James Iha finds a sunnier side of the pumpkin patch
Friday February 6, 1998
The Daily Herald
By Mark Guarino
Daily Herald Music Critic
Thanks to Jeremy for sending this to us.
The world is a vampire to Billy Corgan, but to James Iha it’s an angel. The smashing Pumpkins guitarist has stepped away from the bombastic rock drama that band made famous to record an album of, well, silly love songs.
“Let It Come Dow” (Virgin) is a simple strummed affair in league more with George Harrison and Freedy Johnston than Corgan’s fullblown rock throttle. The sunny and optimistic album celebrates love rather than snarls at it, something that will undoubtedly befuddle hardcore Pumpkin fans.
When Iha, 29, joined the Pumpkins 10 years ago, he joined a band that turned out to be a basically Corgan’s musical palace. Although the band had previously recorded some of Iha’s songs for B-sides, his place as a songwriter has never been nurtured. To do so, Iha spent the last few years discovering songwriters who, for once, don’t cite Sonic Youth as an influence Jackson Browne, Gram Parson, and James Taylor. Iha, who sounds almost identical to Harrison on record, talked from L.A. where he and the band are recording their fifth album, which he simply calls “funky”. It’s a long way from Elk Grove Village High School where a once-freshman Iha traded his saxophone for a guitar. “It’s been downhill since,” he said.
Q: Why did you feel the need to cut your own album?
A: Well I’ve had some of the songs for awhile now, and I’ve just been
building
up a catalog and I knew they’re not going to go on the next Smashing
Pumpkins
record. One, it’s just not going to happen because Billy writes most of
the
songs and two, I don’t think people would expect to hear a whole album’s
worth
of my songs. And three, I just didn’t really hear (the album) in a band
context. I thought most of the songs would benefit from my production and
my
singing.
Q: Was it sort of your own personal testimony that, yes, you’re a
songwriter
too?
A: Yeah, definitely. I want people to hear the way I sing them and produce
them and play them. I knew for people to take me seriously it would have
to be
good, so I spent a lot of time making sure it wasn’t a derivative Pumpkins
record. I didn’t consciously go against musical things just because they
were
Pumpkins things, but I made sure it wasn’t a Pumpkins record.
Q: You’ve never been a lead singer before. We’re you surprised by your
voice?
A: I’ve basically been learning to sing for the last couple of years. I
took
some voice lessons that helped a lot. I’ve just been trying to sing more I
guess. I really thought the songs would live and die on the song writing
and
the voice because there’s not really that hard rock sound or guitar or
heavy
drums to really make the average alternative listener come along.
Q: Especially since more intimate songs require an honest delivery to
ensure
that you’re not lying.
A: Yeah, I totally believe in that. There’s no point in giving a
half-hearted
vocal performance. It’s the one thing people listen to.
Q: When did you start writing the songs that became this album?
A: I wrote some of the songs, I say about half of the songs, anywhere from
a
year to two years ago. I’d say about the other half maybe a couple monthes
prior to recording the record, which was summer 1997.
Q: The songs are so different from the Smashing Pumpkins. Was it a
surprise
for you to discover that “hey, I like acoustic music too.”
A: Yeah, I’ve always sort of liked the singer-songwriter style that this
record is made in. It’s always been something I’ve listened to, but maybe
in
the last three or four years, I’ve started to pay more attention to other
singer-songwriters and drawn more to this style of music more so than hard
rock
stuff.
Q: Is it because you’ve become a big lyric fan?
A: Yeah, I like all the greats like Dylan, the Beatles and Neil Young and
stuff
like that. I think ultimately when most people listen to a song they hear
the
sound of the music but they generally remember the vocal. I think the key
to a
lot of my songs, beside the overall sound and tone, is the conversational
quality and sort of intimacy I’m trying to get.
Q: What’s been the reaction from the Pumpkins’ camp?
A: (laughs) They’ve been hearing all this junk for years. It’s the best
I’ve
ever sounded and probably the best of my songs I’ve had for awhile. I
think
they’re generally supportive and dig it.
Q: Whiskytown’s “Strangers Almanac” (Outpost) was my favorite record of
1997,
and I noticed in a recent Billboard that it was one of yours. Is it a
coincidence both of you share the same producer (Jim Scott)?
A: (“Strangers Almanac”) is a good record. The person who introduced me to
Jim
Scott was Mark Williams, who actually signed the Pumpkins 10 years ago, and
he
signed Whiskeytown, too. (Scott) was really enthusiastic about the songs,
and
he likes things to be pretty honest and cut to the chase. He makes things
sound important.
Q: As a songwriter, did you learn anything from Whiskeytown’s Ryan Adams?
