"I could have never withstood being in a band without training from my sisiters.
My older sister was very jealous. It started when I was born. Once in winter, I
was locked out of my house in my diapers. I was thrown into bodies of water
countless times. I had to retaliate. Remember in "Apocylps Now" when Brando
said you had to Horrify people into submission? Well, I was this scrappy little kid
who did out landish things."
--D'arcy
D'arcy was a tomboy growing up, playing Cowboys and Indians, Army men, and building forts. Most of her friends were boys. She was trained in classical violen for 9 years and oboe for about 4. She was also in Gymnastics.
She graduated from L.C. Mohr High School in 1986. During this time she was in a bad car wreck and severly injured her leg. She had to have surgery and they gave her an overdose on Morphine which gave her the nickname "Sister Morphine". She was buddies with guys and played in a lot of Cover bands. She was really into Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and INXS. She was in a lot of cover bands.
"In high school I was buddies with guys. It got really weird when they got crushes
on me. But I was always interested in some man I didn't know at all."
--D'arcy
After she graduated, She went to France with a forgein Exchange student because he had a friend who was looking for a bassist. But, by the time she got there, the band had broken up. So, she traveled around for a while and ended up in Chicago's O'Hare airport with not much more than her Bass guitar and her prized teddy bear. She called her parents to come pick her up but they weren't home so she roamed around Chicago for a while and decided to stay. She crashed at a friends' house for a while and eventually moved in with her sisiter. She had jobs as a waitress at various resteraunts, A sushi bar and a bakery. She then joined a band and moved in with the singer and his girlfriend. He also happened to be her boss. One night she went to the Avalon Nightclub with some friends and she and her friend were talking about how she liked this band who played there a lot. Some guy butted into their conversation saying "What the hell are you talking about? They were crap and besides that, they were put together by a record company." and she said "How would you know? Can you tell just by looking at them." and he said "I can tell because that guy jumps around the stage." and she said "well, I jump around on stage and i wasn't put together by a record company." He asked her what she played and she told him bass. He introduced himself as Billy Corgan and said "well, i have this band and I'm looking for a bass player. here's my number, give me a call." By that time her friends had to drag her away cause it about turned into a fist fight.
"Looking back, if that happende today, I would probably just write him off as
and idiot."
--D'arcy
D'arcy started playing with Billy and had to sneak out of the house to attend band practice. They were going to start writing songs together but first she had to learn 40 of his songs. So she did but he kept giving her 10 more every week. After a while D'arcy moved out of her bosses' apartment and in with James Iha, the othe guitarist. They started dating. The Smashing Pumpkins eventually got booked and started playing at a lot of clubs.
"I've never been friends with the name. It's a stupid name, a bad joke."
--D'arcy
They had a lot of help from Joe Shanahan, the manager of the Avalon, who booked them a lot. Someone eventually heard them from Sub-pop and they put out their first offically released single, Tristessa. They then found a permenate home at Caroline Records and put out thier first album, "Gish". During the tour for Gish she had to share rooms with Billy Corgan and Kerry Brown, who they took along as a producer. Kerry was talking in his sleep and she found out that he really liked her. D'arcy then broke up with James, putting a large strain on the band and started dating Kerry.
They signed a seven year contract with Virgin Records and later, they went back in the studio to record "Siamese Dream". (It's been rumored that Billy Corgan did all the bass and guitar parts on this album) During this time D'arcy's life was very eventful. Kerry proposed marraige after a year and a half of Dating, D'arcy, James, Kerry, and D'arcy's brother-in-law, started Scratchie Records and she opened up some antique stores in Illinois.
"Sratchie's motto is 'We Won't Fuck You Over'"
--D'arcy
The band started recording "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" in 1995. (The working names for this alubm were Jupiter and Chloe and Baseball City.) This became one of the best selling albums of all time, selling over 6 million copies. There was a lot of tension in the band with Jimmy and his drug problem. They were never sure if he would show up. But they got it done and put it out. On this tour, Jimmy Chamberlain was fired for drug related reasons and their touring keyboardist, Johnathan Melvoin, died of a drug overdose and a girl was crushed to death in the mosh pit at their concert in Dublin.
"It never should have happened. We kept stopping the show and telling the kids
to back up because people were getting crushed on the barracaides. It was crazy.
those kids were straved for intertainment. We were afraid something was going
to happen."
--D'arcy on Bernadette O'Brian's death.
"It was such a slap in the face. We thought he was clean and he had been
lying to us that whole time."
D'arcy on Jimmy
D'arcy helped out her husband's band, Catherine with some vocals on the song, four-leaf clover and Punch Me Out. She appeared in the video for four-leaf clover as a waitress.
The Smashing Pumpkins went back into the studio to record their latest album, Adore, with various drummers. (Matt Cameron, Matt Walker, Joey Waronker)
"It's just beautiful music and sort of timeless. I don't think it will ever be dated
sounding."
--D'arcy on Adore
"There are about four or five songs on this album that I hold very close and I hold
very close to me. I can't even listen to them without, you know, bursting out
crying. So...I try not to listen to them in public very often."
--D'arcy on the songs on Adore
D'arcy now resides on an apple farm in southern Michigan (this has been argued, she could actually live in Michigan City, Indiana) with her husband, Kerry, her sister, Kelly, and her horses, 5 dogs, and cats. She is very involved with Scratchie records and owns 3 antique stores in Illinios.
to see what people have said about d'arcy click
here
to see D'arcy's name meaning and anilyzation, click
here
