I thought Jimmy did drums for DIA?distantmantra said:A100 was without a doubt the best thing on TFE. It even translated well live without Jimmy.
I thought Jimmy did drums for DIA?distantmantra said:A100 was without a doubt the best thing on TFE. It even translated well live without Jimmy.
Diablos said:I thought Jimmy did drums for DIA?
Diablos said:Have you heard Tilt and Bit 5? Good songs.
The rumor has been going around for quite some time: The Smashing Pumpkins could be coming back on stage with a brand new record. Jimmy Chamberlin confirms this, and much more.
Jimmy Chamberlin is probably one of best and most inspiring drummers of his time. As being comfortable in not only the universe of both Smashing Pumpkins and Zwan, but also the jazz/fusion and prog rock world of his very own band, Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, he may be the only drummer capabile of joining the strength of John Bonham and grace of Gene Krupa. Coming to California, our team decided to contact Jimmy. He agreed to meet us, under the condition that he does not reveal anything promotional pertaining to the band. Although, he did reveal the essential: The spirit is great in the band of Billy Corgan, and the record is in the works. Let's rock!
Q: We know that you don't want to talk about The Smashing Pumpkins. But can you at least tell us how far you are into everything?
A: We began last year in a discreet manor. We got back on track very well, and have had a lot of fun writing new songs and simply playing together. It's cool.
Q: Have you written a lot of songs?
A: We already have something like fifty songs written. We're very creative and will give some official news soon.
Q: Just one last thing (about the Pumpkins): Are D'Arcy and James Iha in the band?
A: To be honest, I don't want to talk about this subject. We have the songs, and we're preparing a new record. Please, let's leave it as this and talk about something else. (Note: Jimmy is a bit annoyed).
Q: Okay. Sorry to bug you about that. (Next question): Besides your bands, do you do a lot of sessions?
A: No, I only do a few, and only for my friends. Going into the studio is a lot of pressure for me, so I'm not like that. Also, I'm a sensitive guy, and the idea of selling my drumming to everyone is unbearable to me. I have friends, like Josh Freese, who do that job perfectly. That's their thing. But on the other hand, I do like to participate in learning events. I find them enjoyable.
Q: ...for what reasons?
A: To me, the clinics represent a rare opportunity for me to explain to people who I am, where I'm from artistically, and why I play the way I do. For my fans, it's the only way they can approach me personally and learn from what I have to share for inspiration. It's impossible to do something like that during a big rock concert.
Q: You know a lot about technique. That must be interesting.
A: I don't talk about technique. I must be the only one in clinics to talk about songwriting, and the role of the drums in songwriting. I also demonstrate my interpretation of funky rhythms. But I insist on writing music, even lyrics.
Q: You mean the lyrics of a song make you play in a different way?
A: Of course. I understood this while playing with The Smashing Pumpkins. The lyrics play a very important part in the mood of the band. I've realized while listening to the radio that a lot of drummers are completely off track. The singer tells a sweet and touching story, and the drummer is making noise over it. Here, I tell myself "this guy has a problem. He must be either deaf or disturbed." (Laughter). I believe that too many drummers play for themselves, and that's bad. I often use "Disarm" from the Pumpkins as an example. When I listened to Billy Corgan sing that song, I was touched by its simplicity. I told him, "you know, I don't hear drums on this song. I will put a bit of a mood with the timbales and cymbals on some parts, and nothing more." To me, that much was obvious. The part that I played on "Tonight, Tonight" is also very special for a rock tune. It's once again the lyrics that inspired me. I write lyrics for my own band as well.
Q: Are you satisfied with the success that you received for your first record with Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, "Life Begins Again"?
A: I'm very satisfied. For a record with a progressive mood, it has received some success. A few big radio stations have played some songs. I didn't expect that. The sales were good, and the record label is asking me to record another one, so they liked the music and they also must have made some money.
Q: "Loki Cat" (with Billy Corgan on vocals) is beautiful.
A: That makes me happy, because this song means a lot to me. I'm proud that Billy came to participate, after all we've been through together. There was no money to make, no commerical moves -- he just naturally decided to contribute. A great musician and friend.
Q: So, this next Complex record... when do you plan on recording it?
A: I need to wait to have the inspiration to do it. I think, if everything goes as planned, it might be released at the beginning of next year. It's not easy to write for this band. There's a balance between the feeling of Jazz Rock, Progressive, and Rock, and it's very easy to break that and be off track. When we were recording for the first time, the songs were written and recorded very fast. I think that may have helped us.
Q: Do you have a lot of drummers among your friends?
A: You know, we all know each other. In the USA, the drummers' community is so small. Terry Bozzio, Peter Erskine, Gregg Bisonette, Thomas Lang, Steve Smith, Mike Portnoy, Dave Grohl, Josh Freese, Taylor Hawkins. They're all my friends, and we like to see each other and spend good times together.
