James Iha

James Iha (1995)

James Yoshinobu Iha (* 26. March 1968 in Chicago , Illinois , USA as James Yoshinobu Iha ) is an American musician .

Life

Iha was born the son of Japanese immigrants and grew up in a suburb of Chicago. After getting average grades in high school , he got good grades in junior college and began studying graphic design at Loyola University Chicago .

In 1988 he founded the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins with Billy Corgan and took the position of guitarist . In order to be able to concentrate fully on the band with increasing success, he broke off his studies. In 2000 Iha got out of the Smashing Pumpkins.

Since 2003 he has been playing guitar with A Perfect Circle .

At the beginning of 2018 Iha returned to the Smashing Pumpkins, so that three quarters of the original line-up are reunited with Corgan, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and himself.

In the early 1990s, Iha had a relationship with D'arcy Wretzky , the then bassist for the Smashing Pumpkins, which broke up during the tour for the album Gish .

Iha lives in the district of Manhattan in New York City . Together with Wretzky, he owns the independent label Scratchie Records , co-owner Adam Schlesinger died in Aril 2020 as a result of a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

style

Iha's intention at his solo start was to create an album that was not too progressive, not too intelligent, not overloaded and not distracting by volume . It should be limited to the essentials and radiate a lot of warmth. A "singer-songwriter classic rock style" is to be expected.

The American Billboard described the result as "romantic guitar pop ". The German MusikWoche identified folk and pop as the main components of the “graceful, calming music to lean back and enjoy” , combined with “subtle rock borrowings and occasional country sprinkles”, while the British Melody Maker made the entire album Country-interspersed (" overall country feel ") felt.

In the info box, Allmusic still says alternative rock and post-grunge in the style specification , but the biography expressly speaks of a departure from the alternative rock of the Smashing Pumpkins with regard to Let It Come Down . With “sweet romanticism and sunny melodies”, Iha let a preference for 1960s-influenced folk rock and 1970s soft rock shine through. For Discogs , the style of the debut oscillates between alternative rock and soft rock. Look to the Sky is more clearly rated there, namely as an alternative album. The single Speed ​​of Love , on the other hand, is a mixture of pop, folk, world music and country .

Discography

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Let it come down   US 171 02/28/1998 (1 week)

Singles

In The Sun (with Michael Stipe , Chris Martin & Joseph Arthur )   US 69 02/25/2006 (1 week)

Albums

• 1998: Let It Come Down (album, Virgin Records )
• 2012: Look to the Sky (album, EMI )

Singles

• 1998: Be Strong Now ( single , Virgin Records)
• 1998: Jealousy (promo single, Virgin Records)
• 2006: In The Sun (with Michael Stipe , Chris Martin & Joseph Arthur )
• 2009: Shine Your Light / You Can't Escape (with Britta Phillips, single, United Bamboo)
• 2012: Speed ​​of Love (Single, The End Records)

Soundtracks

• 2005 - Linda Linda Linda soundtrack (movie by Nobuhiro Yamashita )
• 2009 - Kakera: A Piece of Our Life (movie by Momoko Andô)

Remixes

• 2004: A Perfect Circle - Blue
• 2005: Annie - Me Plus One (James Iha Remix)
• 2006: Stellastarr - Sweet Troubled Soul (James Iha Remix)
• 2006: Ladytron - Weekend (James Iha Mix)
• 2007: Midnight Movies - Patient Eye (James Iha Remix)
• 2008: Mighty Six Ninety - Mistakes Like These (James Iha Remix)
• 2009: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (James Iha Remix)

With The Smashing Pumpkins

• 1991 - Gish
• 1993 - Siamese Dream
• 1994 - Pisces Iscariot
• 1995 - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
• 1998 - Adore
• 2000 - Machina / The Machines of God
• 2000 - Machina II / The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
• 2018 - Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No future. No Sun.

With A Perfect Circle

• 2004 - eMOTIVe
• 2004 - aMotion
• 2013 - Three Sixty (compilation)

With whiskey town

• 2001 - Pneumonia

With Vanessa and the O's

• 2003 - La Ballade d'O

With tinted Windows

• 2009 - Tinted Windows

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} blamo.org: "Success Has Come at a High Price for this Chicago Band" ( Memento from December 4, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Caroline Frey: A Perfect Circle. Circle with corners . In: Metal Hammer . October 2003, p. 78 f .
3. ↑ C [arsten] A [gthe]: A perfect circle. Squaring the circle . In: Eclipsed . Rock magazine. No. 57 , November 2003, p. 30 .
4. ^ Katie Rife: Smashing Pumpkins announce D'Arcy-less reunion tour. In: avclub.com. February 15, 2018, accessed February 16, 2018 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b} Ben Myers: Bark Life . In: Melody Maker . February 7, 1998, Special Branch, p. 17 .
6. ↑ ^{a b} Greg Prato: James Iha. Biography by Greg Prato. In: allmusic.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015 . 
7. ^ ^{A b} Moira McCormick: Iha Scales 'Down' His Solo Debut. Pumpkins Guitarist's Set Due on Virgin . In: Billboard . January 17, 1998, Artists & Music, p. 18 and 41 .
8. ↑ M [arcel] A [nders]: String jump . Basically, guitarist James Iha is married to the Smashing Pumpkins. Because in this marriage only band boss Billy Corgan decides how it should sound, Iha is now going her own way . In: Musikexpress . No. 507 , April 1998, magazine, p. 6th f .
9. ↑ James Iha. Let it come down . In: MusikWoche . The news magazine for the music industry. No. 7/1998 , February 9, 1998, news, p. 15 .
10. ↑ James Iha - Let It Come Down. In: discogs.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015 . 
11. ↑ James Iha - Look to the Sky. In: discogs.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015 . 
12. ↑ James Iha - Speed ​​of Love. In: discogs.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: US
14. ↑ James Iha. Retrieved March 17, 2020 . 
15. ↑ James Iha Jealousy UK Promo CD single (CD5 / 5 ") (113597). Retrieved March 17, 2020 . 
16. ↑ James Iha. Retrieved March 17, 2020 . 

Web links

• James Iha at Discogs (English)
• James Iha in theInternet Movie Database(English)
• Official Web site of James Iha (English)