Passionate, imaginative, and cool are three words that I’d use to describe Indie band Prinze George. Comprised of Prince George’s and Montgomery County, MD natives Naomi Almquist, Kenny Grimm, and Isabelle De Leon, the group is well on their way to detaching themselves from the term “up-and-coming.” Their airy, feel-good sound landed them a spot in the SXSW Music Festival showcase this summer, of which thousands applied.
The three came together as a unit at the University of Maryland College Park years ago, and the rest was history. After relocating to New York City for a year, Prinze George returned to their roots here in Maryland to pursue their craft. In their own words, they’re “kind of obsessed” with the area. Not only are they proud of their DMV origins, but grateful for what Prince George’s County has given them. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with the trio. Check out our conversation below!
Adiya: What would you say is the genre of music you guys focus on? How would you describe your sound?
Naomi: Indie Pop, Electronic sort of.
Kenny: I think our main goal is to not be [put in a box]. You can tell on our upcoming EP which is coming out March 3rd; we have everywhere from dancy songs, folk songs. We wanna show people that we’re not just Pop. We have a lot of styles and influences from our different backgrounds, so we wanna just keep doing whatever inspires us.
So where do you draw your inspiration from, or who? Who are some of you guys’ favorite artists?
Naomi: I’m primarily inspired by female acts and female-fronted acts, so like I grew up with people like Lauryn Hill, Joni Mitchell, just a wide variety of female artists from different genres.
Kenny: I grew up listening to a lot of classic Rock and Hip Hop, especially a lot of 90’s Hip Hop. I’m also really inspired by a lot of film and movie scores, so like Hans Zimmer. I try to create a picture or scene of the production…just try and create a mood and a space for somebody to feel that when they listen [to our music].
Isabelle: I grew up listening to all kinds of artists. My Dad was really musical; he introduced us to classic Rock, Jazz, and Fusion. I was a rocker my whole life pretty much. In terms of artists who inspire me, Eisley, they’re more of an underground Indie band. As a drummer, Cindy Blackman…she’s a huge one for me.
It sounds like you guys have three different tastes, which kind of come together and make something great, so that’s cool. I know you said your EP is coming out March 3rd, what’s the title of it?
Naomi: It’s just gonna be self titled, Prinze George, because it’s our first collection of songs. It has four new songs and “Victor” our song that’s already online.
Ok, so let’s talk about SXSW. Prinze George is performing, that’s awesome! I bet you guys are excited. So are you gonna get all your family and friends together and have everyone attend?
Naomi: Probably, as many people as we can but we’ll see.
Kenny: Yeah, we’re definitely tryna roll pretty deep.
Hopefully you guys make a lot of good artist and industry connections there. Do you guys work with any other artists in the DMV area as of now, or do you want to in the future?
Naomi: We’re very open to collaboration. Kenny and I have done a couple collaborations with artists in this area, primarily an artist named MISUN. Also, we have a friend who’s a rapper, Eshovo, and he’s great.
Kenny: We’re gonna put out an album next and he’s gonna be featured on it.
While we await the release of Prinze George’s EP March 3rd, and accompanying performance March 6th at Rock & Roll Hotel DC, listen to their most recent track “Upswing.”
Where you can find them around the web:
prinzegeorge.com
soundcloud.com/prinzegeorge
Instagram: PrinzeGeorgeBand
Twitter: @prinzegeorge
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