We had the good fortune of connecting with Gioja Antonette and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gioja, what inspires you?
I am inspired by spirit of clown: being brave, weird, exploring self and the uncomfortable; banishing shame by freely sharing myself through art, and therefore learning about and healing myself. Everyone is weird. There is no normal. I feel my calling is to show others they are allowed to be brave and play. My clown name is Crying—that sweet spot of melancholy blues and the overwhelming ecstasy of life. The highs make me wonder why I ever felt low, but the lows make me want to go somewhere no one should. We need community to hold us up, to learn from, to witness our growth. I am inspired by all that breaks free from the devastating confines of societal norms.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I learned many years ago that trying to make money from my art killed my spirit. I had to go on a journey of growth and self discovery. When I wasn’t making money from my art, I turned my focus to climbing the workplace ladder with a “career”. I even tried to find meaningful work, and spent the last 7 years working in a funeral home, but I had to button myself up—be subdued and in the background, and I was left with my own creative cup empty. Exploring myself as a clown has opened the floodgates of my creative bravery. I have finally realized my role is to be absolutely weird, and inspire others to let go of shame, to connect with people and pursue whatever inspires them. My partner Jared and I have been incorporating my clown character Crying into our musical project green typewriters, and the spirit of clown has breathed new life into old tunes and has fertilized new material. We released our album The Solar Anus in 2022 and are currently recording new—and might I say super cool and weird—material, with an eye toward scheduling live performances in the near future.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to any event put on by Andrew Novick—the “Ambassador of Fun”. We would do a clown workshop at Rise Comedy, hear Denver’s Can cover band Future Days play at Mutiny Info Cafe. Of course we’d go to the Denver Art Museum and Botanic Gardens. We would go for drinks and tasty food at the Crypt. A nice day hike at Red Rocks and a trip up to Evergreen’s very lovely green cemetery.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My partner. Jared Lacy is a constant source of personal and creative encouragement. As someone described us when we first got together 17 years ago: we are two peas in a pod. Jared’s own genius is inspiring enough, but he also spends much time helping me navigate my intense emotions to make them into the most magical art,

Website: greentypewriters.bandcamp.com

Image Credits
Jared Lacy

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