It's all smiles with music industry pioneers Matt Pinfield and Allison Hagendorf as they chat with Lily about all things music and mental health. Matt, legendary MTV VJ, and Allison, Spotify's Head of Rock, have been best friends for years; they dive into Matt's battle with drug addiction, him hitting bottom, and how Allison supported him as he began his recovery journey. The trio have a candid conversation about the state of mental health and recovery within the music industry, Matt's longtime relationship with Lily's parents, and Allison's expertise in physical fitness.
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Originally aired NOVEMBER 16, 2020
Matt Pinfield grew up loving all things radio which led to visits to the local AM station WCTC in New Brunswick at the age of ten, where he would sit in with the patient and supportive night jock, giving him the chance to learn everything he could about being a DJ and being on the radio. When Matt turned sixteen, he had his first chance to do a real live radio show on the Rutgers University radio station WRSU, where he would later become promotions director and music director. He also did summer shows on Princeton University’s WPRB in the early ’80s. Now with real on-air experience, Matt looked to the next level, which was getting a job at a commercial radio station.
Matt got that chance in 1984, as a weekend/overnights/fill-in jock at WHTG- FM in Asbury Park NJ in 1984. He embraced the opportunity he had been given, and soon enough he secured a regular midday slot, quickly followed by the coveted afternoon drive. Matt’s reputation as the most knowledgeable and respected music personality at the station led to a dramatic increase in listenership and helped put WHTG on the national map as one of the first alternative music stations anywhere, leading to the worldwide alternative music revolution to come in the early 90s.
His next promotion took him to the position of Music Director at WHTG. During his tenure, his talent and personality were recognized by his peers and he was awarded the Gavin Award for Commercial Alternative Music Director of the Year back to back in ’92 and ’93, the first time anyone who was not in a major market had won the award. In early 1994, he was promoted to Program Director at WHTG.
With his talent, personality and unmatched enthusiasm for music now making waves on a national level, he was approached by MTV, and they quickly recognized Matt was the right person to join their global brand. In ‘93, Matt did his first on-air MTV hosting on the show “120 Minutes” as a fill- in. Although he didn’t get hired as the permanent host at that time, it was clear that this would be inevitable when a permanent slot opened up. No one knew the alternative music scene more thoroughly, or was respected more by the artists.
In January of ’95, Matt was named Manager of Music Programming for MTV, and was one of the committee of 10 who picked and programmed the videos and created specials for the channel in one of their most influential periods. Just months later, Matt was asked to start hosting “120 Minutes”, the cutting edge alternative music program on MTV.
Due to his vast musical knowledge and relatable delivery, MTV research soon showed he was MTV’s most loved and respected VJ. This quickly led to a dramatic expansion of his on-air responsibilities to include over the next 5 years over 15 regular shows, over 100 specials, and used his style as the template for the original MTV2 (M2), where he became that channel’s first VJ.In the spring of ’96. Howard Stern suggested that WXRK in New York City flip format from Classic to Modern Rock and asked them to hire Matt.
Although they wanted him to do afternoon drive, because of his growing MTV schedule, he ended up doing a 4-hour free form New Music/Classic show called “The Buzz” which ran until the station changed format in the mid-2000s. Pinfield continued to do the show when he left MTV to move to LA in 2000 to broadcast from K-ROCK LA’s studios. Matt’s move to LA was to host and write the USA network TV show “Farmclub.com” which was on TV from 2000-2001 where A-list artists played live alongside unknowns who uploaded their music to the show’s website. Interscope CEO and show creator Jimmy Iovine said, “it was a great show and idea…think Myspace and Facebook but way ahead of its time, when no one had broadband.”
When the show finished, Matt moved back to NYC and was named Vice President of A&R and Artist Development for Rock at Columbia Records where he signed and oversaw the making of many gold and platinum records
between 2001-2006.
Matt continued hosting “The Buzz” on WXRK, New York, and was then hired to do the first weekly music interview show in HD by Marc Cuban for HDNET. “Sound Off With Matt Pinfield” lasted 4 seasons and featured interviews with artists from every music genre-Rock, Pop, Country, Hip-Hop, Jazz, and
R&B.
In May of 2008, Matt started doing morning drive for WRXP in NYC, a new station that fused modern and classic rock and remained with the station until it changed ownership and format in June 2011. In July 2011, MTV brought back Matt’s signature show and changed the name to “MTV2’s 120 Minutes With Matt Pinfield”. The show’s return met with praise from over 250 publications and websites including The NY Times, The LA Times, Entertainment Weekly and Hollywood Reporter. The show aired weekly on Fridays.
Matt has continued to host radio shows and specials for SiriusXM since 2003 on the Lithium, First Wave, Left Of Center (now SiriusXMU), and Volume channels. In 2014,
he was elected to the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy and Grammys where he worked to help pass legislation on artists’ songwriting and performance fair royalties compensation. He remained on the board until he moved to San Francisco to do the morning show on legendary rock station KFOG during 2016-17.
Matt is the host of the classic rock history syndicated weekend radio show “Flashback” for Cumulus Radio Networks which airs on over 200 stations in the U.S. and Canada including KLOS in Los Angeles and KSAN in San Francisco. He also produces “The Hivecast with Matt Pinfield” which is a free podcast through iTunes and MTVHIVE.COM. Matt started a live streaming show to benefit MusiCares for the COVID-19 pandemic, called “In A Lonely Place with Matt Pinfield” featuring conversations with artists as diverse as Foster The People and Yungblud.
Allison Hagendorf is the Global Head of Rock at Spotify, host of the brand new show on Spotify called Rock This, with Allison Hagendorf as well as a national television host/live announcer and music journalist. She is the official host of the world’s most famous New Year’s Eve celebration, Times Square New Year’s Eve, seen by more than a billion television viewers across the globe. Allison also serves as the Live Announcer for both the MTV Video Music Awards and MTV Movie Awards, and is the host of Refinery29’s “Be A Badass” series, The CrossFit Games Live Show, and The X Games Live on ABC and ESPN.
Allison began her entertainment career in A&R at Sony Music’s Columbia Records and Epic Records. She recruited new talent globally, and oversaw the album production for many artists including metal band, Lamb of God, whose single “Redneck” received a Grammy nomination for “Best Metal Performance.”
Hagendorf then transitioned from working with bands in the studio to interviewing them on-camera. She hosted the live primetime music competition show on The CW Network, “The Next,” which was executive produced by hip-hop icon Queen Latifah, and featured superstar mentors: Gloria Estefan, Joe Jonas, Nelly, and John Rich. Allison also became the main host on Fuse, hosting numerous shows including “Top 20 Countdown” and “Grammys Live,” and traveled with Fuse across the country covering national music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Warped Tour, SXSW Music Festival, and Lollapalooza.
She also hosted the first-ever live television broadcast of both The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and The Stagecoach Festival for AXS TV and co-hosted “Music Fridays” with supermodel, Chrissy Teigen, on MSG Network. Additionally, Allison has hosted a variety of shows on both VH1 and The Cooking Channel.
Allison is also a health/wellness coach who has inspired thousands in her dual role as rock n roll expert and health advocate. She ascribes to positivity, knowing yourself, exercise, self-care, and emotional intelligence.
She is the mother to son, Cole Hendrix, just six months old and married to health advocate, Brian Jaffe. They make their home in Los Angeles.
