At noon today, the local indie rock act Beach Regime released the new music video for “Cleveland Rot,” a song off their EP Sandbox.
The group worked with photographer Johnny Joo and shot the video at Cleveland's historic House of Wills in collaboration with photographer Johnny Joo. According to a press release, the song and accompanying video “pay homage to [Cleveland’s] derelict and forgotten decrepitude that stand as a monument to a proud history.”
"When we were growing up, Cleveland was considered a real shit hole,” band leader Stephen Arthur says. “Even with all the restaurants and gentrification, there are still a lot of parts you definitely wouldn't want to be after dark. We honed a lot of our chops playing in scuzzy houses where you step on the wrong floor board you were probably going through. When you are from here, you really love the grime and filth you grew up in and I think that's something we wanted to convey. Yeah it can be a shit hole... but it's OUR shit hole."
Guitarist John Vasvary agrees.
"There are bigger and better music cities in the US, but nothing is quite like Cleveland,” he says. “It really has been, and is currently a weird melting plot of drugs, art, music, and desperation. A lot of people want to leave, if they do, they kind of take the city with them wherever they go."
Beach Regime performs with Scutoid, Lord Slug, and Charlie Dams at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Grog Shop. Tickets are $8.
Sign up for Scene's weekly newsletters to get the latest on Cleveland news, things to do and places to eat delivered right to your inbox.
© 2024 Cleveland Scene
