Back To Main

Name: James Iha Band: Smashing Pumpkins Position Guitar Date Of Birth March 26, 1968 Place Of Birth Chicago, Ill., USA Sex Male Official Site: SP Fan Site: SPFC Fan Site: Starla Fan Site: Day Dream Fan Site: Fan Site Fan Site: Fan Site

-"We have a cardboard cut out of Billy that we kick occasionally"


-"I didn't have anyone to call so I called the operator and said, 'Look, it's me on TV! I'm playin' guitar on TV right now!' The operator referred me to the psychiatric ward of the nearest hospital."


-"All the rumors you've heard are true, the Pumpkins are going disco"


-"I thought the most important thing was that it not sound like a secondhand Pumpkins record, and then that it should be able to stand on its own, as its own record, and just not hide anything. "


-"I wanted it to be a singer/songwriter record, but not an unplugged record. That would have been taking an even bigger risk than I'm taking now."


-"The Pumpkins record is more of a down record. It's less about rock, but it doesn't sound like my record. It's sort of half-organic, half-electric. It's sort-of hard to say what it is, actually."


-"I suppose listening to a double album is kind of like going to the chiropractor... It's pretty good for you but you can't force it on anyone else."


-"Billy was talking about a full-on electronic record, but this is more of a hybrid of acoustic and some electronic elements."


-"There's a lot of differences between the Pumpkin's sound and this [Let it Come Down]. I was in a relationship during this record and I guess I was feeling romantic and sensitive. The central idea of a song, lyrically and musically, comes to me at once. The songs seem to have this warm conversational and intimate feel. The lyrics seem to match the mood of the music."


-"At the end you flip back to the beginning or maybe somewhere in the middle and you always find the same thing: music."


-"The Pumpkins are a huge part of my life. I've been doing it for 10 years. This solo record is more personal to me; it's all my songs and my words. But the band is like a family thing. You're a team player in this big monolith machine. I don't think about the difference in terms of the audience."


-"Recording with D'arcy is always an experience. She's crazy... I mean nuts, but she's great. I can't explain it."


-"At some point, I had to make a decision: I could practice more and become a really great guitar player or I could work on writing better songs. There are only so many hours in the day, and I found writing songs more fulfilling than working on becoming this virtuoso guitar player."


-"Right. I don't know how to do these songs any differently. I went with a certain kind of sound, so whatever else happened is the way of the world. I'm happy with the way it turned out. I just thought that if I turned on the fuzz pedal, it would fucking ruin these song -- they'd just be terrible and annoying. I think alternative rock is just so lame these days that it isn't anything I would want to be associated with."


-"Rock music is so passé."


-I like the songs I write, but there was no way they would come out as some kind of body of work in the band context because that's not what the band's about. The band is mostly Billy's songs. I talked with Billy about doing this record for a while, and he encouraged me to do it. I used to write instrumentals for the Pumpkins, and it got lame to me after a while to be toodling away with these weird songs. I had to learn how to sing. After I got comfortable with my voice, the songs just started coming full melodies, verse, chorus, bridge. That happened maybe three or four years ago."


-"When I started working with Billy, I was more a rhythm player, a supporting guitar player. I've always done what we call "drop-ins." They're not really solos or rhythm parts, but melody lines. I think my playing has gotten better, or at least more creative. Once again, it's more about what the song needs."


-"freaked out! I didn't have anyone to call so I called the operator and said, 'Look, it's me on TV! I'm playin' guitar on TV right now!' The operator referred me to the psychiatric ward of the nearest hospital."


-"Trying to gauge what people will like is crazy. These are the kinds of songs that I write. Nothing was calculated. I thought about the whole side-project thing, coming up with some wacky name like the Ten Commandoes or something. It just didn't fit. There's no band. Unfortunately, it's all about me."


-"Uhh... I don't know if I can speak for Bugg at this moment, but he's dealing with it as any other canine might."


-"There are two hats I can wear, as a producer or guitar player. Billy is pretty focused on what he wants to hear, but I freely give out advice if I can hear anything. It's not hard for me to switch back and forth."


-"We have a cardboard cut-out of Billy that we kick occasionally."


-"Once I was walking down the street in Tokyo, and these Japanese fans came up to me and gave me some socks, which I'm wearing right now. And they are really nice socks."


-"My songwriting style is obviously much softer and less edgy than the band's. I think this record was a reaction against touring with the Pumpkins, because every night was saturated with super-heavy, distorted guitar. And we toured on that for, well, years, and the last thing I wanted to do when I came home was play a Marshall stack."


-"I never thought of that before. I wrote it before I heard Hanson. It's a very upbeat song. I guess it's got the Hanson thing -- the upbeat thing. I didn't mind your mentioning George Jones. But a Hanson comparison? I'll have to think about that."


-"It's not that bad. I'm not Michael Jackson or anything. Some people do stop me, but I go to the grocery store in my neighborhood and nobody knows who I am. It's just when I tour or I'm in a major city that people bug out."


-"Nothing is ever how it seems."


