May 27th, 2009
James Iha Talks Tinted Windows
Just got off the phone with guitarist James Iha — who’s probably best known for his long stint in the Smashing Pumpkins — who comes to the TLA on Thursday, June 18th with his new power-pop supergroup, Tinted Windows, which also features singer/keyboardist Taylor Hanson (yes, from that Hanson), drummer Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick), and bassist-vocalist Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne/Ivy). A seemingly unlikely lineup, but here’s some of what Iha had to say about that:
“I guess it’s like, to me, it’s not surprising — I’m a working musician and I work on all different…lots of different kinds of projects. Remixes and producing and working with indie bands. I dunno, I don’t really think of my identity as being just with one band anymore. I feel like the Pumpkins broke up a while ago and it’s just like, I’ve moved on, working on whatever I like and whatever works for me.”
And on the notion of “supergroups”:
“We decided that’s something we’re not gonna call ourselves [laughs]. If somebody else wants to call us that, that’s cool. But it’s definitely a bad idea to throw that term around.”
Keep on the lookout for my full interview with Iha as we get closer to the Tinted Windows show!
