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, GA, music scene. Vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Hanick had worked with a number of different groups (including the Shivers and the Dittos) in Tallahassee, FL, before moving to Athens in 2005, while guitarist McManus was a veteran of the bands Beijing, Touchdown, Annie and Her Guns, and Fabulous Bird. Sharing a fondness for pop melodies that ran the gamut from the Beatles to the Elephant Six 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.