Joey Pinter of The Knots and The Waldos INTERVIEW! June 2014

New York City, mid to late 70's. The music scene was exploding with great Punk or New Wave bands as some call it. You had The Ramones, Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers, Corpsegrinders, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, Jayne County and The Electric Chairs, The Dead Boys, Talking Heads, and Television to name just a few, but there was one band that should of been HUGE, but weren't. The Knots. They played all the sleazy famous clubs like CBGB's and Max's Kansas City and shared the bill with other great bands of the time.

They put out a single in 1980 with "Heartbreaker" and "Action", still printed to this day. You can buy the single here http://www.almostreadyrecords.com/llr.htm . Two of  the greatest songs to come out of the whole first wave of Punk. Joey played guitar and bass, Tommy Bell on Vocals, Jim Ryan on drums.  Joey Pinter for me personally is the best guitarist to come out of the whole 70's NYC Scene.  His sound, playing style and musicianship were unmatched and he was sadly overlooked by others who weren't even in the same ballpark as him. Tony Coiro, Tommy Bell, Jerry Ryan and Eliot Michael and others were in and out of the band, and after a couple years The Knots crashed and burned. Recently, a lost track "Glad To Be Alive" was discovered from The Knots. You can listen for free here https://soundcloud.com/joey-pinter/joey-pinter-glad-to-be-alive . Joey moved on to work with Walter Steding and formed Pleasure Pirates and numerous other endeavors. In the early 90's Joey was drafted into The Waldos, Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers band. Tony Coiro of The Knots was on bass for The Waldos. They played all the clubs. If you watch live footage on youtube, you will see they were/are a very exciting band. Often you would see Joey stand in spot with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, busting out a solo, oozing rock n roll in every note. They put out one of the finest sounding and produced records of all time "Rent Party". It's been reissued on CD from Jungle. Buy it here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-WALDOS-Rent-Party-bonus-tracks-CD-Walter-Lure-Heartbreakers-new-sealed-/321191858049?refid=store .

That lineup fell apart in the mid 90's, but Joey in recent years has reunited with Walter Lure for several gigs as The Waldos with various lineups, in Los Angeles, NYC and New Orleans. He still owns the stage every time! Now that's he's moved to Chicago, you'll probably see a few Waldos shows in the windy city. Joey has also gone on to play in Johnny Thunders place in The Heartbreakers with Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan,Tony Coiro and Jamey Heath at The Johnny Thunders Memorial Show in 1991 following Johns passing. He's gone on to play with Billy Rath and The Street Pirates (BR of JT and The Heartbreakers), The Mau Maus, New York Junk, Frank Infante, The Testors, The Neurotics, Dirty Eyes...to name a few. He's written and recorded solo songs, and is planning a solo album in the near future! My first interview, and what a huge honor it is!

INTERVIEW:

Tate: So Joey, when did you first get into music and more specifically the guitar? Who was your #1 influence and why?

Joey: I can't say there was a moment when I said I want to do this, it's something that was always with me, kind of like biting my nails, I can't remember a time when I didn't. The influence thing was a progression that is still going on. The first album I bought was Johnny Cash live at San Quentin however way before that my parents had a record by Henry Mancini, one side was music he wrote for TV the other side was music from movies. When I was 10 I played the shit out of it.  

Tate: What was your first guitar and amp?

Joey: First "good" guitar was a brand new Fender Strat I bought in 1972. First amp was a Ampeg Rocket Reverb. In those days there wasn't many "help-me box's" but there was something called a LBP-1 you plugged it into the amp input then plug in the guitar, it worked by a switch like a light, total overdrive, the amp sounded fucking big. 

Tate: Growing up in NYC in the 60's and 70's, you must of saw some great bands. What bands did you see live?

Joey: Not many "big" bands, I hate crowds. I'd rather go to clubs.  

Tate: When was your first band and what was the name? Did you write originals starting off?

Joey: Again, it's a progression thing, I can't remember a first band, it seems like it was something I always did like breathing. The first "real" band which means, rehearsal, girls, booze was something called Brooklyn Trash.

Tate: When Fuse/Knots started playing clubs, did you feel you guys got the same respect or were equal to the other bands playing, such as The Heartbreakers or Jayne County etc?

Joey: Of course, if we weren't on the same level of those people they would have killed us. 

Tate: If there is one show that sticks out to you the most during Fuse/Knots, when and why?

Joey: Christmas '78 or '79 we had some English singer for a while and after he wished the audience a happy Christmas I said "fuck Christmas, let's play" it seems I stepped over some line of decent behavior. Fuck 'em. 

Tate: When you recorded the single with "Heartbreaker" and "Action", did you feel at the time it was "great", and would be influential to this day?

Joey: Fuck no, I didn't like it then and I still don't like it.

Tate: Do you remember what you used for gear during the recording of the single?

