J
immy Chamberlin is behind his drum kit again.
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For this rock veteran, the kit is far from exotic territory. It was Chamberlin after all who laid the beats down for some of the 90’s most memorable musical moments as the drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins. Albums like Gish, Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness could arguably go up against the Rolling Stones three in a row dagger of Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street. Translucent songs with metaphysical names like “Luna,” “Soma,” “Siva” and “Tristessa,” effortlessly merged prog, goth and arena rock to boundaries never explored before. Jimmy Chamberlin’s hydraulic drumming was at the center of it all, caught up in rock n roll decadence, tragic turmoil and success, amidst Billy Corgan’s trademark revolving multiple guitar parts.
Following The Pumpkins breakup in 2000 after MACHINE/The Machines of God, Chamberlin joined Corgan in the short-lived rock outfit Zwan. Following Zwan’s breakup, Chamberlin then joined forces with friend and fellow jazz enthusiast Billy Mohler, who tried out for Zwan, but didn’t cut Corgan’s well-documented ear for perfection.
Stepping aside from the familiar anguished vocal offerings of his Billy Corgan related outfits, Chamberlin has now taken his vision of progressive rock to new boundaries with The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. Molding jazz fusion and rock explosiveness on the debut, Life Begins Again, Chamberlin, taking a cue from Corgan, is striving to push his creativity to untapped territory. Featuring guest vocals from Corgan on the dreamy “Loki Cat” and the pipes of Righteous Brother Bill Medley on “Lullabye,” the album is the best of what to expect and what not to expect – perhaps the underlying excitement of jazz and rock.
Glide recently caught up with Chamberlin following the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex’s opening gig in L.A., with the anticipation of honing his new band live that night in New York City. And yes, Jimmy Chamberlin knows he’s lucky to be behind his drum kit again, whether it’s in a smoky club in front of a couple hundred fans or a cavernous stadium – hydraulic or not.
With your new album being released, a lot of people are coming out to your shows expecting to hear something that sounds like your past with The Smashing Pumpkins. Are people stunned with your new sound?
Stunned is a great word. They were blown away and people were really, really receptive and into it. I think its what you said, people kind of had an idea of what its going to be and I think people thought it would be a little more self-indulgent and a little less song crafty. But I think everybody that has heard it has been pleasantly surprised, as a lot of people are coming to the table now. It’s really easy to listen to, it’s not too groggy. I mean the nicest kind of compliment I’ve gotten about the record was “wow, we really understand what a big part of the Pumpkins you were after hearing your songwriting.”
Your drums play a real dominant lead role on the album. Is this a sound you’ve been waiting to let go for awhile now?
Certainly, we brought the drums to the forefront, and I think that was a result of the way the record was written. When you compose with major guitars and drums, that’s kind of what you end up with, with drums coming to the forefront and everything else taking a back seat. But certainly as proud as I am of the drumming, I’m equally proud of the job Sean did on guitar and Adam Benjamin did on the keyboards.
Your band members are relatively new names, how did you choose to play with these guys verse more distinguished players?
Well the way I met Billy Mohler was he actually auditioned for Zwan in L.A. and when I saw his résumé I noticed he played at the Thelonious Monk institute with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. Because of my love for jazz we had struck up an immediate friendship and remained friends even though he didn’t go on to work with Zwan – he worked with another band at the time. We always kept in contact with each other with an eye for doing something and I think the fact that he has a jazz background, but is a rock musician, really lends himself for this type of writing.
Sean (Woolstenhulme) came in at the eleventh hour because I wasn’t sure if I was going to put any guitar on the record at all, aside from just a shading here and there. For him to come in and play the way he played was amazing. He’s really young, he’s only 23 and for someone at 23 to come in and play with that maturity and reserve is something you really want to hang onto. And Adam Benjamin is just a jazz legend in Los Angeles and a maniac on the road.
So why the choice of the name, The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, putting your name first and foremost, when in many ways this is a group effort with equal parts?
Well that was kind of their idea and not mine (laughs). Believe me, it was. As time went on and it became more and more of a band, I got less grilled with the fact that my name would be on it. But the other band members thought it was a great idea and it was me who got the record deal and it was me who put the whole thing together, I produced it.
That’s where a great deal of the Pumpkins expectations come into play. Is this style of improvisational, spontaneous jazz all new to you?
No. I think there was certainly a lot of that if you ever saw a Pumpkins live show, there was a lot of improvising and a lot of off the cuff. Certainly, the way we are playing right now is so close to the record that we haven’t really branched out that much.
