Chamberlin: Pumpkins “something that I don’t fully possess” 9:28 am // Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Posted by jjb in jimmy chamberlin, news.
trackback
Mercifully, a letter from Jimmy Chamberlin appeared on his new blog this morning. It reads in part:
I will say, without going into any unnecessary details that this represents a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don’t fully possess. I won’t pretend I’m into something I’m not. I won’t do it to myself, you the fan, or my former partner. I can’t just, “Cash the check” so to speak. Music is my life. It is sacred. It deserves the highest commitment at every level and the Pumpkins are certainly no different. I’m sorry but it really IS that simple. There is no drama, bad blood, or anything else but a full commitment to music. My best goes out to Billy and I’m glad he has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right. I will continue to make music with the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex as well as pursuing other musical interests. I feel that I have a long way to go and a lot to give.
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
Leave a Reply
i have always loved Jimmy being so open and honest with the fans.
So now it does seem like he wasn’t feeling the recent decisions made by BC
what bull, i hope he fails at everything he attempts to do and when comes crawling back to Billy he doesnt take him back. Billy brought him back once and i hope shuts the door on him for good like he did with james & darcy.
Everything is now completely abandoned. This sucks.
Seems like the typical reason most people members leave bands except amicably.
well … jimmy … i do not know what to say … his explanation sounds realy out there …
fuck …
I think is explanation makes sense. He’s saying that he’s really just “Not that into” the smashing pumpkins. He’s not “feeling” it so to speak and rather than just fake it he’s decided to bow out. I wonder when he stopped feeling it or if he ever felt it to begin with after they got back together…
mhart. Your comments are idiotic.
Someone doing something that they don’t feel fully into and just cashing the check sounds like a pretty shitty thing to do. Jim’s post and his actions seem totally legitimate to me. I wonder if he’d of stuck around if Bill had been more willing to play ‘the game’ differently rather than swapping Label masters for Commerce masters? Who knows? Bill can clearly sleep at night taking the cash from selling the songs so good luck to him. I might listen in the future, I might not. Regardless, the band I loved has gone and gone for good.
must make billy feel good that Jimmy isnt into it anymore.. all thru the last tour BC was taking crap from fans cause they wernt into it and now for Billy’s best friend (if they still are best friends) and partner not to be into it anymore and leave just as fans have must make Billy feel like a complete failure.
if jimmy isnt into the smashing pumpkins … then who in the world is???
@lala: Irving Azoff? Has he become the Yoko Ono of the Smashing Pumpkins?
When BC said it was time to move forward and stop living in the past, I would have never guessed JC would have taken his advice and also move on. I was really hoping for a letter that said Jimmy wanted to start spending more time with his family and kids and thats why he left the band.
mhart’s posts are so ridiculously stupid. If Billy feels like a failure then that’s his problem and it has nothing to do with Jimmy. Jimmy is one of Billy’s most positive and loyal supporters and they’ve been friends for 21 years. As for all the crap Billy got, a lot of the time he brought it upon himself. He acted terribly during the 20th anniversary tour. It kills me to know that there is going to be a new breed of sp fans who try to diminish Jimmy’s contributions and speak badly of him. I’m sure this was a difficult decision for him and he left a big paycheque behind by leaving sp, I admire Jimmy for following his heart. As Jimmy said on the Chris Issak show, “Legacy above finances; artistry above fame.” I wish both of them luck and look forward to their individual projects.
@chris … funny :) i was thinking the same thing …
im just saying maybe this will be a wake up call for billy. stop acting so high and mighty and start respecting fans, cause if Jimmy can move on so can fans. ok maybe i was harsh on my first post, but i just felt like it was a typical PR press release.
I think that Billy thrives on negativity and the Jimmy thives on positivity, perhaps it is as simple as that? Also, when he says that it is something he doesn’t ‘fully posses’, perhaps he felt that by staying in the Pumpkins he couldn’t choose the musical direction that he wanted to focus on and that Billy was asking for him to compromise his style and creativity to help him achieve his own. I hope they are still on good terms. It’ll be interesting to see where each of them go from here…
So… What’s Matt Walker doing, these days?
