Fifteen years is a long time to dedicate to anything—but for Asbury Park-based rock band Halogens, the journey has been, in the words of their appropriately titled 2023 EP, Time Well Spent.

For lead vocalist and guitarist Zach Henry, his relationship with music felt serious “pretty much right from the beginning.”

“I started playing guitar, and we made Halogens a couple of months later,” he explains. “Soon after that we were playing shows, and it was the most fun I’d ever had. I knew it was something we’d pursue for a long time.”

Bassist Kyle Donovan can trace his interest in creating music to one simple source: Guitar Hero. “It was my first connection to ‘people like hearing music that I’m making,’” he says, “even though it was just a game.”

The band, rounded out by drummer George Carvajal-Saives, guitarist Charlie Throckmorton and multi-hyphenate Christian Singh, recently celebrated their 15th anniversary at the iconic Asbury Park venue, House of Independents. For Henry, the milestone feels “incredible…I will simply say that it is truly and honestly incredible.” 

“The music scene in Asbury Park has played a massive role in us lasting this long,” says Henry. “Between the crowds and the other amazing bands in that town, it gives us so much inspiration. It’s something you really have to experience to understand.”

Donovan agrees, adding, “I’m not from Asbury Park, but getting involved in this scene 10-plus years ago opened me up to a world of like-minded kids who just wanted to express themselves.”

While the band’s history includes many memorable shows, Henry’s favorite memory comes from their very first tour. During a show in Florida, the opening band left after their set, taking the entire crowd with them.

“It was obviously a bummer at first, but it ended up being such a fun night,” he recalls. “It just showed me that it isn’t about the shows. Halogens, for me, has always been about the good times and the amazing friends”.

Despite their lives and circumstances evolving over the last fifteen years, the band’s approach to songwriting continues to focus on the “common human experience,” Donovan explains. 

And for Henry, writing music has been a way to process his own struggles. “Mostly it’s the problems in my life and the struggle to like myself as a person,” he shares. “Writing has always been a nice outlet for that.”

As Henry has gotten older, though, the things he writes about have naturally grown with him. “I started writing music when I was 16, and I’m now 31, so my entire life is different,” he says. “I’m still writing about things going on in my life, but all those things have changed. I wasn’t worried about rent when I was 16.”

“I’ve always appreciated Zach’s songwriting for his honest expression of how sometimes life isn’t great, but you have to make the best of it,” Donovan adds. “I hope other people can see the sun behind the clouds and realize it’s not all as bad as it seems all the time.”

Henry agrees, saying he would like their music “to be something that people feel they can relate and connect to. Something that makes them feel better and less alone.”

Now, after 15 years, Halogen’s desire to create remains strong. “Personal expression is a great thing, and creativity should be celebrated,” Donovan says. Though they’re taking a slower approach to new music, Henry also assures fans that “there is certainly music being made and you will all hear about it when it’s ready.”

And as they look forward to year 16, Donovan’s hopes for the future are simple: “Playing music with my friends forever, even if nobody else cares.”

Photos courtesy of Luke Ivanovich | Interviewed May 28, 2026