Shannon & The Clams Don’t Own Beauty, but They See It Everywhere Now

When psych-punk, retro-rock legend Shannon Shaw’s fiancé Joe Haener suddenly died in 2022, just weeks before their wedding, something monumental shifted in the universe. The Moon Is In The Wrong Place, written in the aftermath of that catastrophic loss, is Shannon & The Clams’ most raw and focused record yet. It’s a journey of mourning, loving, readjusting to a different world in Haener’s absence and finding new ways to reconnect with him in nature. SLUG caught up with Shaw and guitarist Cody Blanchard at the start of their tour for The Moon Is In The Wrong Place, discussing their emotional creative process, what it’s like to publicly grieve on stage and their love for their fans through it all. 

SLUG: You’ve said that this new album is an exploration of grief surrounding a singular traumatic event. What’s it like to be performing these emotional, grief-filled songs every night while on tour? Is it really cathartic? Is it exhausting?

Shaw: It’s cathartic, I would say. This tour is going to be a lot different than the last tour … I just feel stronger and excited. This time, I feel buff and ready. And it is definitely cathartic. I think of music as medicine and an exchange with the audience, like we’re sharing with the audience and their presence is being shared with us. There’s something really beautiful and unique about that experience. So [I’m] definitely looking forward to it. 

SLUG: As far as writing the songs on this album, you said that “The Vow” was the only one that you had written before Joe’s death, and then the other ones came after. But are there songs that were easier to write and others that were more challenging, as you were creating the album?

Shaw: For sure. Yeah, like “Real or Magic.” It’s the last song I showed the band, because it’s such a tender, vulnerable, emotional song. It’s very literal; the lyrics and concept for that song are coming directly from a super emotional experience I had. I was scared to show them the song and worried about “What’s it going to be like to perform this over and over and over again?” … It’s a really special song and I do get emotional playing that one, [but] people seem to get a lot out of it.

SLUG: I really love the album art for The Moon Is in the Wrong Place. It shows the phases of the moon, an hourglass, images of each band member and your dog, Spanky Joe. Are there any hidden meanings in there?

Shaw: It’s got a lot of symbolism in it. There’s the phases of the moon in those top circles and Joe’s in one of the pictures. Did you see the inside? That’s my favorite picture, where we’re in the cuckoo clock. And then the back cover is really important. That photo was taken by Joe’s brother, the day after he died, of one of their crops on the farm [where he died]. He sent me some of the most beautiful photos I’d ever seen—snapshots on his iPhone, but so meaningful … You can see Mount Hood. It was only after we picked it that we noticed there’s a tiny hot air balloon in the distance. 

SLUG: I didn’t even notice that. 

Shaw: I cried when I saw it. That’s Joe, going away.

SLUG: That’s a gorgeous image. I think that for a lot of the songs, the lyrics are raw and not necessarily literal, but it’s not hard to figure out what it means, you know? Everyone can immediately feel the emotions, which I really love. But there’s one verse on “Oh So Close, Yet So Far” that I wanted to ask about. You sing, “But I don’t own beauty and I / Never owned love / No one owns nothing / Below or above.” Could you elaborate on what that means? 

Shaw: Yeah, that goes back to one line right before where I say, “It’s hard to share you with all the world.” Because I’m being really public about something really private and painful and I feel this mixture of [wanting] to keep him all to myself, but I also want the world to know Joe and to understand the gravity of this loss … It’s this battle of ownership. He belongs to me, but he does not belong to me … He’s definitely part of the universe now. Now that he’s gone, he’s everywhere. So it’s hard to share him with all the world, but he is all the world now.

SLUG: Wow, yeah. You explained that very well. I know that you have been very open about all of this with everyone who listens to your music. What do you love most about your fans?

Shaw: I feel like we’ve nailed it. We have the best fans. I get this confirmed all the time from people who sell our merch. I mean, I think Shannon & The Clams exists because it’s music I wanted to listen to and couldn’t find. So we made our own band, and [our] shows are like the parties we wish we were invited to. So many times I meet fans and I’m like, “Why do I have to call you a fan?” They just feel like a friend, like a buddy. That’s how it should be. I feel really fortunate there. They seem to be like us—funny and interesting and creative and fun.