@drbenway: Getting written about on SP.com by a PMM writer. SINE???!!!!
Jimmy probably doesn´t want to tour and/or rehearse for 5 hours then play a gig on the same day anymore… there is also the age factor.
I hope they can get him at least as a session drummer. Touring with them might be too much to hope for.
“Legacy above finances; artistry above fame.”
boss
He probably just wants to write his own stuff and is a little tired of being “just” the drummer, although his drumming style definitely was a big part of the Pumpkins’ rock sound.
I guess it must be pretty exhausting, to play show after show on that level, especially since he’s not exactly in his twenties anymore.
As for the future, I wish Billy and Jimmy the best of luck.
You know what I would love to see: Billy doing a little more subdued stuff, like the quieter stuff on Mellon Collie / The Aeroplane Flies High, or even stuff like American Gothic.
With all the additional musicians on the last tour, I could imagine some pretty cool live shows in that vein as well.
Now, please don’t be sad anymore, everyone!
Well i think this really fucks Bill’s credit. All i ever heard about was their spiritual connection and being life-time partners… which all looks like a sham now.
I have very mixed feelings about this. MHART does have a point – JC almost died and was kicked out and Bill brought him back, but I don’t think anyone should have to stay just because he “owes” Bill.
At the end of the day I wonder what would have been if they would have been received better by the media and sold more albums. I am NOT blaming anyone here but lets face it – when JC was 20 it was much easier to deal with all the bullshit and negativity. It was also rewarding because they were leaders of their generation.
Currently Bill is just grasping for any type of validity that he can claim, and I don’t blame JC for not wanting to be a part. Bill I will end on the idea that Bill really has the right to do whatever he wants. His music may SUCK for years to come, but I will still support all the original members because of the life-altering music that have given to us in the past.
Makes perfect sense to me. The Pumpkins are a full time commitment, and they have always essentially been Billy’s solo project. The other band members were an influence, especially Jimmy, but it’s always been Billy’s vision.
If Jimmy has developed higher ambitions than just being known as the Pumpkins drummer, then good for him.
Now if only hater fans would either shut up or move on. I’m tired of these people who talk as if Billy ruined their lives and claim the Pumpkins have done nothing worthwhile since Mellon Collie yet they still continue to follow Billy’s every move.
Some people are just way too concerned about stupid shit and the music comes second. Hence the fact that to this day Adore gets described as the Pumpkins “electronic” album, even by people who claim to be fans but could not possibly have listened to the album more than once. Someone stuck a label on it and no matter how wrong it was, it didn’t matter. That’s the story of the Pumpkins.
whoever created the graphic to accompany the feature on this blog at sp.com has put jimmy in the past so quickly they forgot how to spell his name. looks really retarded.
when did we start calling him Bill? Anyways, I think what Jimmy is saying is fine and everything and he had to of known that this would only destroy what little credibility SP has left right now, but I still detect a serious load of bull shit with his intenetions. I hope I am not the only one that can easily see him coming back in a few years (provided SP is still around) and claim that when he looked into his heart and searched for what mattered he knew he belonged with the Smashing Pumpkins again or something like that.
These days I don’t believe anything anyone has to say. He was thrown out in ’96-then was brought back. They broke up in 2000-then came back. At this point anything is possible
Translation: It’s not a 50/50 split. Billy can override me on decisions involving the band. He makes/made decisions I don’t agree with. Ciao!
It makes sense for a grown man to want more control/credibility/credit for his work. But look around (pre-announcement), all you see is BILLY BILLY BILLY! To me, this sounds like egos needing more room. Whether thats a good thing or a bad thing is in the eye of the beholder…
@Chris: I was thinking earlier that maybe Sasha Grey was the new Yoko Ono. Anyway I find it strange that Jimmy didn’t realise all this two years ago, before he stepped on board SP2.0.
“d4 Says:
March 24th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Translation: It’s not a 50/50 split. Billy can override me on decisions involving the band. He makes/made decisions I don’t agree with. Ciao!”
-Not only that, but I’d wager B. outweighed him on the decision to sell out to Visa.
