The Smashing Pumpkins: Whatever Happened To D'Arcy Wretzky?
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Published 2022-10-24
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I’ve had several people request this topic. By the way guys use our request form in the description box to let us know what topics you’d like to see us cover so without further adeau, let’s talk about whatever happened to The Smashing Pumpkins Bassist D’Arcy Wretzky.
Growing up in Michigan, D’Arcy Wretzky would be the middle child of three sisters gravitating towards punk and post-punk music.
.Wretzky would tell Addiced to Noise about her upbringing “My mother always played music when I was growing up. We always listened to the radio. My mom played instruments and myself and my sisters were always encouraged to play instruments. I played classical violin for about 9 or 10 years. And oboe ] and I was in choir and everything. It was just always a part of my life. I've done so many different things. I have done a lot.”
In high school she played in a handful of cover bands before moving across the pond to France to join a band that had already disbanded by the time she was set to join. She would head to Chicago with little more than her bass guitar and move in with her sister, join a band and a few months later meet the Billy Corgan who changed her life.
Corgan would come across Wretzky when the frontman was 20 and it was initially an argument over the pair attending the same rock concert that saw Corgan criticizing the band that performed that night. Corgan’s first words to the bassist being and i quote "You're full of expletive"). According to rolling stone . Despite getting off on the wrong foot Corgan and Wretzky shared similar tastes in music with her telling the Flint Journal "I listened to his tapes from the band he was into prior (to the Pumpkins) and I really liked the music they were doing. I wanted to be doing it, too. I loved it."
Despite musically being on the same page, there personalities clashed right off the start with Corgan telling Spin magazine
Well, when I was 20 and met D'Arcy, my whole thing was A, music, music, music, 24-7. And I couldn't understand why D'Arcy wasn't music, music, music, 24-7. D'Arcy was like, "I have to have a life. It can't be that way." And at the time I couldn't respect that.”
The band would round out their lineup with guitarist James I’Ha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The band would release their first album Gish in 1991. It was during the making of the album and tour that I’Ha and Wretzky became romantically involved and subsequently broke up.. I’ha would tell rolling stone “It was really bad,”. “All the normal stuff that would happen between a boyfriend and girlfriend who had broken up after a long time was happening, only we were stuck together. Under normal circumstances we probably would have said…, I’ll never see you again,’ but since we were forced to be together, we eventually got over it. I still feel pretty close to her.” Wretzky would marry Catherine drummer Kerry Brown in 1993. w. They formed Scratchie Records, which has released singles by the Chainsaw Kittens and others.The band’s sophomore record 1993’s Siamese Dream made the band superstars, but with the new found fame came its own set of problems.
Corgan’s controlling style would lead to tensions within the group as he would play most of the guitar and bass parts on the band’s first two albums albums as Wretzky would contend that corgan did this since he could nail the tracks in fewer takes. Adding to the tension was Corgan’s openness to discussing the band’s problems out in the open with him telling SPin in 1993 about playing the guitar and bass parts “I gave them a year and a half to prepare for this record ... yet they continue to keep failing me."Add Jimmy Chamberlin’s substance abuse issues and the band was a powder keg, ready to explode.
During a 1994 piece on the band, Rolling Stone would interview the whole band including Wretzky and the bassist who always seemed press shy was no different hiding her attitude towards Corgan telling the publication My mom always told me,” “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” The publication would go o
All Comments (21)
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I wash D'Arcy's car as I own a mobile car wash and detail business "We Dry Harder." She's always been the sweetest to me. One time she played the bassline to Bullet With Butterfly Wings just by herself, acoustic, in the driveway. I was amazed.
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Man i was so in love with d’arcy in the Siamese dream era
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That original lineup couldn’t be beat. Saw them on the Mellon Collie tour and it’s still one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Didn’t hurt that Garbage opened for them, at their peak.
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As a 16 yr old Dutch exchange student in Ohio USA in 1996 my host family took me to my first ever concert. We travelled all the way to Fort Wayne, Indiana to see two bands whom I never heard of before: Garbage and the Smashing Pumpkins!! That night became a core memory. We were front stage and I was feet away from D'Arcy and was hypnotized by her presence and aura. Ever since Ive been a massive fan of the band and a concert junky in general. Thanks Faulk family from Ohio for introducing me to punk rock and live concert!!🤘
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I worked with Darcy in a small coffee shop, off Clark in Chicago, in the late 80's. She always seemed like a genuine, sweet kid. Fame is a helluva drug. I wish her well. Nothing but fond memories of the Lass!
