For the first time in its existence, The Aquarian—the Tri-state area’s 50-year-old alt-weekly newspaper based in Little Falls, New Jersey—has temporarily suspended its print edition, moving to an exclusively online format as it finds itself in uncharted waters, swimming against the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rolling Stones, The Who, U2, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and Metallica are just a sampling of the groundbreaking artists that have been featured in the pages of The Aquarian, one of the last truly independent music periodicals in America. In addition to national acts of all levels, The Aquarian also covers local and regional bands from punk and metal to jazz and blues.
“It was with very heavy hearts that my partner Chris Farinas and I decided to temporarily suspend the print edition,” said The Aquarian’s co-publisher, Diane Casazza. “For 50 years The Aquarian has not missed a beat: we survived the Vietnam War, the AIDS epidemic, the mass media online migration, the Great Recession, 9/11, Superstorm Sandy, and all the milestones that have shaped our region and our country.”
Since 1969, The Aquarian has provided readers in New York City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia with insightful commentary on music, art, and culture every week. Now, the publication aims to provide that same extraordinary content online via its website,
theaquarian.com, and its social media platforms.
“In a lot of ways, we’re doing what other publications opted to do 10 years ago,” said Managing Editor Daniel Alleva. At the height of the digital revolution, The Aquarian could have easily followed the trend and switched to an online-only format. But as Alleva noted, “We have been blessed with an incredibly loyal following of readers who like to have a physical newspaper. It’s not because they aren’t tech savvy—make no mistake: our readers definitely follow us on social media and read our features online. But our readers also understand the inherent value of something tangible, and that’s what we’ve strived to give them.”
Positioned between the East Coast’s most renown musical meccas—New York City, Asbury Park, New Jersey, and Philadelphia—The Aquarian has observed the evolution of the musical landscape from a unique perspective. The paper was an early champion of a then-unknown boardwalk drifter by the name of Bruce Springsteen. Meanwhile in Manhattan, writers raved about what was happening at a club called CBGB and the artists playing there: Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Blondie, and of course, The Ramones. Today, these artists are nothing short of household names, but during their salad days, they were simply rock ‘n’ roll hopefuls, honing their craft in tiny shore town bars and gritty, downtown clubs until success came calling—and The Aquarian was there every step of the way, chronicling their journey from unknowns to icons.