King Of Prussia

King of Prussia began as a recording project reflecting the expansive indie pop vision of Brandon Hanick and Trey McManus, two musicians who met while performing in the fertile Athens, Georgia music scene. Vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Hanick had worked with a number of different groups (including the Shivers and the Dittos) in Tallahassee, Florida, before moving to Athens in 2005, while guitarist McManus was a veteran of the bands Beijing, Touchdown, Annie & Her Guns, and Fabulous Bird. Sharing a fondness for pop melodies that ran the gamut from the Beatles to the Elephant 6 collective, Hanick and McManus began working up material and cutting songs on a Boss BR-1180 Digital Recording Studio, a portable multi-track recording rig. Cutting songs in a variety of locations between Georgia and Florida and working with a team of musicians and vocalists who included Peter Alvanos, Taylor Coggin, Katie Griffin, Brian Hall, Elizabeth Jones, A.J. Rownd, Brian Smith, and Nathan Troutman, Hanick and McManus began calling their phantom group King of Prussia, and in 2007 they completed their debut album Save the Scene. That same year, Ryan Lewis and Daniel Geller re-launched the celebrated Athens-based independent label Kindercore Records, and King of Prussia became one of the first new acts they signed. With an album to support, Hanick and McManus assembled a version of King of Prussia for touring and live appearances in which they were joined by Brian Smith on keyboards and guitar; Nathan Troutman on guitar, bass, and keys; A.J. Rownd on bass and piano, and Taylor Coggins on percussion. Before completing their second album, 2012's Transmissions from the Grand Stand, McManus left the group and Hanick relocated for a time to Spain where he worked with an alternate European lineup of the band. Continuing to split time between continents, Hanick recorded with both the Athens and the Barcelona lineups to complete the ambitious 2014 double album Zonian Girls... And the Echoes That Surround Us All, which also features guest spots from noted Athens icons like Mike Mills and Fred Schneider.