By Star Beat
“To me, a music scene is a community, a group of bands and fans and writers and clubs,” says Jim Testa of Jersey Beat. “It’s a very inter-connected system, all the different parts support each other. A lot of creating a good music scene is just a matter of the right people being in the right place at the right time.”
A scene is only as strong as the resources it has to keep it going. The New Brunswick, New Jersey music scene has held up pretty well albeit police stopping shows, limited spaces for shows, and trying to promote them. To that note, one might add that a record label helps the scene by exposing music not just within that scene but all over as well.
Such is the case with Don Giovanni Records. The New Brunswick based indie label was formed by Joe Steinhardt and Zach Gajewski in 2003. Joe was into the New Brunswick music scene and with the lack of real label support for its bands, he felt the need to do something. He wanted to see bands getting more distribution. That's where Don Giovanni comes in. The label showcases bands that reside both in and outside of New Brunswick, that includes parts of Brooklyn and the area around the Jersey shore. Catering to punk and hardcore music the label signed some of its first acts including, Talk Hard and Kamikaze. Most of the releases were 7-inch EPs, but by the time they started working with The Ergs! in 2005 release their first LP.
“We focus on that scene because that's where the most exciting bands are playing,” Steinhardt says. “There's a saying in writing that goes: you write what you know. If I'm going to put a lot of energy, time, and money into it, then I have to go with what I know, not what I think I can sell.”
The passion him and his team of five have put behind the label has shown over its 7 year history. While the label may not work with a ton of bands, the bands they do work with they are dedicated to.
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