SLUG: Is there a memorable touring story or an audience moment that particularly stands out to you as an example of this?

Shaw: Yeah, just this morning—we decided to do treasure hunts every day of this tour, where we hide a piece of merch in the city we’re playing, and then we come up with a riddle. You solve the riddle and then you go get the merch. And this morning, it was 10 minutes after we posted the riddle. My friend saw someone run in to go get a piece of merch and he tried to stop them and talk to them, and they basically ran away from him. But I loved that dedication. 10 minutes.

SLUG: That’s incredible. Was that in LA? 

Shaw: San Luis Obispo. It’s beautiful. Have you been to the Madonna Inn? We hid it under this pink cow’s udders … Will [Sprott] wrote the riddle. He reads it out loud and he performs it. He’s the riddle master. I feel like we’ve definitely unlocked his hidden talent.

SLUG: Speaking of California, your music incorporates a lot of punk and DIY elements while often sounding different from what most people might think of as “punk.” What does punk mean to you? As a band originally from Oakland, how has the Bay Area punk scene influenced your music?

Shaw: I mean, I think punk is a spirit and having zero interest in trying to conform or trying to be like anyone else. The East Bay was such a good place for us [because] we saw all kinds of people making music. I didn’t grow up playing music at all. I was a very late bloomer; I didn’t start until I was like, 24 or 25. [It was] an environment that was so welcoming to people that didn’t fit the mold and people that weren’t technically incredible musicians. People that have drive and spirit and something to say are welcomed there. 

Blanchard: Yeah, I mean, Berkeley was huge when I was a kid, because of Lookout! Records. When I was in high school, it was all Berkeley bands, you know—Rancid, Dead Kennedys, Green Day. It all seemed like it was coming out of this one tiny spot on the map.

Shaw: So it was legendary to you when you were a kid. I grew up with no reference to punk. 

Blanchard: Yeah. I mean, I was 15. Grunge in the ‘90s was all Seattle. And then when I was in junior high, I was really into industrial music. So it was all Germany and Europe producing industrial music, and then it was Berkeley . 

Shaw: Interesting. I’ve never heard you say this. I’ve never heard you talk about, like, places where music came from, as part of your influences or interests.

Blanchard: When you’re a kid you’re always like, “I wish I lived in the cool place where all the cool stuff is happening.”

SLUG: I mean, when you google “Bay Area punk bands” there’s a lot of those ones that you mentioned that come up, like Green Day and Operation Ivy and Flipper. But Shannon & The Clams also comes up, which I think is really cool.

Shaw: I love that. I love being part of it. We’ve never fit in somewhere just right, you know? When people ask us our genre or how we describe ourselves, it’s really hard. After all these years, I still don’t know. We’ll throw out, like, 50 words and references. It took me a long time to accept that we are punk and we do belong. 

SLUG: Do you have any other artistic inspirations from other mediums besides music that you look to for ideas?

Blanchard: The Wizard of Oz. I used to get a lot of inspiration from these weird old cartoons, like ‘30s and ‘40s stuff. Now I’m more interested in ‘70s and ‘80s Soviet animations. There’s a lot of social media accounts that are just for animation junkies. I like a lot of really weird, experimental stuff.

SLUG: One last question. Is the moon still in the wrong place?

Shaw: Yeah, for me it’s in the wrong place forever. 

Blanchard: Yeah, I feel like I’m in 1Q84. Have you read that?

SLUG: No, but I’ve heard of it. That’s Haruki Murakami, right? 

Blanchard: It’s good. She just steps into the wrong timeline and gets stuck there. 

Shaw: The moon’s in the wrong place and that’s just life now. 

Blanchard: A bizarre world.

Shaw: A new normal.

Grieve and grow with Shannon & The Clams at Soundwell in Salt Lake City on October 10. The show also features opening band The Mellons and supporting act The Deslondes—get your tickets now. 

Read more from SLUG about Shannon & The Clams:
Shannon & The Clams: Shake Rattle & Roll
Review: Shannon & The Clams – Onion