Zwan: Difference between revisions
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===True Poets of Zwan=== |
===True Poets of Zwan=== |
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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 (album)]]'', is attributed to the True Poets of Zwan in the liner notes.<ref>Interview with Matt Sweeney. ''[[Mary_Star_of_the_Sea#Deluxe_edition|For Your Love]]'' DVD, ''Mary Star of the Sea''</ref> |
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 (album)|Mary Star of the Sea]]'', is attributed to the True Poets of Zwan in the liner notes.<ref>Interview with Matt Sweeney. ''[[Mary_Star_of_the_Sea#Deluxe_edition|For Your Love]]'' DVD, ''Mary Star of the Sea''</ref> |
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===Djali Zwan=== |
===Djali Zwan=== |
Revision as of 18:49, 30 March 2012
Zwan | |
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Background information | |
Genres | Alternative rock, indie rock, dream pop |
Years active | 2001–2003 |
Labels | Reprise |
Past members | Billy Corgan Matt Sweeney Jimmy Chamberlin David Pajo Paz Lenchantin |
Zwan was an American alternative rock band that was formed by members of The Smashing Pumpkins, Slint, Tortoise, Chavez, and A Perfect Circle. Zwan was started in late 2001 by Billy Corgan, lead singer and guitarist of The Smashing Pumpkins, after the Pumpkins disbanded in December 2000. The band released only one album, entitled Mary Star of the Sea. The group disbanded acrimoniously after their 2003 world tour.
History
Formation and first shows
Following the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins, Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin joined forces with Matt Sweeney (formerly of the bands Chavez and Skunk) to start Zwan. Corgan had been friends with Sweeney since early in his career and Sweeney was thanked in the liner notes to The Smashing Pumpkins album Siamese Dream. Sweeney recruited David Pajo (member of Slint, Papa M., Stereolab and many Drag City acts) as a bassist.[1] The band debuted as a four-piece in late 2001.
Paz Lenchantin completed the group in spring 2002, at which time Pajo switched to guitar duties.[citation needed] The band initially played low-key shows in California, while slowly touring in small clubs throughout 2001 and 2002.[citation needed] Their first large-scale performance was at WKQX's Jamboree Festival in May 2002, in the Chicago area.[citation needed] Most songs they played during this era did not make it onto their album. November and December 2002 was spent headlining clubs around the midwest and northeast and a series of opening shows in support of Counting Crows.[citation needed]
True Poets of Zwan
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.[2]
Djali Zwan
Djali Zwan, an acoustic incarnation of Zwan, which also featured cellist Ana Lenchantin, 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 about his plans: "We're going to do it Let It Be-style," Corgan said, referring to the documentary about the 1970 Beatles 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."[3] Billy Corgan, Linda Strawberry, and Matt Sweeney came together to create the soundtrack for the movie Spun, directed by Jonas Ackerlund, and were credited as The Djali Zwan.
Break-up
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.[citation needed]
On April 24, 2005 in the Chicago Tribune, 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."[4]
In the May 27, 2005 edition of Entertainment Weekly, Corgan elaborated on his version of what went wrong:
Sex and drugs and junk. Tick off the list: heroin, band members having relationships...You don't trust the person next to you. I'm on the bus. I send an email to somebody and I throw my BlackBerry in my little day bag. The next day, my ex-girlfriend calls me screaming. Somebody in the group went into my BlackBerry and forwarded her an e-mail that another girl sends me. I mean, that's the kind of stuff we were dealing with.
Pajo denied Corgan's accusations in the same article. "Pretty much everything that he said has been exaggerated and blown out of proportion," he said. "The drug stuff in particular. I know there was no heroin." Adds Lenchantin, "I believe that we were a really good team. I am moving on and onward. I hope that our paths will meet again in peace." Sweeney declined to comment.[citation needed]
Discography
Albums
- Mary Star of the Sea (2003, Reprise Records, #3 US, #4 Canada, #17 Germany,[5] #33 UK)[6]
Singles
Date | Title | Chart positions | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | Canadian Top 40 Singles | Germany[7] | UK Singles Chart[6] | |||
November 2002 | "Honestly" | 7 | 21 | 17 | 86 | 28 | |
June 2, 2003 | "Lyric" | — | — | — | — | 44 |
References
- ^ Gawron, Nolan. "Papa M." The Weekly Dig. December 9, 2003. Available at http://web.archive.org/web/20031223223219/http://www.weeklydig.com/dig/content/5362.aspx
- ^ Interview with Matt Sweeney. For Your Love DVD, Mary Star of the Sea
- ^ Fricke, David. "Corgan Unplugs Zwan". Rolling Stone, May 23, 2003. Retrieved on September 10, 2007.
- ^ Kot, Greg. "Billy Corgan comes clean, starts over". Chicago Tribune, April 24, 2005. Retrieved on September 10, 2007.
- ^ "Chartverfolgung / Zwan / Longplay". musicline.de (in German). PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 618. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "Chartverfolgung / Zwan / Single". musicline.de (in German). PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
External links
- Zwan collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive