Jimmy Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer, songwriter, and producer. He is best known as the former drummer for the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. After a drug-related incident with touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin in 1996, Chamberlin was fired from the band and joined The Last Hard Men, but rejoined the Pumpkins in late 1998. Following the 2000 breakup of the band, Chamberlin joined Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan in the supergroup Zwan and also formed his own group, the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. In 2005, Chamberlin joined Corgan in reforming The Smashing Pumpkins; he eventually left the group in March 2009.
Chamberlin, who originally trained as a jazz drummer, cites jazz musicians Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, as well as rock drummers Keith Moon, Ian Paice and John Bonham as major influences on his technique. While he is known as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock,"[1] he primarily strives for emotionally communicative playing.[2] In 2008, Gigwise named Chamberlin the 5th best drummer of all time.[3]Contents [hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 The Smashing Pumpkins 1.3 Other projects, 2001 - 2006 1.4 Revival of The Smashing Pumpkins 1.5 Future 2 Musical style and influences 3 Equipment 4 Discography 5 Notes and references 6 External links
[edit] Biography [edit] Early life
James Joseph Chamberlin was born in Joliet, Illinois, one of six children.[4] His father and his older brother Paul were both active in jazz bands, playing clarinet and drums respectively, and his brother Paul is still an active rock drummer, with a local cover band[5][6]
Chamberlin began drumming at age 9.[7] His early instruction included Latin, Brazilian, and big band techniques, but focused on jazz, under the tutelage of future Yanni drummer, Charlie Adams.[8]
Chamberlin left home at age 15[9] and joined a series of local bands.[4] Although his early music career proved profitable, Chamberlin's father pressured him into going to college, so he spent a year at Northern Illinois University.[4] In 1994, Chamberlin revealed that he had been estranged from his father for seven years.[9] After three years with the show band JP and the Cats, Chamberlin, wearied by the touring schedule, quit and got a job building custom homes with his brother-in-law.[4] Before long, he joined the Smashing Pumpkins. [edit] The Smashing Pumpkins Main article: The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins were looking for a live drummer to open a show at the Metro, a Chicago club. Chamberlin and Billy Corgan met through a mutual friend, and Chamberlin expressed cautious interest, later recalling:
So I went out and saw the band - Billy, James, and D'arcy - playing at Avalon with a drum machine. Man, did they sound horrible! They were atrocious. But the thing I noticed was that not only were the song structures good, but Billy's voice had a lot of drive to it, like he was dying to succeed. So I ended up driving from work every Wednesday to rehearse with them.[4]
Corgan had his own concerns:
He was wearing a pink t-shirt, stonewashed jeans, he had a mullet haircut, and he was driving a 280Z, and had yellow drums. We were sort of looking each other in the eye thinking, 'This ain't gonna happen, this is not the guy.' [But] he'd learned all our songs, as only Jimmy can, off the top of his head, and, within one practice, we were ready to play. It was amazing. We just knew right away. He's that good.[10]
Despite Chamberlin making "tons of cash" as a carpenter,[4] he would soon give up his job and move to Chicago to devote himself to the band. Chamberlin's entry quickly pushed the band towards a more powerful, intense sound. The first two Smashing Pumpkins albums, Gish and Siamese Dream, were performed almost entirely by Corgan and Chamberlin alone.
During this period Chamberlin became addicted to heroin. During the recording of 1993's Siamese Dream in Marietta, Georgia, Chamberlin would often disappear for days at a time while the rest of the band feared for his life.[11] He later said of his drug addiction that "It's pretty textbook [...] Guy makes it in rock band, gets very full of himself, starts thinking he's indestructible, and all of a sudden he destroys himself."[12]
In the midst of the lengthy world tour supporting 1995's multi-platinum Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Chamberlin's father died, and his heroin addiction hit a fever pitch.[13] Of this period, Chamberlin later said, "I learned that escapism was better than emotion, and that's where I hid... It got to the point that I really didn't care. Life was scary for me."[13] Prior to shows scheduled at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Chamberlin and touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin overdosed on heroin; Melvoin subsequently died, and Chamberlin was kicked out of the band, ostensibly to protect his health.[14]
Charged with drug possession, Chamberlin avoided serving jail time by pleading guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and returning to rehab.[8] In late 1996, he joined The Last Hard Men, led by ex-Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach. The band recorded its one and only album in 1996 and 1997, though its release was delayed until 2001 due to being caught in "major-label development hell."[15]
In October 1998, Corgan convened a band meeting where Chamberlin was reinstated as the group's drummer and the band decided to break up after one more album and tour.[11] The band yielded two albums in 2000, Machina/The Machines of God and the freely distributed Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music before performing a farewell show in Chicago on December 2, 2000. [edit] Other projects, 2001 - 2006
Chamberlin went on to form Zwan in 2001 with Corgan. Although Chamberlin predicted that "the band's going to be huge,"[12] Zwan produced only one album, Mary Star of the Sea, before disbanding in 2003. Chamberlin formed his next project, Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, in 2004, and released its first studio album, Life Begins Again, in 2005. Chamberlin stated that, with the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, "I just wanted to make music and not really be constrained to making a Zwan or a Pumpkins record."[16] [edit] Revival of The Smashing Pumpkins
Billy Corgan announced at an April 2004 solo performance that he and Chamberlin intended to work together again in the future. After appearing on Life Begins Again, Corgan announced plans to "renew and revive" the Pumpkins through a full-page advertisement in his hometown's newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, on June 21, 2005.[17] Chamberlin contacted Corgan to accept, and on February 2, 2006, MTV.com reported that he and Corgan had signed a new management deal with the Front Line Management, with a spokesperson confirming they had signed under the name "Smashing Pumpkins".[18]
Chamberlin and Corgan, without the other original members, decided to record an album alone. They played their first show in Paris on May 22, 2007, with three new band members. On July 10, the new album, Zeitgeist, was released. Over the next year and a half, the band released more recordings and toured extensively.
