Zwan
Background information
Genre(s)	Alternative rock
Years active	2001– Sep 15, 2003
Label(s)	Reprise
Associated acts	The Smashing Pumpkins A Perfect Circle Slint Chavez
Former members
Jimmy Chamberlin Billy Corgan Matt Sweeney David Pajo Paz Lenchantin

Zwan was a short-lived "indie supergroup" that was formed by The Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan in 2001. They released only one album in early 2003, entitled Mary Star of the Sea. The band then was disbanded shortly after by Corgan in mid-2003. Image File history File links Zwan_promo_2003. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Alternative rock (also called alternative music[1] or simply alternative) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Reprise Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group, operated through Warner Bros. ... The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ... A Perfect Circle (often referred to as APC) was an alternative rock band, formed by guitarist Billy Howerdel. ... Slint was a rock/math rock band consisting of Brian McMahan (guitar and vocals), David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford (drums), Todd Brashear (bass on Spiderland) and Ethan Buckler (bass on Tweez). ... A music band named fer Chavez. This article needs input, and was also listed in the search query for potentional meanings of Chavez. Categories: Musical group stubs ... James Joseph Jimmy Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964, Joliet, Illinois) is a musician best known as the drummer for the rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. ... William Patrick Billy Corgan, Jr. ... Matt Sweeney is a guitarist/vocalist who has played in various groups, including 90s bands Skunk and Chavez. ... David Pajo is an alternative rock musician. ... Paz Lenchantin performing with A Perfect Circle Paz Lenchantin (born December 12, 1973 in Mar del Plata, Argentina) is an Argentine-American musician who came to Los Angeles, California with her family at the age of four. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe music groups comprising members who had already achieved fame or respect in other groups or as individual artists. ... The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ... William Patrick Billy Corgan, Jr. ... Mary Star of the Sea is Zwans only album, released on January 28, 2003. ...

Band Members

• Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), of The Smashing Pumpkins.
• Matt Sweeney (guitar, vocals), formerly of the bands Chavez and Skunk. He has also played with Cat Power, Guided by Voices, and Will Oldham/Bonnie "Prince" Billy.
• David Pajo (guitar, initially bass), formerly of Slint, also the driving force behind Papa M. He has also played with Tortoise, Stereolab, Royal Trux and Will Oldham/Bonnie "Prince" Billy.
• Paz Lenchantin (bass, vocals), also of A Perfect Circle. She has also played with Papa M and The Silver Jews.
• Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), of The Smashing Pumpkins.

William Patrick Billy Corgan, Jr. ... The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ... Matt Sweeney is a guitarist/vocalist who has played in various groups, including 90s bands Skunk and Chavez. ... A music band named fer Chavez. This article needs input, and was also listed in the search query for potentional meanings of Chavez. Categories: Musical group stubs ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Guided by Voices (often abbreviated as GBV) was an extremely prolific lo-fi/indie-rock band from Dayton, Ohio. ... Will Oldham in concert Will Oldham (born 24 December 1970, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. ... Will Oldham in concert Will Oldham is an American songwriter, actor, and musician born in Louisville, Kentucky. ... David Pajo is an alternative rock musician. ... Slint was a rock/math rock band consisting of Brian McMahan (guitar and vocals), David Pajo (guitar), Britt Walford (drums), Todd Brashear (bass on Spiderland) and Ethan Buckler (bass on Tweez). ... Papa M is the latest project of David Pajo, former bassist for seminal post-rockers Slint. ... Tortoise, an instrumental rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1990. ... Stereolab are an English-based band whose style, mixing 1950s-1960s pop and lounge music with the motorik beat of krautrock, was one of the first to which the term post-rock was applied. ... Royal Trux was an American rock band, founded by Neil Michael Hagerty (vocals, guitar) and Jennifer Herrema (vocals). ... Will Oldham in concert Will Oldham (born 24 December 1970, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. ... Will Oldham in concert Will Oldham is an American songwriter, actor, and musician born in Louisville, Kentucky. ... Paz Lenchantin performing with A Perfect Circle Paz Lenchantin (born December 12, 1973 in Mar del Plata, Argentina) is an Argentine-American musician who came to Los Angeles, California with her family at the age of four. ... A Perfect Circle (often referred to as APC) was an alternative rock band, formed by guitarist Billy Howerdel. ... Papa M is the latest project of David Pajo, former bassist for seminal post-rockers Slint. ... The Silver Jews are a band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1989 by writer David Berman along with Pavements Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. ... James Joseph Jimmy Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964, Joliet, Illinois) is a musician best known as the drummer for the rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. ... The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ...

