The Scintas: Here are the bald-faced facts. They are exceptional. They are exceptional singers. They are exceptional performers. Their act is an exciting combination of talent, magnetism and showmanship. They have been a fixture in Las Vegas for years because they reach out and excite their audiences with their exceptionalism. They bring to memory the golden days of Vegas when show-goers dressed to the hilt and were entertained by performers who knew how to reach out and touch the heart and soul of their audience. And yet, they’re not really a throwback. Their show is hip and modern and timely, but they do have that special something that makes you totally enjoy and love and remember their performance. They have a stage presence that most performers do not possess. They belt out the kind of performance that’ll give you goose bumps; one that is truly rare.

Catching their recent show simply emphasized all the above accolades I mention. I not only was able to enjoy Joey, Frankie, Chrissi and Pete, but also all their impersonations. Joey’s comedic portrayals of Joe Cocker, Jerry Lewis, Mick Jagger and Neil Diamond have you laughing like crazy. Frankie starts off with Johnny Cash and moves to Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tom Jones and Ray Charles. Chrissi sings a Patsy Cline and Barbra Streisand song. They work flawlessly together, and with Pete O’Donnell, their drummer, who also throws in some comical bits here and there. But the Scintas are not just imitators. They have great voices and could carry the show without doing any impressions at all. I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to sit face to face with them and interview them about their lives as an Italian family loaded with passion, love and talent.