Shipping 2)Captain
SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER THIS:
When did Bill and JC go from being lifelong musical partners to such an abrupt ending? It just seems like some that someone would do after a bunch of bad shit not just at the drop of a hat…
@Spag: Good point. They seemed to be in a much better place now than in 2006/2007: writing better music, honed their live playing with the replacements, free agents without a label, Billy had regained some of that sneer. It seemed like they were onto something if Corgan could get past the singles mentality and record a proper album.
What happened?
JC ego-tripping. Get a grip.
if anyone has to be Yoko Ono, it’s Strawberry.
i do hate that woman, since i first saw her snaking weirdly behind BC at his solo concerts.
Jimmy’s drumming will be missed. On the other hand, maybe Billy will be able to better challenge himself without the “echo chamber” that Jimmy has seemed to function as recently. Hopefully this is the end of the reactiveness that has plagued SP2.0 (from the initial hippy-drippiness of the reunion, to the eventual hypercriticism and sensitivity toward detractors), and Billy can focus on making good music.
I’m thinking the goofiness of the last tour with the kazoos and Billy’s anti-fan rants pushed him over the edge.
i come away from this really respecting jimmy. i think he is just standing behind his principles. maybe it’s the visa thing. maybe the live nation thing. maybe other things none of us have heard about. but i think most of us will admit that billy has, to put it kindly, been flirting with the idea of selling out lately, and maybe jimmy saw that and simply decided he would not be a part of it. if so, good for him.
As much as I love the Pumpkins, I’ve found it harder and harder to support them over the last few months. I wasn’t too keen on FOL being released through a car commercial, and hearing Today used in a Visa commercial didn’t help. When the Visa commercial comes on TV I find myself starting conversations or talking louder just so whoever I’m with won’t say, “Hey, isn’t this that song by that band you like?” Jimmy’s departure from the band was a shock, and I fully support his decision to leave, especially if his heart isn’t fully in it. I’m glad that he’s not trapped in something he just doesn’t enjoy anymore. It makes me wonder if Billy really enjoys it anymore (despite everything he’s said) or if he’s just trying to recapture his youth and former glory.
This just doesn’t make sense… Jimmy Chamberlin IS The Smashing Pumpkins, he can’t just leave saying that he no longer “possesses” the band. Is any one else as confused as I am?
he doesn’t possess it because billy is whoring it away?
It sounds like he means that the band (or the music) is no longer in his control. Perhaps he felt like he had no artistic control, and he wants to pursue musical avenues that allow him to express himself more fully. (Also, I can understand him not wanting to be on board the train heading for Hyundai-town).
Reading between the lines in his post, is he inferring that Billy is just “cashing in the check”? I don’t know. I do know however that I am glad he has cleared the air and made his opinion clear about Billy using the name Smashing Pumpkins without him – it certainly made me feel a bit more ok about it.
Bill would better fold pumpkins and join JCC as a lead singer/guitarist/co-writer.
I did the whole pumpkins VIP experience at mohegan sun on what now seems like the “farewell” tour. During the meet and greet Billy was hyper engaged and really into talking to everyone. Jimmy seemed very distant and was staring off into space the whole time and even in some of the pictures with people. It was pretty funny. He just seemed a little over it. I can only imagine how he felt on stage with some of the stuff. Watching some of the videos he seemed like he wasn’t really feeling the whole everything is beautiful bit. this also echos the seem in “if all goes wrong” talking about the reviews in SF. Looking at the whole picture maybe it wasn’t what Jimmy wanted. Maybe he wanted it to be positive and a grand majestic return. The band never deserved to be boo’d at some of those shows. Maybe jimmy was just over it. Just a theory. For me I am interested to see what Billy will do. I’ve been a fan since 93 so I’m not going to stop now. The Cure still works. Maybe Billy could become a David Gilmour like figure. I will still listen and will still go see Bill and the “Pumpkins” in whatever form they will be. I saw them when Jimmy wasn’t in the band and I still loved it. Just my two cents.
Time to drop the ‘s’ for real, Billy.
It is officially “The Smashing Pumpkin” from here on out.
