THIS - Speculation...

 

So, as we move ever closer to the first release by THIS, I got to thinking. More specifically, I got to thinking about this interview, where Chamberlin said "[I don't have enough time to sit around and listen to ten songs from an album...]". This, alongside his other, similar, sentiments which he expressed about the record industry and culture, towards the end of his tenure in SP and the drum clinic last year, just made me wonder about what THIS might do different, if anything. 

 

Anyway, I know hardly anyone who comes here comments, but what do you think? Do you think the THIS release will be a straight up album or something different? 

More importantly, what do you hope for...?

((I would like a quadruple box set and a DVD, at least ;) ))

New Jimmy Chamberlin Record THIS Month...

I should have probably highlighted, in the last post, that Better Propaganda mentioned that the new This record, 'Great Civilizations', will be available this month, at bandcamp. Noice.

On the Brink of This...

A Look Inside: The Brink Studio

In the first in their series of "music geek pieces", Better Propaganda  brings us some shots of a studio called The Brink. The space is owned by Mike Reina.  Jimmy Chamberlin and Mike just finished recording the new THIS record there. Although, it appears to me that not all of the album was recorded there... Anyway, here's some words, from Mike and some piccys. Be sure to visit Better Propaganda for the full set of photos and texts....

Mike Reina: "Aside from the obligatory 4 tracking in high school and college, my recording experience was mostly limited to digital until my band got an MCI 1" 8 track. I hate to admit that a machine could have the power to change my life, but there is more than enough evidence in the racks to conclude that It did.

Since then, I have been assembling, disassembling and reassembling my studio with an obligation to keep all of this aging technology alive. There are plenty of people fighting that fight, but I feel an unnerving awareness that it will all slip away somehow, and that it's just a matter of time before it reaches relic status. As melodramatic as all of this sounds, I swear that I am not an analog snob!

I think digital platforms are great, but early on, I stumbled across the realization that the main benefit of tape wasn't it's great, vibrant sound. It was the edge of the canvas that it drew...the guardrail at the side of the highway. Limitation became my favorite influence on creativity. I began to see how limitation had guided my hand in all that I did leading up to this point in my life.

I graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Architectural Design and there, too, limitation was a driving force acting on my work. Recording with a tape machine felt like an extension of the creative process that had been slowly etching a path in my mind since school. In comparison, recording to Pro Tools felt like jumping off a cliff into a vast, blank sky. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face because the limitlessness was blinding.

I got along great with this old gear until one night, the tape wouldn't stop rolling...literally. If I was going to continue working with vintage equipment, I knew I would have to learn how to maintain it. To my own annoyance, I became rather obsessive about it.

The studio is centered around a 42 channel 1978 MCI JH-500 series console. I love this desk because it has Jensen input transformers for the microphones, output transformers, and a four band inductor based EQ section using switches instead of pots for frequency selection and boost/cut. I soldered everything in the studio directly to the back of the console. I record to an MCI JH-24 16 and 24 track depending on the song or project. I mix to an Ampex ATR-100 1/2" 2 track. My tube compressor/limiter collection includes a Gates SA-39B, Gates Sta Level, RCA 86A-1, Collins 26U-1, Collins 26W, (5) Federal AM-864/U, GE Unilevel, (2) Fairchild Model C. I built (2) 1176 clones, and adapted (2) Russian made tube EQs. I recapped and in many cases rebuilt all of the vintage gear in the studio."

Gannin Arnold DVD (Ft. Jimmy Chamberlin) Release Date

Remember when we told you about this, well according to Gannin, on his Facebook page, the DVD will be released in December this year.

You Can't Quit, You're Fired.

Anyone remember this little article in RS, where Corgan claimed to have fired Jimmy Chamberlin from the Smashing Pumpkins in 2009?  As you recall, this was contrary to the previous statement by Chamberlin and indeed, Chamberlin denied Corgan's account himself in the RS article.

Well, guess what, Corgan's recollection of the affair, is a different this time around in a new interview with the Sidney Morning Herald.

"...it was a serious decision for both of us..."

Corgan states about the departure of Chamberlin. Last time I thought about what being fired by someone meant, it had little to do with a decision made by both parties...  

He continues "...we had invested a lot of energy bringing the band back. There was a point where we couldn't see eye to eye". This, at least seems more congrous with Chamberlin's own account. Then, in a reversal of his original "fuck you", Corgan actually echo's Chamberlin's original sentiments towards his one time 'musical soulmate', saying "I wish him the best. He's an incredible musician [the best drummer in the world - by Corgan's own account - DP]".

However, he again wraps himself up in another contradiction as he goes on to complain that his solo record was ignored because it wasn't "Smashing Pumpkins". What basis then does he have to expect something different of his ex-bandmates? But he does; "The stuff they have done (since) is off the radar from the general public."

Now, considering he hasn't spoken to Chamberlin since his departure, I guess he isn't aware that Chamberlin has been working on an new album, by This, this past year.  Maybe this isn't wider public knowledge, but since Chamberlin decided to take himself out of the music hype machine, taking a stance against prolific self-publicisation last year, maybe he doesn't... [deep breath]... care. I'm sure if he did and played by Billy's rules, he would undoubtedly have made an announcement about making an announcement, about announcing how great it will be, well before now... 

But perhaps, just perhaps, he has slightly more important things to do beside coaxing "a wider public knowledge" of his forthcoming record. Perhaps like Jimmy has said, his family means a little more than a bunch of cash and a few gold records.