James Iha
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| James Iha | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Born | March 26, 1968 (age 39) Chicago, Illinois, USA |
|
| Genre(s) | Alternative Rock | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician (guitarist, producer, writer, singer) | |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar | |
| Associated acts |
The Smashing Pumpkins Starchildren A Perfect Circle Vanessa and the O's |
|
James Yoshinobu Iha (Japanese: 井葉吉伸, Iha Yoshinobu or ジェームス・イハ, Jēmusu Iha) born March 26, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is an American rock musician. He is most famous as a guitarist in the highly successful alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins and his eclectic musical projects of recent years, including A Perfect Circle. He and Billy Corgan are the founding members of The Smashing Pumpkins.
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[edit] Early life and brief background
Iha attended Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. He currently lives in Manhattan, New York and co-owns independent record label Scratchie Records with Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne. Bands on the Scratchie label include The Sounds, Albert Hammond Jr., and Office. He also co-owns a recording studio with Adam Schlesinger and Andy Chase of Ivy called Stratosphere Sound in Manhattan.
[edit] In The Smashing Pumpkins
Iha wrote or co-wrote a number of Smashing Pumpkins' songs, such as, "Blew Away" on Pisces Iscariot, "Bugg Superstar" on Vieuphoria, "Take Me Down" on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, "...Said Sadly", "Believe", "The Boy", and "The Bells" on The Aeroplane Flies High, "Summer" on the "Perfect" single and "Go" on Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music. He co-wrote with Billy Corgan "I Am One" on Gish, "Soma" and "Mayonaise" on Siamese Dream, "Plume" on Pisces Iscariot and "Farewell and Goodnight" on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. He also sang "Take Me Down", as well as the band's covers of The Cure's "A Night Like This" and Syd Barrett's "Terrapin". During his time with the Pumpkins, James also appeared on recordings with other bands, including Ivy, to which Adam Schlesinger also contributes, and The Sounds.
Although Iha was often considered the "quiet one" in The Smashing Pumpkins, he was known to engage in ad-libbed jokes and rap sessions.
In 1998, Iha released a moderately successful solo album, Let It Come Down, his only solo effort to date. One music video was produced from this album, for the song "Be Strong Now", which was also released as a four-track single.
[edit] Post Pumpkins Work
Since the Pumpkins' breakup in 2000, Iha has pursued many projects. He continues to contribute to other artists' recordings, such as Don't Be Sad on Whiskeytown's Pneumonia released in 2001 and further guest appearances for Ivy, but made bigger news when he joined rock band A Perfect Circle in July 2003 in time for their Thirteenth Step club tour. He has since appeared on their 2004 album eMOTIVe as well as contributed remixes of Blue and Outsider. In 2003, he joined Vanessa and the O's. The group released an EP Plus Rien in Sweden the same year.
Iha also collaborated and produced two tracks with Japanese musician Chara for her 2001 album MADRIGAL. The tracks are called "Boku ni Utsushite" (ボクにうつして）and "Skirt" (スカート).
More recently, Iha has collaborated on musical and fashion design projects in Japan. With the help of longtime friend and manager Isao Izutsu, Iha started the clothing label Vapor in 2001. Iha also scored the Japanese film Linda, Linda, Linda, released in late summer 2005.
On March 31st, 2006, Pitchfork Media reported that Iha will be featured on Norwegian pop singer Annie's follow-up to her highly successful debut, Anniemal, which will reportedly be out near the year's end. [1] Iha also remixed "Me Plus One", a track off of Anniemal. [2]
Iha recently appeared on the track "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" from the tribute album to Serge Gainsbourg entitled Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited. Singer Kazu Makino (of Blonde Redhead duets with him. He also produced two tracks on the album "I love you (me either)" that featured Cat Power singing and "L'Hotel" featuring Michael Stipe singing.
In February of 2006, a digital ep "In the Sun" produced by Iha featuring Michael Stipe and Chris Martin came out. This ep was for the benefit of Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina. The song was featured on an episode of Grey's Anatomy. [3]. Also in collaboration with Michael Stipe, Iha played guitar at the Bring Em Back Home concert benefit on March 20th of 2006 in Nyc. [4]
Released in October 2006, The Postmarks Goodbye EP features a remix by Iha.
Also in 2006, Iha teamed up with Adam Schlesinger (of Fountains Of Wayne and Ivy) to co-produce America's comeback album, Here & Now.
In February 2007, Side-Line announced that James Iha delivered a remix for the newest Ladytron single "Weekend Mixes" out on March 9th via Smoke & Mirrors.[5]
[edit] Smashing Pumpkins Re-unite
In June 2005, Corgan announced plans to reunite the Smashing Pumpkins. On February 2, 2006, MTV.com reported that Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin had signed a new management deal with the Front Line Management.[6] And as of April 20th, 2006, it was officially announced on www.smashingpumpkins.com that the band was back together writing material for their first album since 2000. While currently in the studio, Corgan and Chamberlin are the only verified members of the band. Neither Iha nor Wretzky have officially responded to the announcement, however an inside source claims that Iha will not be participating in the reunion.[1]
[edit] Discography
- Let It Come Down (album) (1998)
- "Be Strong Now" (single) (1998)
- "Jealousy" (UK promo-only single) (1998)
[edit] References
- ^ MTV News Staff (2007-02-07). For The Record: Quick News On Mandy Moore, R. Kelly, Justin, Timbaland, Ne-Yo, Beyonce, Chamillionaire & More (http). MTV.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
[edit] External links
- James Iha Dot Org (fan site)
- Scratchie Records site
- New Line Records site
- Japanese site
- The Smashing Pumpkins - The Smashing Pumpkins official website.
- Netphoria.org - Smashing Pumpkins Fan Site.
- Siva - Smashing Pumpkins Fan Site
- Spfc.org
- TheFutureEmbrace Forums - The Smashing Pumpkins Online Fan Forum
- studio site
