Category: Music

Point Pleasant native Shannon Hawley on using joy to sing about tragedy, and recording her powerful new album, Starthrowers.

“I was going through sounds, and in the control room I could see them besides themselves, so I knew it was going to be a very good day.”

“New Jersey’s a shithole, but it’s our shithole. Especially in Ocean County… there’s a different kind of weirdo down here.” 

“For me, it was kind of like, shit man, life is short. I am feeling good now and I’m feeling like I got through to the other side of this and I want to do stuff that I love doing, and the thing I love doing most is writing new music and getting it made.”

Giovannie and The Hired Guns play the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park on Dec. 14

A diverse celebration of all the music and creativity that makes AP great, at the Wonder Bar, Dec 29-30.

“I never had anyone in the music industry before care about my music and then quite a few people did. It didn’t bring much of anything or a label, but it gave me a sense of, ‘Oh, I gotta see this through now.’” 

“I can never remember a time when I said, ‘Oh this record is gonna make a lot of money.’ We never thought of the record in those terms. We always said, ‘We’re gonna make the best record we can make.’”

“It’s better to believe in what you do because any career will have elements of spite and battle to it. But it’s important that what you do brings you joy and satisfaction.”

“It’s a helpful way to work through stuff and make something out of a situation that can be difficult. Like, at least I got this song out of it.’’