Have you felt less pressure with this release? With every Smashing Pumpkins album, every media outlet is examining every motive and song – this seems to be a bit more low key.
Well, you’re operating in a different arena, you’re not competing with that stuff and you don’t have to deal with it. Its been great to just go back and play clubs and play on a grassroots level, and go be able to meet everyone in the crowd after the show and meet a lot of old friends. When you play a club it’s like the whole audience is playing the set because you draw so much energy with people being so close to you. The audience can really sway how the music is played just from their energy or emotions and you lose a lot of that certainly playing arenas.
So you’re being introduced to a whole new music scene?
Yeah, a lot of new faces, a lot of young kids who are really into it. I’ve gotten a lot of the nice emails from the fifteen year-old kids who are like “if this is what jazz is like, then I’m going to go back and listen to Charles Mingus and Thelonious Monk,” which is really great. I mean if you get a 12 year-old kid to listen to Charles Mingus, then I think the record is a success, that’s a home run. But yeah, a lot of old Pumpkin fans and a lot of drummers come out.
Well it must be nice to be an ambassador for jazz to people who are more formally familiar with indie rock and the alternative scene.
Well yeah, it’s been great to bridge that gap. I’ve gotten calls from the president of Yamaha who keeps telling me how important he thinks the record is going to be for people like Peter Erskine or some of my other friends who are jazz drummers. I think those guys are going to get a little more attention out of something like this.
What was your jazz background, pre-Smashing Pumpkins.
I grew up the youngest of six kids, and my brother Paul was a big influence on me as he was a drummer as well. And my father was a clarinet player, so I was raised listening to a lot of Duke Ellington and Count Basie coming out of the basement stereo and of course a lot of Jimi Hendrix coming out of my sister’s stereo. So I had a pretty broad spectrum of drummers to analyze. I mean, I think I draw from Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams type of drummers, but a lot of my drumming is a tip of the hat to Mitch Mitchell or John Bonham. I think my drumming is a combination of all that stuff. I mean, certainly as much as I like Elvin Jones, I love Keith Moon as well. Anybody who has a footprint and anybody that when they play the drums and you can tell who it is, I think they have had a successful career.
What drummer do you think came out of you the most during this project?
Well you know, if I were to cite anyone drumming inspiration for the record it would probably be Tony Williams. Believe me, I’m not saying in any way, shape or form I can play like Tony Williams, but certainly just an attempt at that, with the kind of roles going through the songs and being supportive in a bombastic way, kind of like how Tony was capable of doing. I think that was my biggest point of reference, to make it really cool, but still make it rock. Because obviously Tony was a wonderful jazz musician, but when you hear the record, it’s like “wow…that really rocks.”
Being an arena rock drummer, is it difficult to hold back and play with finesse and feel?
It just goes along with the music, certainly when you’re absorbed in the music it forces your dynamics to play.
This is your first time writing lyrics in your life. Have you taken any cues from Billy Corgan?
Well yeah, certainly [our] friendship was a big part of the record. He was really supportive and he’s a huge cheerleader for me and I’m a huge cheerleader for him. I would send him lyrics to see what he thought, and that was a little nerve racking. But if you have a resource like that you have to use it. And certainly he though the lyrics were really good. But the main inspiration behind the lyrics was that I was at that point in my life where my mother was about to pass away, she was very sick, and my cat had just died and my family was moving to California, and I was working on this record. So there were a lot of things going on and there was a lot of starting over. And in a lot of different ways, the love is real, and that’s an example of how a tremendous amount of love can get you through just about anything. It’s about the cycles of life, whether they are musical or physical or spiritual. When somebody is passing there is always somebody coming at you. I always equate my daughter with giving my mother the ability to pass away in a good way knowing I had a child.
Even though you’re living in L.A. now, do you feel the album has a Chicago feel?
I don’t feel it has that regional of a sound. If it was a straight-ahead jazz record, I would be able to answer that better. Certainly the difference between east and west coast jazz is discernible.
Have you received any feedback from your contemporaries on the album?
Oh yeah, I’ve had people like Russ Miller call and say “oh what a great record.” And certainly at Yamaha they’re ga-ga about it. I haven’t talked to Peter Erskine about it yet, but I’m still waiting for the Peter Erskine seal of approval. He’s the kind of guy that I’ve had a relationship with for a couple of years and he’s the type of guy who is such an inspiration…and not only on a musical level, but on a personal level.