A: I didn’t really know the album that well when I started recording. I
like
people that he likes, like Gram Parsons and Neil Young. (Adam’s) a good
singer, and he’s a good writer.
Q: When did you get into more country roots music?
A: It’s something I’ve always heard but paid attention to in the last five
or
six years. The first person I really though of as a singer-songwriter was
(Pink Floyd co-founder) Syd Barrett. My music sounds nothing like Syd
Barrett. But he was just a great singer-songwriter who had a personal
style
that, outside of Pink Floyd, was amazing. I’ve gone through the list of
your
classic singer-songwriters.
Q: What about Jackson Browne?
A: That’s another person people keep pointing at for me to listen to. I
know
the obvious songs. Neil Casal, who sings harmony on the record, sent me
the
first three Jackson Browne records and said “Listen to this.” The first
one,
“Saturate Before Using” (Elektra) was pretty good. He definitely was
pretty
cool back then.
Q: What do those songwriters have that those in the arena rock world
don’t?
A: There’s a certain song power in the people we’re talking about.
Generally,
they don’t use a heavy, hard rock band to carry it over the top. It’s a
real
pure song. I don’t hear that too much. (laughs) I’m into song power.
Q: Your album is almost blissfully romantic. In other words, It’s not
exactly
what you’d find on alternative rock radio.
A: I didn’t set out to make this big romantic record. I kind of wrote a
lot of
the songs when I was in this good relationship. That euphoric feeling came
across in the lyrics and chord progressions. It just seemed to come to me
really naturally. I guess that’s what love does (laughs).
Q: Do you expect all those alternative rock fans to be a little off-put?
A: I don’t really know. Obviously, I hope that they’re not. I know this
record sounds different from most peoples’ expectations. Even people I
know
say “Oh, its so different.” I’m hoping its weakness, in that it doesn’t
have
distorted guitars and heavy drums and crazy hip-hop beats, is its strength,
too. It’s not like anything else.
Q: I wonder what it says about modern-rock radio when personal song writing
is
in the minority.
A: I keep thinking as I’m strumming my acoustic guitar at home that I’m
hanging
onto a dying art.
Q: Yeah, but the radio wasn’t always like that.
A: It had it in the ’70s with Carole King and Fleetwood Mac. The closest
thing
we get now is Jewel or the Wallflowers.
Q: After making such a different album, is being in a big rock band still
inspiring?
A: I don’t know. It’s like a weird thing. I’ve been in the band for 10
years. It’s obviously a huge part of my life. It’s what I do.
Surprisingly,
I’m still a big fan of music. I still go to record stores and buy CD’s. I
still think I’m still as enthusiastic about music as I used to be. It’s
just
kind of different when the band plays (now) because it’s such a huge
machine.
We can’t just set up and play normally now. It’s always like schedules and
managers and getting the crew together. It’s just a whole different thing.
I
still like playing music. I guess now I’m an adult (laughs). It had to
change. I can’t imagine riding the CTA bus with my guitar in a Hefty bag
(anymore). I’m over that. It is different. I still really like it or I
would
leave.
Q: The tone of this album would require you playing smaller venues like
Schubas. Is that even a possbility?
A: The music does require a more intimate setting than the Rosemont
Horizon.
But without people hearing the record, I don’t think I would go into a club
because people would just be like “what?” They’d want to be moshing and all
that kind of stuff. I can’t imagine anything worse (than) people calling
out
Pumpkins songs and wanting to throw themselves at other people. It would
be
whack, for lack of a better term.
Q: What can you tell me about the new Pumpkins’ record you’re recording?
I
hear It’s more electronic.
A: We’re kind of afraid to use the word “electronic” because people will
be
afraid we’re trying to be like the Prodigy. The biggest thing is that we
don’t
have a drummer. (Longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was fired in 1996 for
drug
abuse.) We’ve been using drum machines and loops. We’re going to get a
drummer, but it’s a hard road. There’s been no one immediately yet that
we’ve
seen.
Q: This fall, the Pumpkins opened two shows up for the Rolling Stones.
Had
you played football stadium shows before?
A: We played bigger shows. There were festivals in Europe with 50,000
people
or something like that. (Opening for the Stones) was cool. Surprisingly,
a
lot of people were into it. I didn’t think they would be into it. The
first
show sucked, but the second show was pretty good.
Q: Any chance to hang out with Mick and Keith?
A: No, not at all. At the level they’re at, there is no camaraderie.
You’re
not hanging out with Keith, throwing TV sets out the window. They’re off
sheltered in their own little world. It’s like when we’re out touring,
we’re
in our own little bubble. They came out to do a photo opportunity. We
shook
hands with them, and that was it. It’s not like they were being jerks.
They’re the Rolling Stones you know.