Early History

Following the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins, Corgan and Chamberlin joined forces with Matt Sweeney to start Zwan. Corgan had been friends with Sweeney since early in his career (the latter was thanked in the liner notes to The Smashing Pumpkins album Siamese Dream). Sweeney recruited Pajo as a bassist, and the band debuted as a four-piece in late 2001. Lenchantin completed the group in spring 2002, at which time Pajo switched to guitar duties. The band initially played low-key shows in California, while slowly touring in small clubs throughout 2001 and 2002. Their first large-scale performance was at WKQX's Jamboree Festival in May 2002, in the Chicago area. Most songs they played during this era did not make it onto their album, which came as a surprise to many fans. The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ... Siamese Dream was the breakthrough success for and second album by The Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 27, 1993. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

True Poets of Zwan

Zwan had two different incarnations. The first, and more common, version, the True Poets of Zwan, used an intricate three-guitar attack to craft a sound often compared to that of the Smashing Pumpkins album Siamese Dream, albeit more melodic and shot through with an upbeat gentleness. Jimmy Chamberlin's frenetic drumming furthered the Siamese Dream comparison. Paz Lenchantin's bass technique was considerably more elaborate than that employed by D'Arcy Wretzky in Smashing Pumpkins albums, particularly in the song "Settle Down," which Lenchantin cowrote. This incarnation of the band also made extensive use of backup vocals, by Lenchantin and Matt Sweeney. Zwan's only album, Mary Star of the Sea, is attributed to the True Poets of Zwan in the liner notes. Siamese Dream was the breakthrough success for and second album by The Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 27, 1993. ... Darcy Elizabeth Wretzky (born May 1, 1968 in South Haven, Michigan), also known simply as Darcy, is a rock musician best known for her work as a bass player with the highly successful alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. ... Mary Star of the Sea is Zwans only album, released on January 28, 2003. ...

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." DVD (commonly Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... This article is about the music magazine. ... Let It Be was an album by The Beatles, released on May 8, 1970. ... The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool whose members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. ...

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."

Djali Zwan made their live debut as a quartet -- Corgan, Sweeney, Pajo and Chamberlin -- at the end of 2001; Paz Lenchantin joined the two Zwans in '02. But the roots of Djali Zwan go back to Corgan's last years with the Pumpkins, who broke up in December 2000. Corgan had been writing material adapted from old folk and gospel songbooks. From that came new originals such as "Friends and Lovers," "Love Lies in Ruins" and "Rivers We Can't Cross," all slated for the abandoned album. Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and for the common people. ... Gospel music may refer to the religious music that first came out of African-American churches in the first quarter of the twentieth century or, more loosely, to both black gospel music and to the religious music composed and sung by predominately white Southern Gospel artists. ...

"We're not trying to be country blues," Corgan said of Djali Zwan. "But Djali Zwan is its own thing, a totally separate band. It would be exciting if we could pull this off."

The Djali Zwan album never came to be, but several studio Djali Zwan tracks did appear on True Poets of Zwan releases - specifically, the "Honestly" and "Lyric" singles.

Many of their songs can be heard in the soundtrack of the movie Spun, directed by Jonas Akerlund. Spun is a 2002 indie movie directed by Jonas Ã…kerlund and written by Creighton Vero and Will de los Santos. ... Jonas Ã…kerlund (born 1966) is a Swedish film director, most known for making music videos. ...

Break-up

After the initial press junket surround the release of Mary Star of the Sea, fractures became apparent within the band. In June 2003, Zwan cancelled most of its scheduled European tour. Not long after, Dave Pajo embarked on a solo tour as Papa M, and Paz Lenchantin formally left Zwan to join him. Mary Star of the Sea is Zwans only album, released on January 28, 2003. ... Papa M is the latest project of David Pajo, former bassist for seminal post-rockers Slint. ...

