State
5/17/2008
Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon w/ Northern State
5/20/2008
Birmingham, AL @ The Nick w/ Northern State
5/21/2008
Atlanta, GA @ The Earl w/ Northern State
5/22/2008
Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 w/ Northern State
5/23/2008
Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar w/ Northern State
music
Artist Statement In a sense, this is a concept record where the concept found us after the fact. It wasn't an affected storyline or message that we heavy-handedly shoehorned into an album, but rather it became a very real reflection on the state of existing as an American. It's steeped in the hard luck stories, in fights, in love, and most importantly in the overriding desire to describe all of these things for fear that we would otherwise lose them and, in so doing, lose the most vital parts of ourselves.We worked on the material for eighteen months, and eventually sat down for a reckoning with the dozens and dozens of songs we'd come up with. We realized that ones that made the best pop record weren't going to be the ones that made the best novel. Further, we realized that this was okay. Initially, the album is a dichotomy. Collins songs predominately reflect on events people experience: Wasted Year is told from the perspective of a Guantanamo inmate and Watch As They Go moves through a night in which we and our friends slowly drink ourselves into oblivion. David's songs, on the other hand, gravitate mostly towards one's reactions toward experience, focusing on things like dissolving relationships in Son of California or we've-gotta-get-out-of-this-place laments like Real Love. Will Boyd, the most recent addition to the band, brings in the song that unifies the two halves with Still Not Sick of You, an exploration of how people cope with both modern life (Collins) and how modern life makes them feel (David).As far as the sonic textures on the record, we were extremely lucky to work with Chuck Brody as producer, particularly because of his strong background in hip hop. Initially, we were a little wary of how this might translate for a rock band, but as we went through the recording process, it was incredible to see how strongly his input was creating change in our music. A lot of contemporary rock n'roll albums eschew the hook of a song, tending instead toward this really lush sonic wash that, while pleasant and sometimes even profound, can get really bland really quickly. Chuck, on the other hand, worked very hard at keeping us on point, focused on always having the song headed towards its destination. There are musical textures and layers here, certainly, but they're never brought in at the expense of what makes the track move. As the album took shape, we became increasingly grateful for his viewpoint, as it made us step outside of our previous confines. Plus, his studio’s really, really nice.Ultimately, our goal with this record was to create something bigger and more ambitious than anything we'd done prior. We wanted it to sound out of control good, and we wanted to push ourselves as songwriters to create something that would, ideally, engage the listener in a dialogue. Rather than hurling songs at someone, we wanted to work with themes that people could bring into their own lives, turning the words and melodies into something that was just as much theirs as it was ours.