Good luck to Jimmy.
To cheer us up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Ka8DnUVEQ
Someone mashed the audio from the TBITEITB version of the Watchmen trailer with a Wall-E trailer!
Hooray! Distraction!
Above all, I’m glad Jimmy’s OK.
Other than a health issue, this really seemed like the only logical explanation. There has been a lot of silliness and negativity surrounding SP lately. If you can step away from it, it really is unlikely that a grown man like Jimmy could stomach all this for much longer.
A lot of people have mentioned that Jimmy seemed disinterested lately. I had picked up on that as well….he really seemed distant even before that last tour. Even in late ’07, a lot of times (onstage and in interviews) it looked like he had a fake smile on his face–like he was just sort of automatically agreeing with Billy.
I’ve seen Jimmy at drum clinics and with The Complex, and he seems like a very normal, humble guy. It stands to reason that he’d rather be around normal people than wear weird white outfits, capes, etc. The Smashing Pumpkins are my favorite band, but you never saw all this negativity with The Complex.
I’d really love to see Billy just chill and get a grip, and for Jimmy to help him make the next batch of SP music the best ever. Then again, who wouldn’t love to see all 4 original members get along again? Sad. At this stage, I only hope the whole thing doesn’t get any more disappointing/weirder……which isn’t saying much.
I’m glad Jimmy isn’t having any health problems either. He seems such a nice bloke from interviews and from what others have said, and he’s almost embarassing with his positivity, which seems quite the polar opposite from where Billy is most of the time. I look forward to seeing what he does with the Complex, and hope that he and Billy’s friendship remains in tact.
I think that Billy has it in his mind that he can return to the heights of fame established in the Mellon Collie era, but i’m not sure why he feels the need to do this and it isn’t really a possibility. There are few artists who are capable of ascending to greater and greater heights with each release of music. Billy keeps himself well hidden, it’s hard to know who he really is in terms of his music and behaviour. I’d like him to just chill out and make a record he likes and not worry about everyone else, or trying to write a hit single. He’s done it all, already. I can’t see this ever happening, but i think he could do from letting other people into his creative process to exchange ideas with, i think it would be good for his music.
Ok, this reasoning is BS. What he’s NOT trying to say is that he disagreed with how they did business…..yet he didn’t jump ship when they gave rights to Rock Band or Guitar hero, he knew full well who Irving Azoff was when they upped with him now over two years ago. As for the things Billy said at the anniversary shows…..WE ALL KNOW BILLY HAS SAID DUMB THINGS OVER THE YEAR, WHY IS THIS SUDDENLY AN ISSUE?
Something else happened because Jimmy suddenly saying “I don’t want to sell out” is bullshit in light of the past couple of years of dealing.
@Cherub Angel
Selling ‘Today’ to Visa is on a whole other level, most fans seem pretty unaminous on that point. It’s not the same as using ‘G.L.O.W.’ in Guitar Hero on F.O.L. in a Hyundai ad. It is more crass than a standard ‘cross promotioning marketing alliance’.
1-9 Louis
@Cherub Angel – Perhaps this doesn’t bode well for the future then… I mean most of these business deals happen long before the public knows anything about it.
Maybe Jimmy quit over something that just hasn’t happened yet…
Or maybe Jimmy just doesn’t want to play rock music anymore.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while now and I really believe that this was something that had been planned some time ago. I think Billy and Jimmy knew that this was going to happen eventually but wanted to wait for the right time. Maybe this is partly why they decided to do a 20th anniversary tour (last chicago show coffin and all). With Jimmy gone, we truly are never going to hear some of those pumpkins songs again, this may also be the reason why Billy said that he was no longer going to play old sp songs anymore. Jimmy sounds happy and healthy from his statement and the recent pictures of Billy makes me think that he’s doing just fine. It’s sad, but I still look forward to any material they release in the future. If the music is good I’ll listen, but I won’t hold them to any expectations anymore.
@Redmond: In the context of everything that has happened between those two over the past 20 years a VISA commercial is pretty small fucking potatoes.
