After more than a decade building a devoted following through equal parts punk fun, emo honesty and indie rock hooks, New York outfit Prince Daddy & The Hyena are finally making their long awaited Australian debut.
Fresh from releasing their fourth album, Hotwire Trip Switch, Prince Daddy & The Hyena are heading Down Under alongside longtime friends and fellow New Yorkers Macseal for a co-headline run that has been years in the making.
Ahead of the tour, we caught up with frontman Kory Gregory to talk about stepping into Australia with zero expectations, why touring with Macseal feels like travelling with family, the overwhelming response to Hotwire Trip Switch and how the band are approaching their first ever Australian setlists.
Prince Daddy & The Hyena ’24-03-04_Birthday_B4′ (Official Video)
Your upcoming Australian tour is your first time in Australia. How are you feeling about it? Do you have any preconceived expectations?
Kory: Honestly, I’ve slowly but surely committed to going into this trip entirely blind and just going where the wind takes me. Not unprepared, but just no expectations, good or bad. Which kind of excites me, haha.
You’re co-headlining with Macseal, another band that’s carved out their own lane in the emo/indie/punk world. How did this pairing come together?
Kory: We’ve been playing shows with them forever! Both bands started at around the same time and we’re both from New York and play similar enough music. I think our first show together was legit probably a decade ago. And since then, we’ve been on so many tours together in this band and in different bands. They are some of our closest friends.
What’s your favourite thing about touring with Macseal?
Kory: Well at this point, a huge highlight is the fact that Cole played in Prince Daddy for a few tours, so now he knows the songs haha. So sometimes we’ll set up his amp and do 3 guitars or give him mine so I can just front. It’s cool just having someone in the squad that we can try stuff like that with on some nights, and who also gets excited with us!
Macseal ‘Easily Undone’ video
You’re diving into a headline tour for your time over here. Do you find that there’s a certain pressure headlining a new place before climbing up the ranks with support slots?
Kory: I think the opposite actually! I think we’ve been a band now for a decade and have never played anywhere even remotely close to any of these places before. So I think it’s safe to say that whoever is going to be at these shows most likely WANTS to be at these shows. Maybe that is my optimism peaking out to an extent, but it’s way more likely for us to be playing to a room of nerds with their arms crossed when we’re on a support tour. ESPECIALLY being so far from home where people are less likely to be there for us. So I think if anything, this puts us in an even better position!
Are there any places that you’re excited to come see over here, or foods that you’ve heard about and are looking forward to trying?
Kory: Like I said, I’m going in pretty much entirely culturally oblivious hahah. I know bands take pictures with Koalas and that seems fun haha! and I also know that all of my friends who have played shows over there come back saying how much I’d love it, so that definitely has me feeling optimistic!!!
What’s your go to ‘post show dinner craving’?
Kory: I don’t know if I have a specific craving post show besides just FOOD. haha. I’m not really picky, but I definitely need to eat post show haha. Usually taco bell is the safest bet as far as everyone in the van being happy. Is there a Taco Bell in Australia?
What goes into putting together a set list for a place that you’re visiting for the first time? What parts of your catalogue can we expect to hear from this upcoming tour?
Kory: Most likely, the main difference is that we will probably learn way more songs than we’ll be playing every night, just to maximize the chances of someone really wanting to hear something and us being able to play it. Obviously, we can’t learn and rehearse every song enough at this point because we have 4 or 5 records worth of music, but we can definitely fit a handful more songs in our brain than we can fit in a setlist. So we’ll do our best!
Prince Daddy & The Hyena ‘I Forgot To Take My Meds Today’
Hotwire Trip Switch
You’ve just released your new album ‘Hotwire Trip Switch’, how has the response been?
Kory: The response has been great honestly! I was honestly kind of surprised. Usually when we drop new music, it takes people a little bit for it to sink in and to appreciate it. It has never been instant. This was the first time that I felt the love and appreciation from the get-go. That was a really special feeling, for sure!
Do you have a favourite song on the album and why?
Kory: It changes for sure. Currently, it’s a song called “SHITSHOW”. The whole album was really an exercise in candor and immediacy for me and this song just embodies that concept and spirit in such a loud way when I hear it still.
Prince Daddy & The Hyena – SHITSHOW or Boulevard of Soaking Dreams
If Prince Daddy could re-write the soundtrack for any movie or tv show, what would it be?
Kory: Probably, like, a late 90s/early 00s rom com or something. Like American Pie or Can’t Hardly Wait or Clueless.
***Editors note – great choices.
Beyond these Australian dates, what’s next for the band?
Kory: Probably more touring! Trying to show off these damn ass songs to as many people as we can 🙂
Australian tour dates
Prince Daddy & The Hyena and Macseal Australian Tour 2026
- Friday, July 17th – The Brightside, Brisbane 18+
- Saturday, July 18th – Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle 18+
- Sunday, July 19th – Mary’s Underground, Sydney Lic AA
- Tuesday, July 21st – La La Las, Wollongong 18+
- Wednesday, July 22nd – Stay Gold, Melbourne 18+
- Thursday, July 23rd – Sooki Lounge, Belgrave 18+
- Friday, July 24th – Jive Bar, Adelaide Lic AA
- Saturday, July 25th – Lynotts Lounge, Perth 18+
Find out more and get your tickets here.
Prince Daddy & The Hyena and Macseal kick off their first Australian co-headline tour next Friday, July 17th, bringing Hotwire Trip Switch to local audiences for the first time.
If Gregory’s enthusiasm is anything to go by, Australian fans can expect a set that spans the band’s catalogue, plenty of surprises and the excitement of a band finally ticking a long awaited tour off the bucket list.
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