….Sure we fight a lot. But even when our bickering leads to one of us making an ill-tempered, inappropriately-timed remark, prompting the recipient of said comment to leave without so much as a goodbye, the situation inevitably ends peacefully with both parties first realizing that it’s not important enough to ruin what they’ve found, and then sharing a heartfelt, apologetic embrace in the parking lot of an all-night pancake house in Myrtle Beach, SC. Incidentally (or not incidentally at all, I guess), Myrtle Beach is the city that calls itself home to half of the members of Beijing. Yeah, Myrtle serves as host to a staggering number of golf courses (miniature and otherwise). And a wise consumer can pick up 10 T-shirts sporting not-so-witty witticisms for $6.99. But the city’s true claim to fame (whether it knows it yet or not), is its role as hometown to Trey McManus and Taylor Coggin.
Trey was one of the first people that I met after moving to Athens in January of 2003. It struck me as incredibly strange that I would meet a guy like Trey while slinging cheese biscuits and Admiral’s Feasts at the local Red Lobster. I’m hoping that it struck him as strange that he met a guy like me while doing the same. In spite of all the strangeness, we exchanged recordings that we had done with our previous bands and decided that we had to start playing music together. We immediately enlisted the help of Taylor, Trey’s long-time friend and collaborator, who looked like a member of Grandaddy, which happens to be one of my favorite bands. He sort of played like a member of Grandaddy, too. Come to think of it, he sort of acted the way I would imagine a member of Grandaddy would act. Oddly, he doesn’t really like Grandaddy all that much. At the time, I was involved in another project called The Dittos which ended shortly after playing with Trey and Taylor for the first time. Playing together made it clear that the three of us sounded good. But we knew it needed more. Trey suggested that we invite “Hans” to come and play. So we did and he did.
I had no idea of what to make of this guy upon our first meeting. I could detect confidence in his speech and mannerisms but his poise was somewhat masked by his unassuming nature. He wore glasses and had holes in his jeans. I think he may have had a sweater on. He looked to me like a living version of what I had pictured a typical Athens “townie” to look like before I moved here. Then I found out that he, too, was involved in another Athens project. This kid, who sort of looked and sort of acted as though he owned the original pressing of every Hydroplane 7”, was fronting a hip-hop outfit called Pimpnificent. The funniest thing about Pimpnificent is not that they have songs called “Fast Times at Pimpmont High” and “Bitch Be Gone,” but that if Andre 3000 was behind the mixing console during one of their “St. Ides and chai”-fueled sessions, you’d probably, at this very moment, be listening to their debut release from Arista Records. Most people that I meet whose interests are so spread out usually turn out to be sort of flaky. But Hans is no flake. He’s a genius who doesn’t act like one all the time, and if you must have a genius in your band, that’s the best kind to have.
So what do I do when I’m not pedaling seafood and comically large drinks with “cute” names? I guess I just do a lot of singing and writing. I especially enjoy writing band bios without my comrades around, just so I can put my own spin on Beijing. If you received a bio written by another member, I imagine that it would be quite different and would probably include something about how many chin-ups I can do and how many Athens-area girls would enjoy watching me do them. In fact, if you happen to receive a bio from another member of Beijing, please destroy it before reading! It is most likely an attempt to make me or the reader blush. They certainly do love their pranks. I hope that it would also include something about our shared vision of continuing to write and record songs that make us happy, while touring extensively and, one day, making a modest living by hanging out with each other and playing music. But undoubtedly, there would be something in there about chin-ups.
THANKS FOR THE ADD. LOVED YOUR MYSPACE PROFILE. WELL I GUESS THAT GOES WITHOUT SAYIN' OR WE WOULDN'T HAVE ASK FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP. WE ADD NEW TUNES, AND PICS TO OUR PAGE EVERY WEEK SO KEEP CHECKIN OK. THANKS AGAIN.
