D'ARCY WRETZKY
Name: D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky
Also known as D'arcy
Born: 1 May 1968 South Haven, Michigan, U.S.
D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky (born May 1, 1968 in South Haven, Michigan), also known
simply as D'arcy, is a rock musician best known for her work as a bass player
with the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins.
Wretzky was born and raised in Michigan, where her musician mother encouraged
her and her sisters to perform music. Growing up, she played the violin and oboe,
and performed in choirs. She also performed gymnastics. She would later
refer to her father, a building contractor with a love of horseback riding, as "a
very strange man." The young Wretzky was a self-described "tomboy", and had a
contentious relationship with her sister. She attended South Haven's L.C.
Mohr High School, where she grew interested in post-punk and played in cover
bands. After high school, she moved to France to join a band, but the band had
already disbanded upon her arrival, so she returned to Chicago and spent the
summer living with friends and attending concerts.
After a concert at a local rock club, Wretzky overheard Billy Corgan criticizing
the band that had performed. An argument and discussion followed, and Corgan
recruited her into his band, the nascent Smashing Pumpkins, which, at the time,
was merely Corgan, James Iha, and a drum machine. Wretzky accepted, and Jimmy
Chamberlin completed the lineup a few months later, after Joe Shanahan
encouraged Corgan to add a live drummer.
Wretzky's time in the band was marked by alternating periods of happiness and
discomfort. Corgan considered her the "mortal authority" and "moral conscience"
of the band. In the aftermath of the success of 1995's Mellon Collie and the
Infinite Sadness, Corgan said she began an "apparent slow descent into insanity
and/or drugs (take your pick)." Finally, in 1999, Wretzky left the band to
pursue an acting career. Corgan later said she was "fired for being a mean
spirited drug addict who refused to get help." She was replaced with former
Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur.
Wretzky is the credited bassist on the Smashing Pumpkins' first five studio
albums - Gish, Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Adore, and
MACHINA/The Machines of God. It was confirmed by both Corgan and herself,
however, that Corgan would often record the bass tracks for albums because he
could complete them in far fewer takes. Wretzky often contributed backing
vocals in concert. She sang on four Smashing Pumpkins songs - "Daydream", from
Gish, "Farewell and Goodnight" and "Beautiful", from Mellon Collie, and "Dreaming",
from The Aeroplane Flies High. Wretzky also cowrote one Smashing Pumpkins song,
"Daughter".
Name: D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky
Also known as D'arcy
Born: 1 May 1968 South Haven, Michigan, U.S.
D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky (born May 1, 1968 in South Haven, Michigan), also known
simply as D'arcy, is a rock musician best known for her work as a bass player
with the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins.
Wretzky was born and raised in Michigan, where her musician mother encouraged
her and her sisters to perform music. Growing up, she played the violin and oboe,
and performed in choirs. She also performed gymnastics. She would later
refer to her father, a building contractor with a love of horseback riding, as "a
very strange man." The young Wretzky was a self-described "tomboy", and had a
contentious relationship with her sister. She attended South Haven's L.C.
Mohr High School, where she grew interested in post-punk and played in cover
bands. After high school, she moved to France to join a band, but the band had
already disbanded upon her arrival, so she returned to Chicago and spent the
summer living with friends and attending concerts.
After a concert at a local rock club, Wretzky overheard Billy Corgan criticizing
the band that had performed. An argument and discussion followed, and Corgan
recruited her into his band, the nascent Smashing Pumpkins, which, at the time,
was merely Corgan, James Iha, and a drum machine. Wretzky accepted, and Jimmy
Chamberlin completed the lineup a few months later, after Joe Shanahan
encouraged Corgan to add a live drummer.
Wretzky's time in the band was marked by alternating periods of happiness and
discomfort. Corgan considered her the "mortal authority" and "moral conscience"
of the band. In the aftermath of the success of 1995's Mellon Collie and the
Infinite Sadness, Corgan said she began an "apparent slow descent into insanity
and/or drugs (take your pick)." Finally, in 1999, Wretzky left the band to
pursue an acting career. Corgan later said she was "fired for being a mean
spirited drug addict who refused to get help." She was replaced with former
Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur.
Wretzky is the credited bassist on the Smashing Pumpkins' first five studio
albums - Gish, Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Adore, and
MACHINA/The Machines of God. It was confirmed by both Corgan and herself,
however, that Corgan would often record the bass tracks for albums because he
could complete them in far fewer takes. Wretzky often contributed backing
vocals in concert. She sang on four Smashing Pumpkins songs - "Daydream", from
Gish, "Farewell and Goodnight" and "Beautiful", from Mellon Collie, and "Dreaming",
from The Aeroplane Flies High. Wretzky also cowrote one Smashing Pumpkins song,
"Daughter".