Today is a great day to share the latest single from NYC-based rock band, Princess Goes, called “Stranger.” Princess Goes features Michael C. Hall (vocals), Matt Katz-Bohen (keys/synths/bass/guitar) and Peter Yanowitz (percussion/additional instruments). The band explains: “‘Stranger’ is song about meeting each other with kindness and curiosity. A seminal 90’s grunge bass intro lead us into 90’s Britpop dance blur. We finally meet each other in the massive, epiphanic, glorious, and soaring finale, no longer strangers, but as….friends.” If you’re enjoying the track, please consider following the band’s updates here.
Princess Goes started almost accidentally out of the chemistry (and friendship) you three built during Hedwig and the Angry Inch. More than a decade later, what do you think has changed most about the band’s creative dynamic — and what’s surprisingly stayed exactly the same?
While we three have gotten closer as friends/collaborators, if feels like nothing has really changed in our dynamic, other than we’ve been doing it for a while now so it feels like short hand. We don’t have a set way to create music together, it’s a rolling, wild energy that we try and harness whenever possible, but it’s not something we analyze that much or try to force. The main difference on this new record is that we worked with an amazing young producer Brandon Bost, and we made it mostly in his studio in Greenpoint. Brandon at times acted like the 4th member, going all in, and co-writing several songs with us.
”Stranger” moves from that grunge-inspired bass intro into something much more expansive and euphoric. As the drummer, how did you approach building the emotional arc of the song rhythmically, especially toward that “glorious, soaring finale” the band describes?
”Stranger” was a banger that Matt brought into the mix. I’ll let him speak on his process. On this record we used live drums throughout, which was a change for us, and Matt provided the perfect bed for me to rock out. We have a lot of build ups on this new album and I think that is partially because of the way we recorded. More dynamics from performing live in the studio, rather than using loops, or digital samples. I think you can hear that energy in the masters.
You’ve said Princess Goes has had the luxury of evolving “under the radar” and developing on your own terms. With a third full-length album arriving later this year, does this new era feel like a breakthrough moment for the band, or do you still prefer existing a little outside the spotlight?
It definitely feels like a breakthrough record for us, but we will leave that up to the fans and music biz to decide. This is Princess going balls to the wall. To us it feels like the songwriting finally matches the sonic landscape of the album and it all hangs together under one roof. We have put in the work the last eight or so years, growing together at our own pace, on our own terms, and because of that it feels like the creative gods rewarded us with our most definitive work to date. We hope you agree!