3 boobed woman has to be strong this year or Hurricane Ivan might sweep her away! At least she will brave the storm listenin to these rockin tunes by Beijing!
hey boys! remember me? nice page. love the new songs, and the pics. i'll put you up in barcelona (movin there in a week) if you want to play there, and mark'll put you up in dublin- you could do a european tour! you're rock stars, the lot of you.
Brandon Hannick, Trey McManus, Brian Hall, and Taylor Coggin
….Sure we fight a lot. But even when our bickering leads to one of us making an ill-tempered, inappropriately-timed remark, prompting the recipient of said comment to leave without so much as a goodbye, the situation inevitably ends peacefully with both parties first realizing that it’s not important enough to ruin what they’ve found, and then sharing a heartfelt, apologetic embrace in the parking lot of an all-night pancake house in Myrtle Beach, SC. Incidentally (or not incidentally at all, I guess), Myrtle Beach is the city that calls itself home to half of the members of Beijing. Yeah, Myrtle serves as host to a staggering number of golf courses (miniature and otherwise). And a wise consumer can pick up 10 T-shirts sporting not-so-witty witticisms for $6.99. But the city’s true claim to fame (whether it knows it yet or not), is its role as hometown to Trey McManus and Taylor Coggin.
Trey was one of the first people that I met after moving to Athens in January of 2003. It struck me as incredibly strange that I would meet a guy like Trey while slinging cheese biscuits and Admiral’s Feasts at the local Red Lobster. I’m hoping that it struck him as strange that he met a guy like me while doing the same. In spite of all the strangeness, we exchanged recordings that we had done with our previous bands and decided that we had to start playing music together. We immediately enlisted the help of Taylor, Trey’s long-time friend and collaborator, who looked like a member of Grandaddy, which happens to be one of my favorite bands. He sort of played like a member of Grandaddy, too. Come to think of it, he sort of acted the way I would imagine a member of Grandaddy would act. Oddly, he doesn’t really like Grandaddy all that much. At the time, I was involved in another project called The Dittos which ended shortly after playing with Trey and Taylor for the first time. Playing together made it clear that the three of us sounded good. But we knew it needed more. Trey suggested that we invite “Hans” to come and play. So we did and he did.
I had no idea of what to make of this guy upon our first meeting. I could detect confidence in his speech and mannerisms but his poise was somewhat masked by his unassuming nature. He wore glasses and had holes in his jeans. I think he may have had a sweater on. He looked to me like a living version of what I had pictured a typical Athens “townie” to look like before I moved here. Then I found out that he, too, was involved in another Athens project. This kid, who sort of looked and sort of acted as though he owned the original pressing of every Hydroplane 7”, was fronting a hip-hop outfit called Pimpnificent. The funniest thing about Pimpnificent is not that they have songs called “Fast Times at Pimpmont High” and “Bitch Be Gone,” but that if Andre 3000 was behind the mixing console during one of their “St. Ides and chai”-fueled sessions, you’d probably, at this very moment, be listening to their debut release from Arista Records. Most people that I meet whose interests are so spread out usually turn out to be sort of flaky. But Hans is no flake. He’s a genius who doesn’t act like one all the time, and if you must have a genius in your band, that’s the best kind to have.
So what do I do when I’m not pedaling seafood and comically large drinks with “cute” names? I guess I just do a lot of singing and writing. I especially enjoy writing band bios without my comrades around, just so I can put my own spin on Beijing. If you received a bio written by another member, I imagine that it would be quite different and would probably include something about how many chin-ups I can do and how many Athens-area girls would enjoy watching me do them. In fact, if you happen to receive a bio from another member of Beijing, please destroy it before reading! It is most likely an attempt to make me or the reader blush. They certainly do love their pranks. I hope that it would also include something about our shared vision of continuing to write and record songs that make us happy, while touring extensively and, one day, making a modest living by hanging out with each other and playing music. But undoubtedly, there would be something in there about chin-ups.
