Joe Putrock – An Xperience Interview

Joe Putrock – An Xperience Interview – by OP Callaghan.

“There are thousands of great pictures of Seth (Powell) and Mike (Pauley), but very few of me!” mused Joe Putrock. “That’s what happens when you spend so much time behind the camera!” As the drummer for the Charlie Watts Riots, Putrock is used to sitting in the back. But when he’s not behind the kit, he’s behind the lens, as one of the area’s most well-known and accomplished photographers. He’s a great guy, and a great drummer, so please welcome Joe Putrock!
RRX: How did you get started playing drums? How old were you when you started?
JP: I started playing the drums around fourth grade. Not having the air for the French horn (my first try at an instrument), and not wanting to learn music theory enough to play the trumpet (my second attempted instrument), I settled on the drums. This made me, and my music teacher, much happier and I loved the fact that all I had to carry was a pair of drumsticks and not lug around a French horn.
RRX: Have you taken lessons, or are you self-taught?
JP: I took lessons for a little while, but then basically relied on watching MTV and trying to replicate what I saw on television. I often wonder if I had YouTube when I was a kid if I would have been a much better drummer as an adult! The access to instruction, videos, and tutorials is really unbelievable.
RRX: Who are some of your influences?
JP: My main influence was always Phil Collins. The stuff he did with Genesis, his solo stuff, and the Brand X records were all I would listen to as a kid. There was also Chester Thompson, who was the touring drummer for Genesis (among others), Stewart Copeland of The Police, Steve Gadd, Liberty DeVitto from Billy Joel’s band, Kenny Aronoff from John Cougar’s band, Tony Thompson who played for the Power Station (I was a bit too young for his playing with Chic), and a ton of other drummers that I didn’t even know by name. Before the internet, and liner notes, oftentimes I was influenced by drummers that I didn’t know by name until years later.
RRX: Do you come from a musical family?
JP: I am the only person in my family that plays an instrument. That being said, I came from a household where music was very important and where all of my extended family members had incredibly diverse tastes in music. My grandmother always had country music playing on the radio, my aunt was always listening to the Beatles or Elvis, my uncle is the one that got me into Genesis, and my mother would be listening to Marvin Gaye and the Village People one minute and Kenny Rogers and Bobby Vinton polka records the next. There was never a shortage of things for me to listen to as a child.
RRX: Tell me about your first kit.
JP: Oh man, I remember it like it was yesterday!! It was a used silver/gray Reuther five-piece that my mother bought me for graduating eighth grade. I grew up with two siblings and a single mother; I still don’t know where she got the money for it. I pounded on that thing constantly. I’m sure I loved that drum set way more than my neighbors did!
RRX: What was your first gig?
JP: St. Paul’s School, playing the snare drum part to “Don’t You Want Me” by the Human League and playing the bass drum part to “Say, Say, Say” by Michael Jackson. Probably sixth or seventh grade. I really thought I had made it at that point and that my career as a rock drummer was cemented.
RRX: I think it did! Do you play any other instruments?
JP: I would love to say that I did, but nothing else ever worked out.
RRX: What do you do when you’re not playing? Any other careers beyond rock stardom?
JP: I have always had day jobs, mostly revolving around photography or music. Shooting bands, shooting for music publications, sound guy at a live music club, etc. Whatever the job, it had to be flexible so that if I had a gig, I could have the time off to go play it.
RRX: Tell me about some of your playing experiences. Who have you played with?
JP: I have played with an incredibly varied bunch of people. I was always willing to play for whoever needed someone. Oftentimes it was just one gig here, two or three gigs there with someone else. I played for several years with Howard Glassman and his band the Coal Palace Kings. Most notably, I spent probably a decade with Seth Powell, Brendan Pendergast, and Mike Pauley in The Charlie Watts Riots.
RRX: Any particular gig (good or bad) stand out?
JP: None really stand out more than any of the others, but it seems (or at least I like to think) that I can remember so much of it. Everyone has gigs that they drove three hours to play for a bartender or set up in front of another act to play a 20-minute opening slot on three square feet of the stage. Those weren’t great, but they were still a gig. I’ve been very fortunate to play really great gigs though, with really great people. There is one funny gig now that I think of it … Jed Davis needed a fill-in drummer for a couple of gigs, one of them being Larkfest. The drums on the record were played by Anton Fig, of the Late Night with David Letterman Band and Kiss, so I really had my hands full. Didn’t have much time to learn the stuff and the parts weren’t easy. I did my homework, wrote out charts, practiced, and had everything all set. We’re playing the gig in front of a pretty decent-sized crowd, the first song starts, and the wind picks up and blows my charts all over the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot!!
RRX: Yikes! What are you playing now?
JP: Unfortunately, I’m not playing much at all these days. It’s funny—when you’re younger you have no money and garbage jobs, you borrow drums and cymbals, and gig whenever you can because it’s all you want to do. You get older, have a good job, can afford any drum set and cymbal setup that you want, but don’t have the time to get out somewhere and play. I have an Alesis kit that I have set up in my office now. I get to play, and my neighbors don’t hate me. I would love to start gigging again. If anyone out there is looking for a drummer, practices for two hours a week on Sunday morning, gigs once or twice a month (tops) in front of at least 50 people (preferably on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday evenings), provides someone to transport, load in and load out my kit, pays well and plays exactly the type of music I want to play, please get in touch with me!
RRX: Hahahahahahahaha! Dream gig! Put together your dream band, with you on drums.
JP: It sounds kiss-ass, but when Seth Powell and Mike Pauley were on, I can’t think of another band I would want to play with. When we were locked in, playing in front of an energetic crowd, it was some of the best playing experiences I have had. We had some really great times.
RRX: Not kiss-ass at all. Very sweet. Demented, but sweet. Have you ever been arrested? Was it Seth’s fault? Does he have dirt on you?
JP: Never been arrested, but the one time I’ve been pulled over was because of Seth Powell! We were playing somewhere in Massachusetts, and they have those weird left turns where you turn right, and then it spins you around to where you are perpendicular to the road you were on. For some reason, I was driving, and Seth says, “Just take the left, it doesn’t matter!” So, I do, and then of course—flashing lights.
RRX: What do you like to do when you’re not playing music?
JP: Luckily, I still shoot quite a bit. Photography has always been my main thing and continues to be. Being a middle-aged guy, I have started playing pickleball, of course. I read quite a bit, and make artwork, but whatever I’m doing, you can bet there is music on.

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