It’s been said that a lot of radio stations have admitted that the album will have a tough time gaining airplay. Does that concern you?
No, not really. I think I know where you read that…in the Chicago Tribune.
Right, the Greg Kot piece
Well the fact of the matter is that Greg’s own radio station has just added the record. And that fact of the matter is, it’s getting way more airplay than I thought it would get. It’s actually getting played across the country in New York and Los Angeles. I think its going to do fine, it was never supposed to be a radio record. We didn’t go in trying to write three-minute singles. I certainly think that kind of endears people to the record…it doesn’t pretend.
Did you consider redoing a Smashing Pumpkins song and reinventing it in a jazz setting?
Not at all. I wasn’t interested in doing that to Corgan (laughs).
What do you take from being a band leader after working with someone like Billy Corgan the better part of your career?
Well I think if you’re going to do something right, you just do what people who do it right do. I mean, certainly following his model of making great records was a huge help, especially on a production level. Producing the record and watching all the stuff the Pumpkins do in the studio was like going to school. Watching guys like Flood and Butch Vig and Corgan work songs in the studio and I think all that stuff really helped.
Do you find yourself more of a leader now?
I think I learned a little bit more under the table, just because every band I have been in has sold 30 million records, so I think I know the ins and outs of the business a little bit more than your average musician. And I think I know how to play the game a little bit more. But I think also, I know not to get caught up in things and just to get out there and have fun.
Have you had a chance now playing in a small-scale band to realize just exactly how much you accomplished in your career with the Smashing Pumpkins.
Well yeah, all that stuff is something I’m really proud of and that stuff all rises to the top when you do a project like this. It gives you a little more of an objective view point of exactly the body of work you’ve done and it gives you a different type of respect for Corgan as well and what he went through on a day to day level, because it is a lot of work. It’s hard sometimes to be front and center when you’ve got people pulling you a million different ways.
You’ve had some rough times in the past, personal and band clashes. How has drumming been a form of therapy for you?
Well obviously music is what has saved my life. When you have been through what I’ve been through and you’re still around to talk about it, you realize what you are here for and I have a different type of respect on a much deeper level than if none of that stuff happened. I realize now that obviously God, or whatever you want to call it, wanted more music. It’s no mystery as to why I’m here and I’m going to try and do as much as I can.
You were an athlete once right?
I did a little baseball and auto racing. But drums is about as athletic as I get.
So if you weren’t a drummer, where do you think you’d be?
Oh God, hopefully playing third base for The Marlins or something…or The Tigers (laughs).
The Smashing Pumpkins were the right band at the right time during the alternative explosion of the 90’s. But if the band were in its growth stage now, what do you think the Pumpkins would have sounded like?
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Well, that’s hard to say, you never know till you’re there. Certainly, you know that 90% of the opportunity has come and gone. Unfortunately for bands trying to hash it out right now, if they don’t have a hit song in the first three months, they don’t have much time to evolve as a band. As for The Pumpkins, we had 13, 14 years to find ourselves and those opportunities don’t exist anymore. I think the musical immediacy of everything and how the whole globe has been so homogenized, it’s tough for bands out there. I try not to be too critical of what I hear on the radio, because I’ve stood in those shoes before. I know what a nightmare it is when you got stockholders bitching.
What do you miss most about playing with the band?
Oh you know, the private jets. (laughs)
Is there a stage chemistry with James, D’arcy and Billy that you miss?
Oh yeah, absolutely, that was the band. Down the road I would love to play together again.
Well David Grohl had no problem moving from drummer to band leader from Nirvana to the Foo Fighters, so the drummer moving to band leader thing has been done before.
Yeah, and Taylor Hawkins was at the show Monday. So Taylor, Dave and I are dear friends. And Dave is another person that I talk to once in awhile and he’s the inspiration for stuff like this.
It’s nice to see someone like yourself crossing genres without feeling you might lose your fan base or be looked down upon as a sporadic musician.
Well, I think with my past and being financially self-sufficient, it gives me a leg-up. I’m not that worried about product and all that other nonsense that everybody else wants. I think if you look at somebody like Dave. Dave Grohl is a perfect example of somebody who has done exactly what he wants to do on his own terms. He’s never sold out, he’s got gobs of integrity, he’s just the nicest guy. He doesn’t have to insult anybody or play rock star to be cool. He’s just is what he is and people totally dig it.