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I was lucky enough to see The Pumpkins in their glory days during the 'Big Day Out' concert down here in New Zealand in 1994. I was front row and I can tell you that D'Arcy was so beautiful that it was almost supernatural. Guys and girls alike, all eyes were fixed on her. And she knew it! She was doing the strangest and most intense facial grimaces and silent screams and strange smiles throughout the performance, and all timed perfectly to her amazing bass playing. It was like a kind of performance art that I have never seen before or since. During the end of 'Silverfuck' the rest of the band fell silent and it was just D'Arcy who played her droning bass line on and on almost like a solo for what felt like 5 minutes straight until the crowd was swaying, almost in a trance before Billy screamed and the entire band kicked back in for the climax of the song. It was the greatest live performance I have ever seen in my life and truly memorable and D'Arcy was a big part of it. <3
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I saw them with Wretzky twice and regardless of what if anything she put on the Gish or Siamese Dream albums, she played well live and she is a great stage presence. A good counter energy to Corgan. They are far better live with her in the band.
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D’Arcy was my first musical crush. I was enamored with her and even tried playing bass because of her before becoming a guitarist. I always wondered what happened and this is super sad to learn of her struggles
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SP made me realize there was awesome music outside or rap. Without them, I would not have the appreciation for music that I do. They started the journey
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I was actually fb friends with her and spoke to her quite often around 2016-18. Yes it was actually her. She would send recent photos of her and her horses. One time I posted that my father was having surgery and she posted on my page that she was praying for him and I commented thank you and people recognized her and she had to block me because most of my friends were trying to contact her. Haven’t heard from her since. But it was cool while it lasted.
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I met her when Smashing Pumpkins were the musical act on SNL (Cameron Diaz was the host) back in the 1900s. All I can remember is how super super nice she was to me. A total class act.
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I really miss D'arcy and the energy she brought to the band. She had the sound, the vibe and the look. I hope they can all get back together and be friends some day.
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I liked when the Smashing Pumpkins had that heavy psychedelic aesthetic on Gish and Siamese Dream as opposed to the more post-punk/goth thing they had going on later in their career.
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I started listening to smashing pumpkins when I was 12 years old, I grew up with them. When the pumpkins broke up, it was like parents divorcing it was devastating. I wish Darcy nothing but the best, she’s a beautiful soul.
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I still think the tone of her bass is by far one of the best I've ever heard. It's so prominent and so warm sounding, it has a strength that never sounds harsh or blown out.
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I saw Pumpkins live in '94 when they played in Saginaw, MI. There was a special shout out to D'arcy who was all smiles because her hometown was only 3 hours away. The band rocked, and D'arcy was just mesmerizing in the way she played and sort of swayed back in forth that put us in a trance to watch her. First time I got to crowd surf all the way to the front of the stage, so I'll always remember this one!
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Huge Pumpkins fan, saw them a few times last few years, and of course got the new album.. I must say, they just ain't the same without her.. Her gritty Bass is definitely missed by me..
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I hope D Arcy gets the help she needs. This is pretty sad on all ends from the pumpkins to her. I'm sure both have valid points on each other. I just hope one day we can see the OG line up of the pumpkins
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I feel like The Smashing Pumpkins were Gen X's Fleetwood Mac, in a way. A group of great musicians who made great music, but were just a time bomb waiting to go off in personal matters. Drug issues, personality issues, creative issues... I think we were lucky to get three truly great albums out of them before they began to disintegrate.
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Big fan here. Followed this story really closely at the time because I was really hoping for an original line up tour. Corgan stated he did reach out to her and she never showed up to practice and hadn’t picked up a bass in years. She wouldn’t have the stamina to keep up with a whole tour and didn’t know all the songs. She wanted in 100% they invited her to participate here and there but had a bassist they’d been practicing with. Corgan said he was over the drama and wished her well with her horses.
