Beijing: Bringing Something New to Music

From left to right: Jack Hoopingarner, Bill Pruchnick, Eric Thornberg, and Thomas Smith of Beijing.  Photo courtesy of Thomas Smith 

One New Haven band is rising to the spotlight with their influential 90s grudge/pop melodies.

The band, Beijing, came alive a couple months ago by four band members who wanted to rock out. With music running through their veins, they couldn’t wait to show people what they were about.

The band consists of Bill Pruchnick, drummer, Jack Hoopinggarner, bassist, Thomas Smith, who takes on two roles as the electric guitarist and the band’s spokesperson and finally Eric Thornberg, the band’s lead singer.

The name Beijing popped out after three weeks of trying to search for the right title for the band. They wanted a name that wouldn’t mislead music lovers into judging their style based on the name alone.

Smith explained that they decided to name the band Beijing since “it’s memorable and non musicality.”

Unlike the heavily auto tuned mainstream music, Beijing brings on the rawness and honesty in their lyrics to the table.

The band’s first EP album, “It’s Not So Simple”, consists of four songs that takes you back to the 90s. With the positive response from their fans, Beijing has decided to do two full-length albums which will be out later next year.

The band has the album online for only $3.96. Go to beijingsongs.com to listen to their tracks.

Of course, their motives of being in a band are noble. Being rock stars of the rich and famous are the last things they have in mind. In fact all they care about is to just simply get their music out there and meet new people.

“It’s hard to say what the future will hold. With any luck our music can get out to as many people as possible. We don’t really have any desire to be signed to a label or anything grand like that,” said Smith.

Even though they’re still fresh in the music market, Beijing will be on everyone’s mind with one grudge melody at a time. 

*article published in the September 2011 issue of The Scribe

*article featured in dgotay.tumblr.com in September of 2011