Guitarist James Iha has rarely had a free moment since leaving The Smashing Pumpkins in 2000. He has guested on Fountains of Wayne albums, joined A Perfect Circle, released solo material, and produced myriad artists, including Michael Stipe, Cat Power, and St. Lucia. Recently he scored Hulu original series “Deadbeat.” James Iha talks about why mobile television is the wave of the future, working with Billy Corgan versus Maynard James Keenan versus Taylor Hanson, and his favorite app for rare moments of boredom.
Don’t let the pose fool you: James Iha has little time for leisure.
(Credit: Aliya Naumoff)
How would you compare solo work to playing in a band or scoring a TV show such as “Deadbeat”? They’re all different things. As a working musician, you have to be creative in different ways. When you do a solo record, you’re kind of doing everything. The big difference is singing and writing pretty much everything — the lyrics and the music. In a band like The Smashing Pumpkins or A Perfect Circle, you want to be a team player. I play guitar in the Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle, and you just want to fit in. I sound like a sports player now. [Laughs] But your role is guitar player, and you just want to bring as much as you can, doing that. For “Deadbeat,” scoring or writing cues for TV shows is like a different part of the brain. There are no lyrics, s… [Read more]
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