Hi Joey,
Your album THE EYES NEVER LIE see the light of day at a time when bands like SLIPKNOT, THE CALLING and NICKELBACK are trendy. How do you see your chances for THE EYES NEVER LIE?

That's a good question. A hard one to answer, too. I think it's just a matter of somehow letting people that are into this type of music hear it. From what I understand in Europe that's hard to do, being there isn't too much radio air play for this genre. So the record has to some way find it's audience, which is people into good old party type hard rock. We'll have to wait and see? Any Ideas Ralph?

Well, I guess the best thing is still playing live as much as possible and havin‘ good friends at the right places for having support as much as possible J. Anyway, the album is released under the name SINOPOLI, your family name. So what is SINOPOLI exactly: A band, a project or even as a solo thing?

SINOPOLI is a band. We had various drummers over a ten years period, like 1000, but the main stay of the band was Me, my brother Nicky and Bobby O'Connell.

You mean you topped SPINAL TAP if we talk about drummers? And how long have you worked on THE EYES NEVER LIE?

These songs have been recorded over about ten year period.

The album is released on GENERATION RECORDS (Germany). How did the contact take place with GR?

Birgit Schwanke of Germusica manages me, she sent these songs to Tommy Becher of Generation Records and he signed me. They're all really nice people to work with. Very supportive!

Which topics do you process on THE EYES NEVER LIE?

Mostly love\sex relationships for the most part.

Well, the DAVID BOWIE cover "MOONAGE DAYDREAM" has surprised me a bit. You really listen to DAVID BOWIE at home?

Yep... David Bowie is my CD player right now. I got the new BEST OF BOWIE CD for Christmas. I really love the old Ziggy Stardust era. I think he have a great voice to say the least. What a talent! We always played Moonage Daydream, so we decided to recorded it with Eddie Kramer. We did that song in 1992. It was fun. I think it's one of my best recordings. It's heavier then Bowie's version. Eddie did a terrific job producing it.

Some of the songs on THE EYES NEVER LIE, for example LOVE ON THE TERRACE, partly reminds me of the Sunset Strip in L.A. in the late eighties. Was this intended?

No. Me and my brother Nicky wrote that song in 1979, we were in a Punk band called THE IMPORTS back then. We used to hang out in the Village in New York in those days, when the whole Punk scene was going on. To me it was amazing just to walk around down there, the clothes, the colorful hair, the attitude. I still LOVE Punk it's in the roots of all my writing. So I wrote that song about the Village... But on the other hand, I guess LOVE ON THE TERRACE fits in to that whole Sunset Strip thing pretty nicely. Good call Ralph!

Originally how many songs have you written for the album? Have all ideas/songs been put on the record?

A lot. This record is a BEST OF SINOPOLI, it's a retrospect of SINOPOLI'S career over a ten year period. We had 4 producers work with us, Jack Ponti, Eddie Kramer, Dennis Ferranti, and Stacey Phelon on these songs. So you get a nice taste of 4 different rock producers styles through out the album. To me it's a 1970s sounding record. To answer the second part of the question, not all my songs and ideas have been put on this record. We've started our new SINOPOLI album already. Everyone will get to hear what SINOPOLI sounds like today with a modern production. Ciid Barardi is producing it at East Coast Mastering in New Jersey. So far the record is very powerful. It's gonna be a 70's Hard Rock retro album. We're breaking out all the old guitars on this one. Very Upbeat! It will be on GENERATION RECORDS.

Sounds interesting, so keep us up-to-date, ok? As you know, I have criticized the ballad BE MY LOVER a bit because of the disturbing keyboards, also I miss an orchestra. Can you comprehend this criticism?

Sure I could and you may have a point there...lol... But that song was done in the early 90s, technology was different back then. Dennis Ferranti of RCA in New York produced that at Philip Glass's recording studio in New York in 1989. Philip is a very famous keyboardist and composer, he let us use his keyboards..lol... And yes, I agree it's missing an orchestra, probably cause we couldn't afford one. But It would have been nice to have one. Maybe someday.

Well, I think I LIKE IT is a pure KISS/ALICE COOPER song. When did you wrote this one?

Can't fool you Ralph. In 1997 Jack Ponti and I wrote 10 songs with Alice Cooper. I had started to write "I LIKE IT" back then, and I played it for Jack. He really liked it and said it really was a good song for us to do. I finished it up and I recorded it in 2001. I'm glad I kept it. But I think it would be great for Alice, too!

When I saw the track LET'S GET THE PARTY STARTED on the booklet, I thought first you cover PINK, but what I did hear was a pure rock’n roll song, that is different to the rest of the album. Looks like you need a lot of variation on an album!?

Yeah, LET GET THE PARTY STARTED is just a bar room brawl song. Thats SINOPOLI'S opener for the live set, it sets the tone of the group.

After the album is published now, what about a tour?

With your voice you belong to the "old school", such as Paul Stanley, or David Lee Roth. Who are your favorite singer - your "idols"?

Paul Stanley has been musically my biggest influence since I was 14 years old. I'm always flattered when people make comparisons between us. David Lee Roth's great too. Van Halen 1 is one of my all time favorites. I just recorded a remake for my next SINOPOLI album of "I WAS MADE FOR LOVING YOU" by KISS . It's a much heavier version, not disco beat. It's cool!

Hardrock is having a little comeback in Europe at the moment. What does the situation look like in the USA?

Classic Rock is still VERY BIG here in the USA. Every classic band can still pack them in at the stadiums, or art centers. There are a lot of classic rock radio stations, all over the country. Most of the bands don't even have record deals, they put out CDs themselves and sell them online. They are makin a killing. There is a ton of people into classic rock here. If MTV played this type of music it would be gigantic. MTV dictates what's big in this county. Who ever and what ever they play is the flavor of the week. Bon Jovi and Aerosmith always gets air play on MTV and that helps them stay on top. There will always be a huge rock and roll presence here in America.

By the way, what happened to ANGRY TEARS actually? Is the band still active? (With or without you)?

Angry Tears has built a really cool cult following. We're really proud of the band. Me, Jack Ponti and my brother Nicky love to play together. I would jump at the opportunity to do another ANGRY TEARS record. Doing that album was a blast. Right now , Jack Me and Nicky are doing a Remake of Alice Coopers, "I'm Eighteen" for the upcoming SINOPOLI album. We were in the studio working on it last night. I love to get together with those guy's . They are the BEST. They are true rockers. Together ANGRY TEARS creates a very unique sounding band. A sound none of us can duplicate seperatley. So is ANGRY TEARS still together ??? Always, God willing!

Ok.. so we reach the end of this interview. Something you like to tell our readers?

I just want to thank you Ralph for all your hospitality. I want to wish you and your readers a safe and Happy New Year. You have a fantastic site, and if ever you need me you know where I'm at ANGRYTRS@AOL.COM... Thank you and peace to everyone...
All the best, Joey Sinopoli