-"People place new emphasis every week on what's big. I guess it's human nature. But I read an article today about the new front-end loading washing machine by Maytag, called the Neptune. It uses a third less water and less electricity, and if everyone gets one it'll save billions of gallons of water in the future. That's more exciting to me than alterna-rock. I actually need a new washing machine; mine broke and it's ruining all my clothes."


-"I think 'Lover, Lover' sounds like a real eerie, desperate love song. Kind of like a dark cloud song. I don't know what it's about. I know what it's about ..."


-"It's a song I wrote about this really depressed girl I know who's got really bad self-esteem and I just sort of imagined what it would be like if she had someone she could talk to because she doesn't really talk to many people. If she had like a family member, or a boyfriend, or a best friend. It's kind of like an imaginary sort of love song."


-"Sometimes you're up on stage and you look down and think, 'These kids are getting younger and younger. Oh no! I'm getting older and older! Oh no! I'm too old to be doing this!' But it's still good and I'll keep going as long as it feels right."


-"Well, Thanksgiving was cool but- well, I think Today is the greatest day."


-"Two rules for dancers Uhhhh Dancers listen up. Dancers Listen up!!! Ok. So, do not touch us and do not touch our shit. Now we can move on with the program and have fun. For all of those who cannot dance with us on stage, I encourage you to dance with us on stage. But, do it in your mind. Yes, many of you have taken college courses. You know what I'm talking about."


-"Eat your heart out Eric Clapton. That's Chicago blues!"


-"The naked man is a genious to show himself a free man, free of clothes...We salute you naked man!"


-"All right that's enough. I want everbody, from the front all the way to the back to get off their ass and dance. This is a rock and roll show, not a tea party! Yeah! This is Chicago blues!"


-"I cried. Just for a second. Then I thought, 'I must rock.'"


-"Put your hands in the air, wave'em like ya just don't care! Come'on. We're kicking it like the fucking Fugees!"


-"There's a part of D'arcy that wants to just walk off the stage,"


-"I call it the 'asian cat'! Meow!!"


-"I wish all these bands with the great indie attitude would just write songs. I don't get anything from them but attitude. Alternative music just bums me out in general."


-"And remember, instead of looking at those computer screens, I suggest some form of sports or exercise Masturbation does not count. Get away from Doom and experience life to the fullest. Just like us."


-"He's driving an ice cream truck and I'm wearing a dress."


-"One day I wish that all the people of the world, all the males, females, blacks, whites, purples, whatever, and all of the adults and children would all come together and get it on!!"


-"Oh boy. Bad rock cliche #452."


-"Generally I record in my boxers. Nothing else. It throws some people off."


-"Five years ago, a puppy was given to a roommate of mine as a present. At first he was welcomed for his cuteness, but she soon disowned him after realizing how much work a puppy created. Though I had never owned a pet and regarded them as a waste of time, I felt bad for Bugg and began to help out by taking him for walks, checking his food and water dish, and, reluctantly, cleaning up after him. After a while I had a respect for the beast and I enjoyed the responsibility. And I've seen Bugg grow from the boy that nobody wanted into a strong, loyal and loving, uh...dog."


-"Instead of going onstage, I'll just accidentally walk out in the audience."


-"What's with that Bush video? Why is there a giant fly? That's one thing you'll never see in our videos. You might see me in a dress, but never will you see a fly."


-"And now ladies and gentlemen, we would like to bring a very special guest to the stage. All the way from Milwakee, ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for of The Frogs Jimmy Frog! Jimmy Frog. I can tell you're very excited about Jimmy Frog. And uh, he will lead us in this next song. So let's dance our way into oblivion with Jimmy Frog"


-"Some of the clothes I buy, I would never buy them if I wasn't in a band because they look so dumb."


-"I have concerts in my house all the time. I sit with my guitar on the porch and wave to the kids: 'Come on, you know this song.' I can't stop rocking. If the band's not there, Iha will be rocking."


-"But now I’m so sick or seeing myself this way that I think I’m just going to chop all the crazy stuff of and get a like normal Supercuts cut. I think that would be more rebellious, that would be more punk rock than dyed hair... Just like a regular guy hair cut. Whatever that is. Which is something normal. I’m sick of looking unnormal."


-"I don't belong to any organized religion of such, but I'd like to believe in a higher power."


-"We are the kings of doom."


-"Great songs and great voices. It has a homemade intimate sound that draws the listener in. It also has a cool album cover!!!"


-"To take on a full record I knew would be daunting. At certain times I thought, "Oh God, this is too much," because I'd always worked in a band context with Billy producing. So I knew it would be a lot more work than I'm used to. But I knew what I didn't like. I knew I didn't want songs ruined or played wrong, so it wasn't really that hard to hear what's a good part or differentiate between a good drum sound and a bad one. Everybody who came in, it wasn't like they were hired help. I respect them all as musicians. I definitely directed them, but it was more about the feel of the song. If I knew exactly what to play, I'd just play it myself. But I wanted outside input on some things. I don't really know piano parts that well, so I let Adam and John make up their own parts, which was fine, because the parts stuck close to the song."


          -James Iha, Smashing Pumpkins, Guitar, March 26, 1968