On March 20, 2009 the Pumpkins' website announced that Chamberlin was leaving the band. Chamberlin released a blog stating that he left as he felt that the band would not further his commitment to music. [19] [edit] Future
While giving drum clinics in late 2009, Chamberlin announced his next project, a band called This. Describing the music as 'progressive, symphonic pop' he reported that the band, also including multi-instrumentalists Mike Reina and guitarist Anthony Pirog, would record with Roy Thomas Baker in Washington, D.C. in early 2010.[7] [edit] Musical style and influences
Chamberlin comes from a jazz background, and he notes jazz musicians Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich as influences.[5] He has also been compared to jazz drummer Dennis Chambers for his "quick hands, furious snare rolls, and crackling rimshots."[8] In general, he is one of the few hard rock drummers to combine a driving backbeat with jazz-like flourishes. When asked about his influences in 2007, he responded:
Aside from the obvious—Keith Moon, John Bonham, Ian Paice—I would have to say Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, any of the jazz greats—Gene Krupa, those people. I think, more and more, as I get older, I've developed my own rock style and I tend to pull more stuff from Elvin Jones and Tony now that I can incorporate it into a rock arena and kind of modernize it.[20]
Other drummers that influenced Chamberlin around the recording of Zeitgeist included Bobby Caldwell of Captain Beyond, Lalo Schifrin's Dirty Harry soundtrack, Weather Report, and Return to Forever's Lenny White.[21]
Chamberlin prefers not to use Pro Tools or click tracks;[22] however, he used click tracks on the recording of Siamese Dream because he thought his meter during the Gish era was too inconsistent.[4]
Ex-bandmate Billy Corgan has said of Chamberlin, "he's up there with Bonham, you know, that level of drummer, who has been able to play a variety of music and have his style impact the way people play drums. That's the hallmark of a great drummer. And, right now, I think, pound for pound, he's the best drummer in the world."[23] [edit] Equipment
Chamberlin is currently using a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute kit with 60 (instead of standard 45) degree bearing edges. His kit comprises two snares (5x12 and the main snare, his 5.5x14 "Signature" model), six toms (12x14, 8x10, 9x13, and an 8x8 above his floor toms which are 16x16 and 16x18), a 16x22 bass drum, four crash cymbals (a 15" thin and three Zildjian A customs - 15", 18", and 19"), a 8" splash cymbal, 15" New Beat hi-hats, a 20" China High, a 22" K Constantinople medium ride, and a 22" riveted swish knocker. Chamberlin's drumheads are Remo coated Ambassador on snare-side, clear Emperors on tops of toms with clear Ambassadors underneath, with a Powerstoke 3 on the bass drum batter. He uses Zildjian cymbals and Vic Firth 5B sticks. His signature snare drum is popular with other drummers - Chad Smith has been known to use it as a second snare drum.[21] [edit] DiscographyThe Smashing Pumpkins Main article: The Smashing Pumpkins discography 1991: Gish 1993: Siamese Dream 1995: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 2000: Machina/The Machines of God 2000: Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music 2007: Zeitgeist Side projects 1998: The Last Hard Men (The Last Hard Men) (limited release 1998, reissue 2001) 2003: Mary Star of the Sea (Zwan) 2005: Life Begins Again (Jimmy Chamberlin Complex) Guest appearances 1994: She Knows Everything (remix) (Medicine) 1997: Starjob (The Frogs) 2005: TheFutureEmbrace (Billy Corgan) (appears on "DIA") 2006: Gone (Bill Madden) (appears on "Gone") 2010: Not From Here (Gannin Arnold) (appears on "Not From Here" and "Get On with It") 2010: Metro: The Official Bootleg Series, Volume 1 (Appears on the track Freedom)
