Atwood Magazine had a conversation with Austin-based band West 22nd before their sold-out show in Chicago, discussing their debut album and influences, while also witnessing some games of dominoes and rock-paper-scissors.
You can hear the lively chatter outside the door—it's not tense, rather a blend of excited relaxation. Fresh from their sound check, West 22nd gathers around the green room coffee table. Just weeks ago, four of their members graduated from college, with the fifth entering his senior year. Now, they are performing at sold-out shows across the United States.
“It was incredible to hear people singing our lyrics in Charlotte, New York, Boston, and DC, knowing our music has reached all over the country,” says lead guitarist Jeremy Ancheta.
In 2023, West 22nd ventured beyond the college scene, taking to various venues around their hometown of Austin, Texas, from The Ballroom, which holds 750, to the Austin City Limits festival, attracting over 450,000 attendees.
Excited to share their experiences from the Nowhere To Be Tour, vocalist Logan Madsen and bassist Jet Beck begin to speak simultaneously, playfully engaging in rock-paper-scissors to determine who speaks first. Madsen wins.
“There’s been so much growth since then,” he says, reflecting on the band's transition from local performances to a national tour. “For the first time, it feels like our dream is materializing, and there’s so much potential. It’s been a blast.”
Each city on the Nowhere To Be Tour brings a new vibe. Shows in Chicago, Boston, New York, and Washington, DC sold out soon after the tour announcement, eclipsing their typical markets in Texas and the West Coast.
“It was overwhelming to see tickets sell out in cities we had never played before, where half of us had never been,” Beck comments.
The camaraderie they foster offstage is evident in their performances, from the high-energy “Savannah” to reenacting the attendance scene from Ferris Bueller during the Chicago show.
Ancheta and Madsen met as freshmen at the University of Texas at Austin. In the spring of that year, they began experimenting with Ancheta’s guitar and Madsen’s vocals.
I asked him what artists he liked, and he mentioned ‘Steve Lacy and Rex Orange County.’ I replied, ‘Awesome, I’ll need to learn about 20 chords,’” Ancheta jokes.
Ancheta’s freshman roommate introduced them to rhythm guitarist Gabe Acevedo, who “always wanted to be in a band.” Ancheta first saw Acevedo perform a solo, acoustic rendition of Heart’s 1977 hit “Barracuda” at an open mic—an impressive feat for a full band.
After witnessing that performance, he knew he had to bring Acevedo into what would become West 22nd. “Then it was a matter of getting a full band together.”
In an age where social media is often the go-to for marketing, the original trio resorted to putting up flyers around campus to find a bassist and drummer.
“My origin story began many years ago,” Beck declares dramatically.
Ancheta straightens up. “Don’t make it too long.”
The group chuckles before quickly regaining their composure. Someone nudges the board games stacked beneath the coffee table, the dominoes on top of Apples to Apples rattling against the metal tin.
Younger than the rest of the band, Beck discovered West 22nd after they had already formed. “I attended their second show,” he shares, “and I’ve always wanted to be in a band.” A talented guitarist, Beck saw a chance with West 22nd that hadn’t existed before he arrived in Austin.
“I sent Logan [Madsen] a bunch of videos of me playing to prove my commitment,” he explains. He debuted in the band as a temporary fill-in for Ancheta on guitar. Six months later, he officially joined West 22nd as their bassist.
Drummer Tyler Kerch had known Acevedo since their freshman year but only later joined the band. They met in a business communication class where Kerch gave an “impromptu speech” about his childhood dream: being a drummer.
Although West 22nd has achieved national and local acclaim, Kerch ultimately learned about the band through flyers that Beck had spotted around campus.
“There was a footnote that said ‘drum set required,’ which made me panic because I didn’t own a set,” he confesses. A couple of years later, the band announced they were looking for a drummer again—this time, no set required.
Kerch spent the following week rehearsing on any drum set he could find, whether it was in practice rooms or local churches.
“Gabe [Acevedo] asked me how much I practiced,” he recalls. “I told him, ‘A couple of times?’ But it was much more than
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Atwood Magazine met with the Austin-based band West 22nd before their sold-out performance in Chicago to discuss their debut album and influences, while also watching games of dominoes and rock-paper-scissors.