Zwan was an American
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
supergroup formed in 2001 by lead guitarist/vocalist
Billy Corgan
William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...
and drummer
Jimmy Chamberlin
James Joseph Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer and record producer. Described as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock," he is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Following the ...
(both of
the Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...
). Other members included bassist
Paz Lenchantin
Paz Lenchantin (born December 12, 1973) is an Argentine-American musician. She is best known for having been the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of the alternative rock band Pixies (band), Pixies, playing with the band and recording three stu ...
(
A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American Rock music, rock Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool (band), Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle released three of their ...
), plus guitarists
David Pajo
David Pajo (born June 25, 1968) is an American musician. He has played a wide variety of music, loosely fitting into several other genres such as hardcore punk, math rock, post-rock, electronica, folk rock and indie pop. Though a multi-instrume ...
(
Slint
Slint was an American Rock music, rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1986 after the dissolution of two local bands, Squirrel Bait and Maurice. It initially consisted of guitarist-vocalist Brian McMahan, guitaris ...
) and
Matt Sweeney (
Chavez). The band released only one album, ''
Mary Star of the Sea'' (2003), before breaking up acrimoniously that year during their world tour to promote the album.
Following the disbanding, Corgan released a solo album, ''
TheFutureEmbrace
''TheFutureEmbrace'' is the debut solo album by American musician Billy Corgan, frontman of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released in June 2005, the album's sound was markedly different from most of Corgan's earlier work, esche ...
'' before reforming the Smashing Pumpkins in 2005, with Chamberlin joining in 2006. Despite allusions to multiple albums' worth of material written by band members, no further material has surfaced beyond their only studio album, and none of the material has been revisited in performances by any of the members outside of a brief 2017 tour by Corgan. In his 2019 solo shows, Corgan played "Honestly" and "Endless Summer" on several dates of his European summer tour.
History
Formation and ''Mary Star of the Sea'' (2001–2003)
Following the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins, Corgan and drummer
Jimmy Chamberlin
James Joseph Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer and record producer. Described as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock," he is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Following the ...
joined forces with
Matt Sweeney (formerly of the bands
Chavez and
Skunk
Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or gi ...
) to start Zwan. Corgan had been friends with Sweeney since early in his career and Sweeney was thanked in the
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards.
Origin
Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
to The Smashing Pumpkins album ''
Siamese Dream''.
Juan Alderete was one of the musicians who auditioned for the bassist position, before Sweeney recruited
David Pajo
David Pajo (born June 25, 1968) is an American musician. He has played a wide variety of music, loosely fitting into several other genres such as hardcore punk, math rock, post-rock, electronica, folk rock and indie pop. Though a multi-instrume ...
(member of
Slint
Slint was an American Rock music, rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1986 after the dissolution of two local bands, Squirrel Bait and Maurice. It initially consisted of guitarist-vocalist Brian McMahan, guitaris ...
,
Papa M,
Stereolab
Stereolab are an English people, Anglo-French avant-pop band formed in London in 1990. Led by the songwriting team of Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier, the group's sound incorporates repetitive motorik beats with the use of vintage electronic keybo ...
and many
Drag City acts). The band debuted as a four-piece in late 2001. Later, former
A Perfect Circle
A Perfect Circle is an American Rock music, rock Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool (band), Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle released three of their ...
bassist
Paz Lenchantin
Paz Lenchantin (born December 12, 1973) is an Argentine-American musician. She is best known for having been the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of the alternative rock band Pixies (band), Pixies, playing with the band and recording three stu ...
joined the band in 2002, and Pajo was moved to third guitarist.
Zwan had two different incarnations. The first, and more common version, the True Poets of Zwan (or simply "Zwan"), used three guitars, bass guitar and drums. Zwan's only album, ''
Mary Star of the Sea'', is attributed to the True Poets of Zwan in the liner notes. Zwan is credited with being a bridge between the success of the Smashing Pumpkins in the 1990s and the further career developments and experimentations undertaken by Corgan in the 2000s, as well as his shift from his sombre, dark themes towards more hopeful lyrics in line with his spiritual development at the time.
Djali Zwan, an acoustic incarnation of Zwan, which also featured cellist
Ana Lenchantin, Paz's sister, was to film and record the making of a new album in the studio in the fall of 2003, with an album and DVD to be issued in early 2004. Corgan spoke with ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' about his plans: "We're going to do it ''
Let It Be
Let It Be most commonly refers to:
* ''Let It Be'' (album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970
* "Let It Be" (song), the title song from the album
Let It Be may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Let It Be'' (1970 film), ...