Q: By the way, Steve Hewitt asked me to salute you.
A: If you catch him, tell him I can't wait to see him again, and that I love Placebo's music. I'm proud that he likes what I do, and that he says good things about me, because he's a good drummer.
Q: In your opinion, why is there so much love among drummers?
A: You have to believe that ego is not proportional to the size of the instrument, if you know what I mean. (Laughter). It's hard to tell. Being a drummer is a hard job. Often it can be ungrateful, when you think about the cost of the gear when you start. And, mainly because of the responsibilities you're facing. We must help each other to survive, I think that's why.
Q: When will you come back to France?
A: With The Smashing Pumpkins, I'll be back during the year, that's for sure. But I'd like to do some clinics in France and spend some time there, just like I did in Britian. I like France a lot.
Q: Really? Aren't you trying to be demagogic on this one?
A: Absolutely not. I was on vacation in France in 1997 I think, and I liked everything. The food, the people, and the culture. I can't wait to come back.
Extra info:
The secret of his sound (by Jimmy Chamberlin):
I'm a big fan of ambient mics and rooms. They are, to me, very important, because they are responsible for providing the natural sound of the drums. They are a little bit like the ears of the audience that would be 10 meters away from me when I'm playing. The proximity mics in front of each element and the panoramics don't tell the truth. They mislead the sound and how we feel the drums. I know that when Led Zeppelin would record, there would be no proximity mics, except for just on the snare and kick. The room did all the work. In general, during the mix, I ask the engineer to under-mix the direct takes, and to push the ambience. That's how I head rock.
Heh, it kind of is.AlphaSnake said:Hahaha, I like the fact that Josh, Dave, and Taylor are all good friends with Jimmy. Four of the most talented, hardest hitting drummers in rock all get together for rounds of beers. It's almost picture-esque. =)
Sorry about that. YSI has an upload cap now, so I'm trying to find somewhere else.FrenchMovieTheme said:just so you didn't forget diablos old chum
Diablos said:Machina Acoustic Demos.
FrenchMovieTheme said:it was me who wanted it dismantra since i found vanity "acoustic" and had never heard the stuff before
p.s. my gf says she knows who you are, that she used to talk pumpkins with you
terrene said:She probably knows me too, dude. Me and distantmantra are some oldschool motherfuckers. (I posted on Usenet under my real name for many years).
Haha, what?distantmantra said:I try to be good, and then you guys (Diablos, FMT, etc) drag me back into this shit... oh well.
Diablos said:Haha, what?
Am I ruining your indie cred or something? :lol You worry about that stuff too much! I like what I like. I'll make a playlist with SP and some indie band right after 'em, I don't care.
I don't think we look that bad compared to the fanbase of another particular band on here, no worries!distantmantra said:Oh, I don't care about indie cred. It's just that I turn into a BUMBLING FANBOY IDIOT when I start reliving the good ol' days of the Pumplins.
Diablos said:I don't think we look that bad compared to the fanbase of another particular band on here, no worries!
Diablos said:Tool.
Who threatened you, though? :lol
Hahaha.distantmantra said:I don't remember. It was in a Radiohead thread. I decided to have my own opinion and was judged to be an idiot because of it.
:lol That was in the back of my mind but I didn't want to say it! It's not fodder, it's what you enjoy!distantmantra said:Also, it's just more fodder for White Man to use against me in real life.
i am slowly closing in on a finish line with a few songs. should
be done in a couple of weeks. i will absolutely keep you abreast of
anything i do. ive been distracted by a real job. i noticed they were
in your list of bands at your myspace site. it looks like i will be
working with the smashing pumpkins.
Wikipedia said:Eric Avery (born on April 25, 1965 in Los Angeles California - the son of actor Bryan Avery) is a bass player, most notably for the seminal alternative band Jane's Addiction. Many fans of the now defunct band considered Avery's hypnotic bass lines to be the core of the band's unusual sound.
Avery has kept a fairly low profile since the demise of Jane's Addiction, participating in the Deconstruction project with Dave Navarro immediately after the Jane's breakup, but declining all inviations for Jane's reunions. He has also recorded tracks for, toured with and briefly dated Alanis Morissette, as well as creating another side project, Polar Bear. Avery has recently agreed to tour with the band Garbage.
According to an entry made on May 30, 2006 at a Polar Bear fan website, Avery may be the new bassist or session musician for The Smashing Pumpkins.
Diablos said:As FLAC it was ~175MB and both YSI and megaupload have a cap now.
FLAC really isn't a big deal here, it's just acoustic demos, nothing too complex to compress. So here they are as mp3's.
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=FF3DA6BB70DAFB7F
Encoded with LAME 3.96.1, preset standard. Bitrates look pretty low overall because the tracks don't really have any complex frames or anything.
Not right now, but that's because the band's been inactive for so long. They're the Nintendo fans of the music world.Teknopathetic said:The SP fans aren't so bad in comparison to Oasis, Radiohead and Tool fans at all.
puck1337 said:Not right now, but that's because the band's been inactive for so long. They're the Nintendo fans of the music world.
puck1337 said:Not right now, but that's because the band's been inactive for so long. They're the Nintendo fans of the music world.
And yes, I'm in both of those camps.
distantmantra said:We're (SP fans) a strange bunch, seeing how the band attracts both music geeks and extremely depressed teenagers.
Diablos said:Yeah yeah yeah.
Eric Avery, dudes!
ERIC AVERY!
Then post it duders! I made this thread for a reason, I really don't wanna be a one man showI read about Avery somewhere online yesterday, cool stuff if it's true, but the lack of a female bassist will be weird.
James Iha! We can still hope!Dead said:Any news on a guitarist?
hahaha wtf did you do to get escorted away? :lolFrenchMovieTheme said:yeah jimmy is a good guy. when we chased billy/yelena/zwan on the freeway to the chateau mormon or whatever the **** it's called jimmy was the only one who was really cool with us when we got there. billy had us escorted away
i would buy every SP boxset! man too bad darcy isn't coming back. everything would be right with the world. i'm sure anyone who takes her place is more talented, but there is just something about having her there that would be cool
hahaha wtf did you do to get escorted away?
:lol awesomeFrenchMovieTheme said:after a zwan show we followed billy/yelena/jimmy/david pajo to wherever they were going (we already knew they were staying at the chateau on sunset). anyways that ****ing whore yelena tried to lose us but we kept up fine. then when we got there jimmy and pajo said thanks for coming out to the show and signed autographs shook hands etc. billy and yelena had security escort us off the grounds :lol
Yeah something isn't right with her. Have you seen her in interviews, especially around the Adore era... my god... she's bonkers :lolanyways, darcy was always somewhat of a firecracker. she seemed kind of coo coo. oh well, i hope she is enjoying her horse riding lessons or whatever she's doing now
I don't think she cares. Darcy's ego was just as big if not bigger than Corgan's. She was the only person in the band who could tell Corgan when he was full of shit without there being any problem. She also had a lot of influence on what songs were good for an album and what songs were not... she really pushed for 1979 and Zero to be on MCIS IIRC, among other songs.FrenchMovieTheme said:yeah i've seen the interviews and have a lot of various MP3's of her stage banter. she is pretty out there...
not really sure what she possibly contributed to the pumpkins music-wise. to my knowledge she never wrote a song that went on an official record. i don't know why someone WOULDN'T want to be in a world famous band again. i understand she needed a break, but it's been over 6 years. you'd think she would want to be somebody again. but maybe she just doesn't give a shit anymore
p.s. diablos i listened to those machina outtakes for the first time. laugh is a great song
was he channeling his Marked days with the songwriting for that one
:lolFrenchMovieTheme said:it's... murrrrderrrrr! AWWWKKKK!!!!!!!!
holy shit murdermix was terrible
Ron just sent me a huge email with tons of information about early pumpkins material i have never heard of, and tapes he has, and stories about billy, and much more juicy stuff. I SHIT YOU NOT.
I am not trying to be a tease here...but I want to clarify a few things and discuss an "information spreading" strategy Ron agrees to before posting things wildly, especially on netphoria, since he wants to avoid a negative backlash. He just went through this with wikipedia, where he had to argue to get the truth posted because some people thought he was lying. I wan to respect his wishes and keep the relationship on a positive level.
There is some real good stuff here, just to give you a taste...here's some snippets:
"I really want to make sure the Pumpkin fans know the real story. Some of the actual truth is not pretty as my life was pretty screwed up ( Not drug problems though ) and even some of the actual truth makes Billy out to be a liar from early statements in his career, but it is not his fault he was simply covering at the time."
"I am sure had Billy and Darcy never put my birthmark in the video for Siva we would still be very close friends to this day. "
"I assure you there were loads of other songs that were great that you guys have never heard. I had loads of tapes that Billy gave me that he was working on."
"More to come."
So far he's given me full lyrics to Pelican and Christina, as well as partial lyrics to Drowing in Flowers and 2 songs we do not have listed on spfc.org songlist.
songs he has mentioned, or given partial lyrics to, that are NOT currently listed on SPFC:
Greta Garbo
No No Go
Drowning in the Flowers (alternate)
Ruby Tuesday (Rolling Stones cover)
Three songs he doesn't remember the title to that I have partial lyrics for (have to check them against the list of course)
Nine more that aren't on the list but he hasn't given me any specifics about. The number 9 comes from the fact that Greta Garbo was 1 song on a 10 track tape.
"I dont remember all the exact titles but one song was called Greta Garbo and that song was brilliant. Very dark, very haunting. This tape had about 10 songs on it and no one has ever heard them. This was by far Billy's best work at the time."