Billy’s a great songwriter whether people want to admit it or not. Its in him somewhere. If all 4 of the original members sat down and wrote the songs throughout the years it would be one thing but at the end of the day pretty much all the classics came from him and hopefully he will use this experience to force himself to re-claim his role as a great songwriter/musician. The great drumming may be gone but the great songs don’t have to be. If Trent Reznor, Axl Rose and Robert Smith can be allowed to switch members constantly, then so can Billy.
When Jimmy says he doesn’t “fully possess”, I think he means just that. Not anything to do with “Today” in a commercial or anything. I often imagined what it might feel like to be singer-songwriter guitarist having someone else sing your lyrics, I don’t think it would feel like your song anymore and vice versa. The songs are all Corgan’s, Jimmy is just part of the equation. It makes perfect sense that he can’t fake ownership and passion for something that is not his creation. Maybe all those times he was quiet in interviews, he was really just waiting patiently and honorably for the whole promotion and tour to end. That’s one hell of a good friend. And here we were, thinking everything from Corgan going mad to Jimmy relapsing.
@Cherub Angel
There have been bigger crises in their career, such as the drug bust, etc. but in terms of ‘selling out’, ‘artistic integrity’ etc. it’s pretty much the biggest thing that’s happened.
Oh, come on- are we really that insecure about our musical heroes that we can’t possibly blame them for their own actions, and have to come up with a “some evil woman did it” conspiracy theory to absolve them of any responsibility for what’s happened? Do we really think so little of them that we’re willing to believe that someone could just waltz in & Jedi-mind-trick them into throwing away their otherwise-perfect relationship? Yoko, schmoko. I’d much rather believe that whatever happened between Billy & Jimmy was exactly that- between Billy and Jimmy, and not some sinister third-party she-devil. The Yoko gag is nearly 40 years old (which I’m guessing is older than all of us here), and it’s not like she was the sole reason (or even the main one) for the Beatles’ breakup anyway.
ObCC: LEAVE YOKO ONO ALOOOOOONE! :P”
I’d like to see Jimmy NOT CASH another single Smashing Pumpkins royalty check and just live on the money he makes from his own projects from now on. Something tells me this would never happen. Or maybe Billy owns all the rights to the band anyway.
I remember reading a long time ago that Billy gets up to 75% or more.
So you’re willing to accept that licensing one song ended this relationship? If that’s the reality then I have a bigger reason to be mad at those two…namely for letting something as ultimately trivial as one business decision get in the way of their work relationship. If one song ended this relationship, then it was a house of cards from the beginning. It’s like breaking up over who does the dishes. I’m sure people will scream “BU BU BUT BUT ‘Today!” at me, but again…..at the end of the day, despite where it came from, it’s just a song. The commercial won’t air forever and I doubt that this band will be remembered for being in a Visa ad. That’s not their legacy and I doubt Chamberlin is shortsighted enough to think that is their legacy.
To me it seems it would be more about wanting to play in JCC where there are no expectations, no negativity, ect instead of the Pumpkins where you’ve got major negativity, high expectations, ect to deal with. For an aging rocker I’m sure the choice was easy.
I’m seeing this wild story on the blogs that Matt Smith the teen world’s fastest and JAZZ drummer’s name is being thrown around as a possible short term replacement. I’m a drummer and know that this guy is a prodigy level talent. But you’d think you’d need a drummer with some mileage to hang with Billy. But as we all know sometimes it’s the wierd combinations that work out the best. I wish young Matt well if this is indeed the case.
Holy Crap! I was just about to post about the same thing. Is the Matt Smith story true? I just went looking on youtube and myspace and his drumming is incredible. But can he groove like Jimmy?
Wow. It really would help for a new drummer to have serious jazz chops, if he wants to hang. Interesting.
I vote for Brian V from the Dresden Dolls. He can already put up with a crazy singer, and he was invited to replace Josh Freese in NIN. He turned it down to tour with his friends, but that’s over iirc.
@ – Sam’s Clubber
@ – THC
Where did you see the speculation about Matt Smith? I’d be interested in checking it out. Thanks.
I vote for Phil McKenna.
This “letter” is from a mod posted on the SP board. Brotagaia to be precise.
