James Iha
James Iha
James Yoshinobu Ihais an American rock musician. He is best known as former guitarist and co-founder of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins and for his eclectic musical projects of recent years, most notably being a permanent fixture of A Perfect Circle. He was most recently a member of Tinted Windows, a 1960s/1970s inspired group with members of Cheap Trick, Fountains of Wayne, and Hanson...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGuitarist
Date of Birth26 March 1968
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
You know, it's going to be a really long tour, and well, I guess I'll see what happens with A Perfect Circle, 'cause they do other projects too, and I don't know. I hope I can always do a lot of different things, do 'em well.
Well, we didn't have our original drummer on our last record. And most of that album was not played as a band in the studio. It was mostly the world of computers and overdubs. There was very few things played live or worked out as a band.
It's probably getting our old drummer back and actually playing as a band. And, I don't know, it sounds like what we do best right now.
My first job in NYC was playing a gig in the early nineties at CBGBs.
I'm happy doing different things. Being in a band is great, but being in a band can be difficult sometimes.
Yeah, I'm sure there are stereotypes of Asian people.
We have a partnership deal with New Line Records, which is part of New Line Cinema, and... I worked on that.
Well, I always hope that I'm a role model.
Well, I'm pretty domestic actually. I walk my dog. I go grocery shopping. I hang out with friends. I'm pretty normal, whatever normal is, on my off time.
I like a lot of different kinds of music. I like strong projects, big music.
I think if you're able to make the music you want and you can do it in the right kind of context, you don't have to be a circus ringleader to be successful.
I play and I've played in heavy bands, but when I write for myself, I don't particularly feel like writing huge rock riffs. It just doesn't work for me and my voice.
At some point, I had to make a decision: I could practice more and become a really great guitar player or I could work on writing better songs. There are only so many hours in the day, and I found writing songs more fulfilling than working on becoming this virtuoso guitar player.
After 12 intense years of rock music, I was happy to get away from making a record and going out on a tour. When I did it, I wanted to feel inspired. After a while I finally had my fill working on other people's music, and I started coming up with music on my own and said, 'This could be for me.