In 2014, Beechwood dropped an album called Trash Glamor, which is a totally appropriate title if you’ve ever seen them live or are familiar with how the band came to be. While they tote stylish vintage getups, the band is manmade from the ground up — coming from the New York streets themselves and having struggled with being essentially homeless at points even while they were releasing music. They’re also one of those unique New York bands that have made it out of the local scene in a big way, doing multiple European tours and bringing their mix of grit and glamor with them. Check out a few of their favorite things below and get stoked to see them TOMORROW night at The Broadway for the Alt Citizen x DIY show with The Wants and Whiner — tix here
Forced Entries by Jim Carroll
This is one that I can continually revisit and not grow tired of. After reading The Basketball Diaries I went out and got anything I could find by him, this included. When I picked it up I couldn’t believe it because the image of him on the cover looked exactly how I did at the time, even down to the clothes. I had just turned 20, and when I opened the book the first entry starts on his 20th birthday. I won’t go into detail but the similarities didn’t end there.
Kevin Junior (The Chamber Strings)
One of the most underrated artists ever, it’s a crime how little he’s known. I discovered his music through listening to Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks, and immediately became a fan. He did some stuff earlier on, but the two records he made with his band The Chamber Strings (Gospel Morning and Month of Sundays) are close to perfect. They’re both totally out of print, so someone needs to reissue these records. Unfortunately he passed away only a few weeks after Bowie did, which happens to be right around the time I discovered his music.
My Telecaster
photo by Stephane Perraux
In 2017 the NYPD raided an outdoor gig of ours on Orchard St. and let’s just say a cup of beer mysteriously appeared on their car’s windshield. The situation quickly devolved into chaos and 2 out of the 3 of us were arrested on trumped up charges. It was all over the news, “PUNK ROCKERS ALLEGEDLY THROW BEER CAN, SPIT AT COPS DURING ARREST AT THEIR MANHATTAN CONCERT” said the Daily News, among others. I regrettably destroyed my guitar in anger afterwards. At the time every one of our shows would go awry for some dumb reason so this was just the icing on the cake. My friend Jeff Ward was there and gifted me his white Telecaster as a replacement, and it has since become my most prized possession. It sounds like no other guitar I’ve ever played. So maybe it wasn’t all bad..
Antique Crucifixes
I’ve been collecting things since I was a kid, starting with baseball cards and steadily growing from there. These days I’ve been amassing an ever-growing collection of antique crucifixes which hang all over the walls of my apartment. Here’s a small chunk.
Peter Perrett
If there was one song in the world I wish I could’ve written, it’d probably be Another Girl, Another Planet. The Only Ones are a big influence on us, and we’re lucky to call Peter and his wife Xena our friends. We met him in London on our first European tour and went back to his place after our gig for kebabs and conversation. Xena gave me an in-depth critique of every one of our songs we played that night, and she was spot on. Great night.
photo by Stephane Perraux
