JIMMY CHAMBERLIN: ‘BANDS NEED TO WRITE BETTER SONGS, STOP WORRYING ABOUT MARKETING’
Great interview with former Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. It bewilders me still four years after the fact that Billy Corgan would fire one of the greatest drummers alive today. While Corgan can create good music without Chamberlin, Chamberlin takes things to another level musically.
Billy Corgan didn’t ‘fire’ Jimmy. Now you’re just making things up. This site is becoming tabloid trash at its worst.
SP needs Darcy and Iha.
That’s the truth.
well I loved Jimmy … but Skysaw sucked. Too bad he isn’t in SP anymore. Well that’s life. Let’s go on
It wouldn’t seem logical for Mike Byrne to leave before the next SP album, the kid is part of the momentum.
Later in the future I sure hope Billy and Jimmy do collaborate for some new music. Jimmy is the shit.
@Eu
Oh please, grow up.
Jimmy wanted to play the hits, to please the crowd. Billy’s always saying how he wants to keep moving forward. Jimmy is amazing and I can’t stop wondering how Oceania would’ve been even better with him, but… I guess tey’re both happier now.
@Guedes
If this is indeed the truth, then Billy is better off going on without JC for now…. as amazing as JC is.
My video rant on Elvis Presley, using Stephen Hawking voice:
Elvis Presley. King of Rock N Roll. More like King of Boring Ass Music. No one really gives a rats ass about Elvis Presley except a bunch of 75 year old grandpas who grew up during this shitty ass time in music. All he did was write dumb boring 3 power chord songs about girls and shit. He was no more innovative than the Backstreet Boys. And the Backstreet Boys fucking suck too. And for some reason, he is considered to be the second greatest musician of all time, right behind the Beatles. BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! The Beatles were obvisously way better than gay ass Elvis Presley. And why do people keep saying he is alive??? For God’s sake!!! He is not alive. He died of a drug overdose because his music sucked so much dick.
Jimmy didn’t want to play the hits – at all. Read / listen to everything he has said over past 4 years since leaving.
Alan. despite jimmy saying he quit corgan says he fired him… hence the report.
Yeah, like how many pop songs from 2012 are the music for commercials. That’s sickkkkkkkk!!!!
@Alan Billy admitted in Rolling Stone back in 2010 that he fired Jimmy over the phone, which led to Jimmy unloading on him. Do your research before bitching.
Better songs havent stopped being written but they have been going un noticed because bands/artists dont have the means to get the exposure needed to push them to the next level.
Jimmy HAD to go, no question. As talented as he is, all he wanted from SP at the time of his departure was the “greatest hits” tours to make money. Sad but true. Byrne is a phenomenal replacement, and adds great energy to the band. I look at it this way: 2 of Billy’s best albums (in my opinion) are Adore & Oceania, and Jimmy wasn’t a part of either.
Oceania would be even better with Jimmy on it, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Versus, that is Corgan’s side of the story. I’m sure Jimmy has a very different view on what happened. Obviously I don’t really know what happened, but I get the feeling that Jimmy finally questioned Corgan after the disastrous 20th anniversary tour and this upset Corgan so he fired him. Billy should have worked WITH Jimmy to figure out the future of the band, rather than firing him. While Billy was the songwriter, Jimmy’s drum parts are some of the most memorable of the last 20 years, the drums had their own voice in Pumpkins songs. I’m far less inclined to see the Pumpkins live as often without Jimmy behind the drum kit.
@Versus
Jimmy’s drumming on Gish blows anything that was done drumming wise on both Adore and Oceania out of the water. Gish is the Smashing Pumpkins one and only good album in my opinion. Matt Cameron, Danny Carey and Jimmy Chamberlin are the three best rock drummers from my generation without question.
There were those two little albums called Siamese Dream/Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness that weren’t too bad either…
I get what everyone’s saying. I’d NEVER diminish what a great drummer Jimmy is. There’s an extremely short list of better rock drummers. Gish, SD, & MCIS are obviously great albums, but my personal favorites are the ones without Jimmy. I think Adore and Oceania sound the way they do because Jimmy wasn’t around, and to me that’s a good thing. I don’t think it’s fair to say, “Oceania would have sounded better if Jimmy had played drums” because the songs would have probably been totally different. To me, SP is at its worst when Billy goes all metal and tries to sound like Sabbath. I think he has the tendencies to write the super heavy songs when Jimmy’s around. I understand I’m in the super minority here, but I just like SP’s sound better without Jimmy.
It really is tabloid trash now. I only go here for a few bands and unfortunately the news for those few is becoming trash. Get new writers
Where is this nonsense that Jimmy wanted to stay and only play the old songs coming from? I don’t understand how this myth keeps being perpetuated.
Lets just say this it was true – and Corgan had a problem with Chamberlin wanting to play old stuff – then why is over half the current SP set old material??? Where on the other had Jimmy has been perusing making entirely new music?
Why, because it is false and misleading.
Come on people, if you can’t be bothered to listen to Jimmy’s side of the story – at least think about it logically.
Man…
Really nice interview with Jimmy. Ive seem him
Play many times and met him a few and he seems like a great guy
[...] are Dave Grohl of Nirvana, QOTSA (who have a new album coming out) and Them Crooked Vultures, Jimmy Chamberlin of Smashing Pumpkins, Stephen Morris of New Order, and Matt Cameron of both Soundgarden and Pearl [...]
Leave your response!
Archives
Buy Us A Mocha
Recent Comments
Most Commented