“Jimmy, if this is your reasoning for leaving, then I’m sorry, as much as I love you and respect your talent as a musician I can not and will not support you. I feel betrayed by you, and feel your reasons for leaving are just selfish above all else. If you can sit there and preach about “we’re here to stay” and “we’ll be doing this until we die” and then just leave, then you’ve lost whatever integrity you once had in my eyes. You lied to me, an absolutely huge appreciater and supporter, and from what you’ve said you’ve been lying to me for a while.
Music is sacred? What? Musical talent is a gift you’ve been given to share with the world, not hold close to your chest to be worshipped by the few who sit in awe watching you do your thing, telling you how great you are, feeding your ego. I understand that you put your heart and soul into what you do, and that’s what music SHOULD be about when creating it, but what’s the point if you don’t then use it to form connections with other people and have it make a definitive, positive difference in the lives of others? The purpose of music is to express passion and love, and unite people – it’s not about being the best at something, and it’s not about staying true to yourself by not “selling out to the man”.
I don’t know how you can say that there’s no bad blood either. How about being honest for a change? When it comes to the crunch, you just don’t completely trust Billy. You resent letting him lead you and the other band members because you don’t believe his intentions are good and you feel he’s going to ruin your good name. What you don’t realise is that you’ve just done that for yourself. If you feel as though he’s “selling out to the man” by trying to bring in money to be able to do things with the band and spread his message, then you probably don’t understand what it’s been about from the beginning and you’ve just merely clung on and lapped up the cream.
I know you have been around Billy much longer than anyone else and probably think I have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, and maybe I don’t, but above all the bullshit and attitude I truly believe that Billy has nothing but the best of intentions when sharing his musical gift with the world. He is an intelligent, decent man, well-informed of the culture we currently live in and he’s just trying to do the best he can with the constraints in front of him. He’s trying to make music about being fair for all, so all musicians can spread their own message of love.
It is with regret that I won’t be supporting any of your future endeavours. To support someone who worships making music for his own ego more than utilising it as the gift that it is, and using it to spread the message of unity and love, would be selling out my own beliefs.”
How did Pumpkins fans become so simple minded? This nonsense echo’s the Bush doctrine of “if you’re not completely with us, you’re for the terrorists destroying AMERICA!!”
WTF? How did it come to this?
^^^wanker
was that post also approved to be posted by Billy himself?
@DiscoJon: In light of SP.com’s heavy moderation, I think it is a mistake to make generalizations about “Pumpkins fans” based on the posts of whomever is still trying to post to SP.com. (And it’s the same sort of mistake I criticized Billy and Jimmy over in the “fan’s plea” post.)
rC: “15 entire”
So.
Billy Corgan is, finally, the last man standing.
Embarassment after embarassment…..that letter takes the cake.
Actually, that letter sounds like it’s written by someone who isn’t playing with a full deck. And this line: ” If you feel as though he’s ‘selling out to the man’ by trying to bring in money to be able to do things with the band and spread his message, then you probably don’t understand what it’s been about from the beginning and you’ve just merely clung on and lapped up the cream.” Have the people over at the O-site come to some sort of agreement yet as to what exactly IS Billy’s almighty “message?” If so, do tell…
This “Dawn Of A New Era” phrase that’s all over the official site is nauseating. Talk about denial.
Wait- this guy is trying to lecture Jimmy on his ego, while blindly worshiping at the altar of Billy? LOL
Oh, and this just takes the cake:
wait, nevermind- all of the “open letters” are no-reply.
rC: talking Ill
You kinda have to think that when the other “members” (Jeff, Ginger, Lisa) see what kind of people must be making those comments over at SP.com—-they’d have to wonder what kind of weirdos some of these fans are. They probably wondering what to make of being in the middle of a bizarre scenario like this.
corgan responds. sort of: http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/pages/news/billy-in-studio-creating-5-new-demos
[...] Jimmy Chamberlin from the Smashing Pumpkins. Scant details were provided at the time, beyond the assertion from the Chamberlin camp that “there is no drama, bad blood, or anything else but a full [...]