''-style," Corgan said, referring to the documentary about the 1970
Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
album. "The album would be recorded live, with the cameras rolling. When you get the DVD, you can watch the takes on the album being done." He described the songs he'd written for Djali Zwan as "more folk-driven, rooted in traditional music. I don't want to compromise veins of material to fit into an electric band, which I often did in the Pumpkins. With Djali Zwan, I can write an acoustic song and not worry how it's going to stand up against some rock epic."
Billy Corgan,
Linda Strawberry, and Matt Sweeney came together to create the soundtrack for the movie ''
Spun'', directed by
Jonas Åkerlund
Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish filmmaker and musician who is best known for his work in music videos. Åkerlund was a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory. He has directed well-known videos for artists ...
, and were credited as The Djali Zwan.
Break-up (2003)
Billy Corgan announced the band had broken up on Chicago's
WGN, on September 15, 2003. "I really enjoyed my experience with Zwan, but at the end of the day, without that sense of deeper family loyalty, it just becomes like anything else," Corgan said.
On April 24, 2005, in the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', Corgan commented briefly on the breakup of the band: "The music wasn't the big problem, it was more their attitude... Sex acts between band members in public. People carrying drugs across borders. Pajo sleeping with the producer's girlfriend while we were making the record."
In the May 27, 2005 edition of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'', Corgan elaborated on his version of what went wrong:
Corgan also stated that he can no longer listen to ''Mary Star of the Sea'', because to him it sounds like "thousands of lies upon lies upon lies. It's a shame because there's tons of music unreleased that will just sit in a box until I can stomach it." When asked which of his two former bands would ever reform, he said, "Pumpkins. You'll never see Zwan. I'll never go anywhere near those people. Ever. I mean, I detest them. You can put that in capital letters. Bad people.
James and
D'arcy are good people. They might be misguided people, but they're good people."
A decade after Zwan's demise, Corgan's stance would soften regarding performance of its material. He included Zwan songs in a set of mostly Smashing Pumpkins material during a solo show in August 2014, and the following year announced a Smashing Pumpkins acoustic tour that would also incorporate Zwan material in its sets. Zwan songs were also featured in Corgan's tour to support his 2017 solo album, ''
Ogilala
''Ogilala'' () is the second solo album by American musician Billy Corgan (under his full name, William Patrick Corgan), frontman of alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The album was released on October 13, 2017, in the United States. It ...
''.
Matt Sweeney, who initiated the band with Corgan, said in 2017, "We had a friendship from before he was famous. One on one, we had a pretty great thing going. We had a great year where we made like a hundred songs. Nobody's ever heard that stuff. But once it went public, everything was different. I was confused, it started to feel like fulfilling a commitment where the game had changed. It was interesting, I'm still sort of unpacking that experience. We all had to sign confidentiality agreements, so I can't really talk about it." David Pajo was also still negative about the band as of 2017.
Musical style
Zwan's debut and only album was described as "an efficient exercise in the kind of American
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
with big choruses that makes the boys at the front jump up and down."
The band's style is mostly
pop-orientated and closer to mainstream
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
, evoking "the candied pop that characterised much of the Pumpkins' later work." Nevertheless, the songs also contrast with late Pumpkins material, being described as a "bright blast of tuneful guitar rock, as effervescent as the late Pumpkins material was gloomy." In addition to being considered as
power pop
Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...
,
the band's work also features guitarist David Pajo's
post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...
textures.
Band members
*
Jimmy Chamberlin
James Joseph Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer and record producer. Described as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock," he is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Following the ...
– drums (2001–2003)
*
Billy Corgan
William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...
– guitar, lead vocals (2001–2003)
*
David Pajo
David Pajo (born June 25, 1968) is an American musician. He has played a wide variety of music, loosely fitting into several other genres such as hardcore punk, math rock, post-rock, electronica, folk rock and indie pop. Though a multi-instrume ...
– bass guitar (2001–2002), guitar (2002–2003)
*
Matt Sweeney – guitar, backing vocals (2001–2003)
*
Paz Lenchantin
Paz Lenchantin (born December 12, 1973) is an Argentine-American musician. She is best known for having been the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of the alternative rock band Pixies (band), Pixies, playing with the band and recording three stu ...
– bass guitar, backing vocals (2002–2003)
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
References
External links
*
Zwan collectionat the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
's live music archive
{{Authority control
American alternative rock groups
Musical groups established in 2001
Musical groups disestablished in 2003
American musical quintets
American rock music supergroups
American pop rock music groups
American power pop groups
Billy Corgan