SLV: Did you take music lessons?
JOEY: No, none of us did.
FRANKIE: Just rudimentary guitar when I was a little kid and everything else is by ear.
JOEY: There’s also something to be said about the horn players that can get a chart and play it too. It’s like a balance thing. I could listen to a song three or four times and still make a couple mistakes, but I’ll learn a song listening to it three or four times.
FRANKIE: We feel where the changes are coming. When you know music that well…you just are able to feel it…sense it.
SLV: How can you play all these instruments without lessons of any kind?
FRANKIE: My grandfather, who has passed, had twenty-seven grandchildren. He left his two guitars to Joe and me. Even as a young boy, I found the chords. I had some rudimentary guitar lessons to learn where the fingers go, but then it all just came to me. Still to this day, even when I’m sitting at the piano or with the guitar, I can hear a song and it just comes to me. I can hear where the changes are going. I can hear a song once and play it, and that’s no attribute to me. It’s got to be from God. I’ve got to believe it’s from up above, because there are so many people who are more talented than myself, but when I play from my heart, it never goes away. Once it’s in there, it’s like a computer’s hard drive, it’s retained and it stays there. I make mistakes, but that’s what part of being a live musician is all about.
SLV: But beyond the guitar and piano, you play banjo, mandolin, spoons, drums, and a little trumpet.
FRANKIE: It always just came to me. The guitar, mandolin and banjo are all tuned differently, but yet it all came to me. I would sit with my grandfather, he’d play some little old mazurkas, they’re waltzes, and when I would play those, I just knew where the notes went; I knew how it felt. It’s a blessing from God. Still to this day, I don’t know how I know, I just know. I thank God for it every day; that I can just sit at a piano, hear a song and go: ‘Okay…this is how it goes.’
SLV: So you, Joey, being the oldest…was this your idea?
JOEY: Not really. I was on my way to Florida to sell burglary alarm systems. There was a little tavern and he hooked Frankie up to play piano. I was all packed and Frankie called and said to the guy on the phone: “I have a piano bar gig and my brother’s going to work with me.” We went and played a couple tunes and then he offered us $200 a week apiece. We’re high fivin’ and I unpacked all my stuff. We started there and then moved onto the Playboy Club and we started the Playboy Club circuit. Our drummer quit, so we asked Pete to fill in for a week, and a week turned into twenty-three years.
SLV: Was it always like this with the comedy?
JOEY: Oh, yes. If someone wasn’t watching us, we’d stop everything. At first when we came to Vegas it was a very structured show and we almost got bored with it. Now we’re loosening up a bit and doing…
FRANKIE: What we were built to do.
JOEY: What the audience wants to hear.
FRANKIE: This is what people are starving for; to be entertained, to laugh, and to feel. You get the whole gamut, a rollercoaster of emotions. You’ve got a 90 year-old person up front and next to them is a 16 year-old kid that’s looking at you that later says: “Wow, I can’t believe how good you guys are!”
CHRISSI: You have to appeal to a younger crowd and show them what entertainment really is.
JOEY: All I know is that when we sit in with a band and do a Neil Diamond song, everybody knows every word.
CHRISSI: It’s universal. As soon as Frankie starts the ‘da-da-da-da’, you almost can hear the entire room sigh. It’s a feeling.
PETE: No matter what age, once they see it, they go: “This is fantastic.” We can feel when we’ve grabbed the audience and have them in our pocket, and then we can take them for a really nice ride. And they come back time and time again.
SLV: My grandson said you came in to school to sing for them and their teacher, Ms. Scinta.
FRANKIE: My daughter Danielle is a teacher and they call her Ms. Scinta, and I’m “Frankie.” I have to refer to her as Ms. Scinta in class. It’s so funny. She asked if I’d come in and entertain the kids. I asked this little boy: ‘What song do you want to hear?’ and he goes “Ummm.” I said: ‘Ummm, I love that song.’ I went right into a bluesy thing and started singing Ummm Ummm. The whole class started singing it and they loved it so much they wanted me to do it again. I guess I’ll always be called in by my daughter, and I’ll always do it.
SLV: I heard all about it. He came home and asked his Dad if he could play the Ummm song.
FRANKIE: That’s so funny. That makes me feel so good. I used to take my guitar to school as a kid and wanted to play songs. It still touches me how music touches people whether they’re infants, in kindergarten or ninety years old. Music brings out so much in people.
SLV: Chrissi, were you singing before the brothers got you involved?
CHRISSI: I used to watch Al Jolson movies with Frankie. One day, out of the blue, he said: “Chrissi, come here and try this.” It was Eddie Cantor’s Ma, He’s Making Eyes At Me. That was one of my first songs. April Showers came next and Rock-A-Bye Your Baby. We did little variety shows, talent shows and even nursing homes.
JOEY: She was five years old, so Mom and Dad had to come to the venue so she could sing, because she wasn’t allowed in there because the age was eighteen then.
SLV: What type of songs do you like to sing now?
CHRISSI: I like to sing songs that move me. I like to feel emotion.
SLV: During your show you said you’d give anything to sit down and have dinner with your Dad. What would you say to him if he were alive today?
FRANKIE: I think I’ve said everything to my father. I would love if I could have him here again. I’d always ask him for direction. ‘What do I do now, Dad?’ Even if we were on top of the charts, or had a TV show, I’d say: ‘Dad, what do I do tomorrow?’ He always knew what the next step was. My father never ran, he always walked, and he was very quiet and calm. My father always gave the best advice.
SLV: I asked your mom which son was the most like your father. She said the oldest son, Tony.
FRANKIE: Yes, Tony and his calm ways. I’m a little like Joe Pesci at times. Tony was a police officer/detective and even his peers could not believe how much he got done with his slow steps, just like my father. Tony never rushed into things, but always thought things out. Where I’m like my father is that if something is broken and they give it to me to fix, I will fix it. I was always at his side while he was fixing things.
SLV: Tell me about your Italian heritage and how you learned the power of the family.
FRANKIE: Even as kids, the most important part of family, we watched. It was never pushed on us or said this is the way it is. The family always got together on Sundays or one day a week. Mostly every day I’d see my mom on the phone and she’d say: “Yeah I’ll put the coffee on.” That’s where everything gathered. Just like cowboys did when they traveled across this nation, they would gather around the fire. My family gathered around the table. Then my father would empty the refrigerator out onto the table, with the finest cold cuts. He wasn’t a wealthy man by any stretch of the imagination, but when you came to my house you never left hungry. My father would get more pleasure out of watching people eat his creations than eating himself. I find myself doing that now. When I’m at home, I’ll call up my brothers and my sister and say: ‘What are you guys doing tonight? Come on over.’ This time of year I receive twenty-five pounds of chestnuts from a friend in New York, straight from Italy. Everybody gathers around and we cook chestnuts, we make chicken wings, we eat and we talk. Some of the most bonding in your life is right there with your family. When push comes to shove and the world crumbles around you, your family is the greatest gift that God has given you. There’s nothing greater. I know that not everybody has that bond with their family. It’s so important and if they don’t have that bond, there’s something missing in their life. Even though we don’t always get along, and we don’t, because sometimes we’re hot-headed Italians, but we’re very fortunate to have the bond we have with our family. I’ll never have to worry. Even if I went broke, I know I won’t be out on the street because I’ve got family that’ll be there for me. And I’ll be there for them, always.
SLV: What advice would you give families to strengthen their bond with their children?
FRANKIE: Be their friend, but be their parent first. As much as a child thinks they know, they need guidance. Make sure you have dinner together as many times as you can a week. Even if you’re both working, have that moment where you sit at the table and the kids aren’t listening to their iPod or playing with their Gameboy. Sit there and force a conversation, open up dialogue. One thing I’ve always told my kids is always tell me the truth and I’ll always be on your side. No matter what you’ve done, I’ll go to hell for you, but don’t lie to me. If you tell me the truth, I’ll always be there and stand by your side, but if you lie to me, you’ll break my heart. I want my kids to know they can tell me anything. Parents need to let their kids know: ‘I’m there for you no matter what.’
SLV: The entertainment business is a tough business and can lead people astray, Frankie. Do you want to address your cocaine addiction back in 1988?
FRANKIE: Back in the ‘80’s, when it was cool to hang out with NFL football players and all the rest: judges, doctors, lawyers, policemen, and bums off the street that were doing cocaine... It was the party drug of choice. I knew it was changing my life, but the drug user is the last one to see they have a problem and I wouldn’t admit to it. ‘No, no, I don’t have a problem.’ I just do it everyday ‘because I want to, I don’t have to.’ It got to a point where I would sleep all day and be up late at night. It ended the day I threw my three year-old son on the ground for trying to wake me up. That day I quit cold turkey. Within a month, I sat at the piano and started writing a song and the song was released almost two years later. It was called Drug Free America. It was released by a local TV station in Buffalo, New York, and from there we were invited to the White House with Ronald Reagan. So in 1988, there I was, performing for the President of the United States. I have a picture of me hugging Ronald Reagan. It was one of the most incredible moments of my life. I’ve met a lot of stars and I’m usually not impressed by most, but meeting him was a truly unbelievable experience. That man had a way of talking to people similar to my father. He took those steps very carefully.
SLV: What are your goals for the future?
CHRISSI: I believe as a unit, the way we’ve been together for all these years, it’s our goal to hit the nation with this kind of entertainment and bring it back to Vegas tenfold, because it is a lost art here in Vegas.
FRANKIE: It’s a lost art in the world.
JOEY: You see Cirque du Soleil has billions of dollars to invest. The Scintas don’t have billions of dollars, but we have a ton of talent.
FRANKIE: We’re hundred-aires.
JOEY: We’re looking for something to bring back, like the Carol Burnett comedy show or the Donnie and Marie comedy hour.
FRANKIE: Our goal is to have a show where every week we would have a different star. One week it would be a Garth Brooks, the next it might be Rascal Flatts. They do their thing and then they get involved in a piece of comedy with the Scintas. Chrissi does a duet with some of them. It’s all like it used to be. It’s just around the corner from happening, but they don’t want to admit it yet, because they’re stuck on reality TV.
SLV: I’ve read that Chrissi is the heart of the Scintas. If she’s the heart, what are Joey, Pete and you, Frankie?
FRANKIE: I always say that Joey likes the business, Chrissi loves the business, but I live for the business, and that’s the way it is. Joe’s personality onstage is Joe. He wants to do his thing. Joe is the business part. Pete is the backbone of the music. When Peter lays it down, it’s like standing on a rock. A lot of drummers aren’t like that. Pete is the rock and when he lays the beat down, it’s there. I would be the soul of the Scintas, because that’s me. I perform every night like it’s my first and last. That’s how I perform all the time. If I die after a performance, I know I’ve given everything I had; whether I was sick or had a sore throat, no matter what. I’m the guy that takes the show in and takes it out. I like to have that moment to tell people at the end of the show about faith and family. I’ve been told that I don’t need to tell people that, and I’ve been told: “Why do you have to talk about family?” Because I have to, that’s me!