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. "Our attitude in the Pumpkins was, it was a do or die proposition, and that got us through all the hard times we went through, particularly with the Pumpkins where we had two members with serious drug problems." WGN is the callsign of two broadcast stations in Chicago, Illinois, both owned by the Tribune company. ...

On April 24, 2005 in the Chicago Tribune, Billy Corgan commented further 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." [1] April 24 is the 114th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (115th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois. ...

In the May 27, 2005 edition of Entertainment Weekly, Corgan elaborated on his version of what happened: May 27 is the 147th day (148th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 218 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Q: Why did it implode?

A: 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 email that another girl sends me. I mean, that's the kind of stuff we were dealing with.

David Pajo denied Corgan's incriminating accusations in the same article. "Pretty much everything that he said has been exaggerated and blown out of proportion," he has 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. Heroin, also known as diamorphine (BAN) or diacetylmorphine (INN), is a semi-synthetic opioid. ... The BlackBerry is a wireless handheld device introduced in 1999 which supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services. ... E-mail, or email, is short for electronic mail and is a method of composing, sending, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. ...

In the same Entertainment Weekly article, Corgan disclosed that things went wrong at some of the very first recording sessions. "...it was like, 'What do you mean the guitar's out of tune? What do you mean I have to be there at 11? What do you mean I want to order $100 of lobster every day?' I mean, like, bad. But it was too late. It was already public. The album was going out. So I did what I always did: Try to make the best of a situation and start covering up. Put on a good face. And honestly, I'm glad the thing didn't sell, because if it had sold well it would have been really tough. I would look like I was going to walk away from something that I'd just built." For the magazine, see Lobster (magazine) Subfamilies and Genera Neophoberinae Acanthacaris Thymopinae Nephropsis Nephropides Thymops Thymopsis Nephropinae Homarus Nephrops Homarinus Metanephrops Eunephrops Thymopides Clawed lobsters comprise a family (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. ...

He 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 [Iha] and D'Arcy [Wretzky] are good people. They might be misguided people, but they're good people." James Yoshinobu Iha (Japanese: 井葉吉伸, Iha Yoshinobu or ジェームス・イハ born March 26, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is a Japanese American rock musician and runway model. ... Darcy Elizabeth Wretzky (born May 1, 1968 in South Haven, Michigan), also known simply as Darcy, is a rock musician best known for her work as a bass player with the highly successful alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. ...

The rest of the members of Zwan have remained silent for the most part about the breakup since it happened.

Discography

Albums

Mary Star of the Sea (2003) Reprise Records Cover art for Zwans Mary Star of the Sea. ... Mary Star of the Sea is Zwans only album, released on January 28, 2003. ... Reprise Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group, operated through Warner Bros. ... #3 US, #4 Canada, #33 UK

Singles

The UK Singles Chart is currently compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the British record industry. ... The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. ... The Modern Rock Tracks chart is a music chart that has appeared in Billboard magazine since the early 1980s. ... The Mainstream Rock Tracks chart is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music but are not modern rock stations, which are counted in the Modern Rock Tracks chart. ... The Canadian Recording Industry Association is a non-profit trade organization that was founded in 1964 to represent the interests of Canadian companies that create, manufacture and market sound recordings. ... See also: 2003 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 2003 Record labels established in 2003 other events of 2003 list of years in music 2000s in music // January - following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands... Honestly is a song by Zwan. ... Mary Star of the Sea is Zwans only album, released on January 28, 2003. ... See also: 2003 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 2003 Record labels established in 2003 other events of 2003 list of years in music 2000s in music // January - following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands... Lyric is a song by Zwan. ...

External links

• Netphoria - Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan site
• Zwan Music
• POZ - Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan fansite
• VH1 Biography
• Nagrock Corganization - Polish Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins and ZWAN fansite.
• Zwan collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
• TheFutureEmbrace Forums - The Smashing Pumpkins (and all related) Online Fan Forum