Prince Daddy & the Hyena emerged in 2014 with an affable blend of gallows humor and smartly crafted slacker punk that traffics in elements of power pop, emo, post-hardcore, and indie rock. They issued two EPs before releasing their full-length debut, 2016’s I Thought You Didn’t Even Like Leaving. The band grew more ambitious with subsequent efforts Cosmic Thrill Seekers (2019) and Prince Daddy & the Hyena (2022), both of which were concept LPs. They returned with their fourth album, Hotwire Trip Switch, in 2026.
Based out of Albany, New York, the band features Kory Gregory (vocals, guitar), Cameron Handford (guitar), Daniel Gorham (drums, vocals), and Adam Dasilva (bass). Initially comprised of Gregory, drummer Alex Ziembiec, and bass player Zakariya Houacine, the group released their debut EP, Skip Cutscenes! Blow Loud!, shortly after forming. In 2015, they inked a deal with Broken World Media and released a second EP, Adult Summers, with the full-length I Thought You Didn’t Even Like Leaving arriving the following year. Ziembiec left the fold in 2017 and was replaced by new drummer Daniel Gorham, who made his studio debut on the band’s sophomore long-player, 2019’s Counter Intuitive Records-issued Cosmic Thrill Seekers. Citing the punk rock world-building of My Chemical Romance and Green Day as influences, the mental health-oriented LP followed a three-act narrative that mirrored the structure (and some of the themes) of The Wizard of Oz. Adam Dasilva took over bass duties ahead of the release of the group’s third full-length effort. Their first outing for Pure Noise, 2022’s Prince Daddy & the Hyena saw the band deliver another concept LP, this time inspired by frontman Kory Gregory’s near paralyzing fear of death. The album featured the singles “Curly Q” and “A Random Exercise in Impermanence (The Collector).” For their fourth album the group re-signed to Counter Intuitive and brought in Jordan Chmielowski on bass, replacing DaSilva. They also teamed up with Algernon Cadwallader’s Joe Reinhart on production, who had worked on the band’s full-length debut. The resulting Hotwire Trip Switch, was issued in early 2026, preceded by the tracks “Big-Box Store Heart” and “30days30days30days.”