Joey: Gibson Les Paul Custom and a Twin Reverb.

Tate: Recently "Glad To Be Alive" was rediscovered, do you remember what others, if any other songs were recorded?

Joey: I have no idea, I would imagine we played everything we knew at the time.

Tate: When The Knots split up in 1980, did you panic or contemplate to continue in the music business?

Joey: We split up?? I've been wondering why no one returns my calls.

Tate: I know you did carpentry for living during the time also, did you enjoy it?

Joey: Yes I did, what I liked most was eating every day and living in doors.

Tate: How did you end up playing on the Walter Steding record? Did you like doing the record?

Joey: My manager at the time was Brooks Parsons he had a much wider view of things than I, he asked me, no, he told me "we're going to see someone" and said I have to stay to the end because he liked this cat. Needless to say when I saw some little cat with goggles and lights and a violin I said you better get me good and drunk. So I sat through the set and I have to admit that I found it interesting, of course booze helps ones outlook on such things. Any who, after Walter played we went back to the loft we used as command central and I found that he was an interesting guy. A few weeks go by and I get a call and told to show up at some studio to record, which I did. Then I found out it was a project that Chris Stein was doing. I asked Chris "what do you want me to play?", he said "play anything I like", while Walter was doing his thing. I still feel that stuff was way ahead of everyone. I'm glad I did it.  

Tate: You formed The Pleasure Pirates in '88, why was the band so short lived? From the sound of the song "Trapped", the band seemed to have a lot of potential.

Joey: That was a doomed lost cause, the other guitar player was an old friend who was a great guitar player, we did a lot of mischief. However, at that time I wasn't using hard drugs and drinking any more but he still was, so we were never able to catch the energy we had. As a side note, that cat played in the Knots for a while. Any who, I recently got to hear that EP and the first thing I heard was his "help-me box's" lots of that chorus effect, I hated it then and hate it still. After the first few notes the first thing that came to mind was the '80's and Bon Jovi. And where's my hair spray?   

Tate: How did you end up joining The Waldos, and what were feeling? Did you see them live before you joined at all?

Joey: After P.P. I needed to get out of NYC, I was disgusted, there were no bands around that I liked, I had a brand new Mesa Boogie that broke down all the time and no one could figure out why, I took it as a sign that it's time to go. After a year or so I get a call from tony c. telling me he's been playing with Walter and Charley Sox, no one was fucking around with needles any more and would I be interested in playing? He told me they were auditioning people but my name kept coming up. some of the cats that they auditioned said to find me. I saw them once before I officially joined. I thought they were great.    

Tate: The Waldos released "Rent Party", a fine album. One of the best sounding and produced albums of all time. Have any good stories on the recording of it? Are you proud of the record and did you feel it should of been bigger?

Joey: Thank you for your kind words. one thing happened that was cool. One day while we were working on it someone came in with a TV, it was the slow chase of OJ while he was driving on the 405. Everything stopped which is a big deal when you're paying by the hour. I know if we toured that record, it would have been huge. Tony and Walter refused to tour, we got offers all the time. It really pissed me off. It still does. 

Tate: How do you feel about people who compare The Waldos "Rent Party" album and lineup  to Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers?

Joey: I think it's wonderful, I mean to be in the same sentence with LAMF is humbling. I make no excuses about the way I play, I shamelessly rip off Johnny all the time. If people don't like it they can fuck off.

Tate: I've heard some of the new solo songs from you, they sound great! Any ballpark estimate on when fans can expect a release? Do plan on releasing it on CD or Digital Download?

Joey: Good fucking question, there are things I'm struggling with, one is the vocals. I bought all kinds of vocal processors, but all I can make them do is have 4 or 5 tracks of me singing out of key. I'm going to talk to some new people I met in Chicago and maybe get them to sing a bit. Other than that all I need to do is master. I have a CD in front of me now that's being sent to someone in NJ to master. I gave him one song to see what he can do.  

Tate: What do you think of the music world today? Do you see any "hope" for Rock n Roll?

Joey: There will always be Rock and Roll.

Tate: What do you consider your greatest accomplishments so far in life and or in music?

Joey: Staying vertical.

Tate: What keeps you going, to keep playing shows and writing songs?

Joey: I don't know what else to do. The male modeling thing never took off. 

21. Last but not least! What was your favorite guitar and amp you've ever owned? 

Joey: The rig I have now is very nice, I have that '94 Les Paul Special that I did a load of work on. I have a very cool '84 Strat that is better than any Strat I ever had, and there is Doris, the '88 Tele. As far as amps go I wish I could get the sound I have on the record live. I'm using something called an amp modeler and it's fucking amazing.

   Thanks Joey for the interview! You can "LIKE" Joey on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JoeyPinterRockandRoll . You can also listen to some of his work at http://www.reverbnation.com/joeypinter .

 June 13th 2014.