Q&A: Pinche Gringo

Greensboro native Josh Johnson – better known to some as Pinche Gringo – makes a rambunctious, ramshackling mix of distorted garage rock and blues. He’ll play The Cave in Chapel Hill this Sunday. Here, he gives Diversions staff writer Anna Norris some of his off-the-wall thoughts on SXSW, the local music scene and the ultimate dream show.

Diversions: You play SXSW this week. What are you looking forward to the most?

Josh Johnson: I can’t wait to see all the bands with animals in their name. I generally like them. I heard Pamela Des Barres is gonna be signing books too. I wanna see her. I promised my friend Roth I would get her book “I’m with the Band” signed for her.

Dive: If you could add any musician, dead or alive, as a permanent addition to your one-man band routine, who would it be and why?

JJ: I would say Phil Collins. Two singing drummers? How sick is that? And sexy, no doubt.

Dive: Coming from Greensboro, but clocking in a lot of time playing Chapel Hill, how supportive of local music have you found the two music scenes?

JJ: Chapel hill and G-town are tops. People love my sick jams, and I love them.

Dive: When writing new music, where is the first place you go, physically and intellectually, for inspiration?

JJ: I like to do some hot yoga for about an hour, use the bathroom and then I sit and write my songs. It is very relaxing.

Dive: What are the top three albums you have playing on your iTunes/record player/car stereo/Walkman?

JJ: The Grateful Dead – American Beauty; Madonna – The Immaculate Collection and Rush – 2112. All of these are in cassette form.

Dive: You’re organizing your ultimate show, and money is not an obstacle. Where would you play, who would open for you, and what would you sell at your merch table?

JJ: I would play a benefit concert in an inactive volcano in Hawaii. I would have supporting bands. The bill would be (in this order): No Bunny, myself, Neil Young and The Stones. We would sell tacos and vests at the merch table.