5 Questions With Matt Pinfield: Taking Over TV Again with the Return of “120 Minutes”

LOWER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN: People parked in front of their TV’s at 1:00 AM, EST on Saturday, July 30th either got a blast from the past or an exciting new music jolt, depending on their carbon date. The spark? None other than “MTV2’s 120 Minutes with Matt Pinfield.”

From the heart of the LES: Matt Pinfield's "120 Minutes" returns to MTV2.

Now a monthly series, the show marks the return of NJ-home slice Matt Pinfield to a format that connected an entire generation of listeners to the new music that they craved. Originally airing on MTV from 1986-2000 (and on MTV2 from 2001-2003), “120 Minutes” began as an alternative music lifeline, serving as pre-Internet sound discovery for the likes of Jesus & Mary Chain, New Order, Kate Bush, the Smashing Pumpkins, Bad Religion, and scores more. Nirvana’s debut of the “Smells Like Teen Sprit” video there was just one of the revelations for the millions who made it a point to tune in.

A prince of all media himself, Pinfield is now back in the saddle taping the new “120 Minutes” from Arlene’s Grocery on the LES – just as the plug got pulled on his popular radio morning slot with Leslie Fram on WRXP due to the station’s sale in June. Whatever the format, Pinfield’s exhaustive knowledge of rock music never ceases to entertain and educate, delivered at it is in his ultra-high energy style.

Pinfield connected with SonicScoop to give the lowdown on his return to the screen, the ups and downs of radio, and the buzz behind NYC.

Your debut episode is going to feature some pretty diverse interview subjects: Dave Grohl, Lupe Fiasco, PJ Harvey, Sleigh Bells, Das Racist, Dangermouse, to name a few. That’s a pretty wide spread – what’s the common thread between these artists?
Dave Grohl is one of the humblest men in rock and roll. The guy was a DIY guy — the first album Foo Fighters did was on a cassette. Dave started in Scream, going around the country in a station wagon with promoters threatening to shoot him.

The reality is that it doesn’t just have to be new and unknown, up-and-coming artists. I want people there with a history from “120 Minutes,” or who are plugged into the aesthetic or ethos of “120 Minutes.” The Lupe thing relates to the fact that people listen to music now so much differently than they did when the show was originally airing – checking out dubstep on their iPod. Lupe has a punk band, and he picked my favorite Radiohead video to play on the show.

In the next episode, Big Boi from Outkast will be talking about producing the Modest Mouse record. The rapper Theophilus London talks about Morrissey! It all comes back around. There’s so much going on in there.

I thought Arlene’s Grocery was an interesting choice as the host venue for the new “120 Minutes.”
Arlene’s Grocery had a great look to it. The color and look of the background had a similar aesthetic to the original “120 Minutes.” You had a starkness, and it was focused on the music. I like Arlene’s for that reason, and you can’t deny that The Strokes and a ton of other bands did their residency at Arlene’s.

I think Arlene’s represents the Lower East Side. I’ve hung out in every bar on the LES, but we were sold on Arlene’s when we were scouting places. Although we might change it up sometime in the future — there’s always that possibility.

How did you acquire your encyclopeadic knowledge of music? What’s the trick to maintaining and adding to all that knowledge?
I guess my enthusiasm is very child-like. I’ve never lost that youthful thing. From the time I was three years old, I was fixated on the family turntable. I was sitting in front of a record player rocking to the Four Tops, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones – this was something I was focused on.

I retained the musical information because it’s the thing I’m the most excited about. People would laugh when we were taping “120 Minutes” and say, “He’s been talking for a while. How did he get so much information on that cue card?” But all that would be there was the title of the song!  I always wanted to know the lyrics, and the inspiration behind them. I cared about stories, and as I met my inspirations, young and old, they told me things that were amazing.  I read books and newspapers — the floor of my bathroom has books, magazines, Mojo Uncut. Or I’m online. I’m always reading about music.

There’s people like you and me that have a passion about exposing people to music. But I’m a music enthusiast, not a music idealist. I don’t want to keep my knowledge of music in my back pocket – I want to share that experience I have when music takes me into a passionate place, elevates my mood, makes me feel OK because I’m lonely that day, or makes me feel like I’m in love. That’s how I look at music. I just enjoy it and I’m moved by it.

Have you been using Spotify?
I think Spotify is cool. There’s so many great Websites out there right now. If you have a passion like we have, then any tool you can use to become more aware of the artist you love, or go a little deeper – that’s one of the beautiful things about the Internet.

You talked comprehensively about the June sale of WRXP by Emmis Communications to Randy Michaels and GTCR in a recent “Hollywood Reporter” article. Why, specifically, do you think NYC has a problem keeping a rock radio station going? Isn’t this like LA not having an NFL franchise?
I’ll say this only once: The problem had nothing to do with the format or the music. It had to do with financial issues at the top of the company (Emmis).

There’s an incredible misconception that rock can’t work in NYC. That’s complete bullshit. We sold out five Christmas shows, bringing bands like Spoon, Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon onstage. We were doing a lot of great things and our fans were really receptive. It had nothing to do with what rock could do in NYC. NYC radio at the moment is really lacking, and I think it would be ridiculous for someone to not pick up the torch and run with it.

But there’s so many politics about how people own stations, and how they look at their market share. Rock’s surely not down for the count, but the situation of the radio station being sold was all above our heads. There was nothing that we could have done as a staff for ratings, or whatever, that could have stopped that sale.

I had a great three year run with Emmis. I loved the opportunity, and that they believed in me and the brand of me. But when a company gets acquired, it doesn’t matter what the business is – it could be a shovel-making company – it’s going to change the dynamic.

Finally, where do you sees the NYC music industry headed as a whole. Is this still the place to be involved in music?
NYC is still the greatest city in the world. It always will be. It doesn’t matter the genre, beyond NYC and into the tri-state area, it’s still the place to be. People move here for a reason: There’s an energy about being a band in NYC that’s unmatched anywhere.

Even as things get gentrified or change, you’ll still find more excitement in an NYC area show than anywhere on the planet. And I know that because I’ve hung out everywhere. Artist for artist, venue for venue, it’s stronger here, and there’s a business to support it. It’s a great, proactive area. It’s the city of artists.

New episodes of “MTV2’s 120 Minutes with Matt Pinfield” will air the last Saturday of every month at 1 AM ET/ 10pm PT and will be available online at 120.MTV2.com.

— David Weiss

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