FRANKIE took his Grandfather’s guitar and soon was skillfully playing classic old country Italian songs. As a young boy he went to see The Godfather movie and then returned home and sat down at the piano and played the song from memory. No lessons, no music charts, he just knew how to play. He says: ‘It locked into my ears and when I hear something, it just stays there—like it goes into the hard drive of a computer and stays there.’ He says the most successful nights on stage are when he grabs the people’s hearts in his hand. Offstage he spends time with his family and eats with them everyday.

CHRISSI is the baby of the Scinta family. Singing along with Al Jolson songs at the young age of three, Chrissi has never done anything else but sing. She appeared along with Frankie to wow audiences starting at age five and grew to love the stage. She said that as long as she can sing a note, she’ll be singing and hopefully onstage. She claims that song lyrics are very important to her and especially ones that move her. Asked about Mama Scinta, she replies that she’s Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophie, all rolled into one. Chrissi loves having quiet times at home with friends, and of course, shopping.

JOEY is the eldest in the group and along with Frankie, received two guitars left to him by his Grandfather. Although he picked up music easily at that young age by listening to his uncles play Bluegrass, he started on a path to become a teacher and got three years under his belt. Realizing that his music friends were making more money than teachers, and also getting more chicks, he decided to reenter the music scene. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, he says he’d rather hear people laugh than applaud. Obviously, that’s why he’s so funny onstage. In his off hours, he likes to work around his house and cook.

PETE was a young boy when his father found a drum at the junkyard. When he brought it home, he told Peter not to touch it. Like any curious little boy, Pete went straight for the snare drum and learned how to play it. His first paid gig at age eleven was to walk down the street as part of a fife and drum display. He earned fifty dollars for that early gig. Peter’s parents died when he was seventeen, but his surrogate parents Joe and Mary Scinta brought him into their family and he became the “adopted Scinta”. His favorite things to do offstage are golf, sports and art. SLV

Issue 43 featuring: Tera Patrick, Mia Lina and "STRIPPED, a Confessional"