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D'arcy Wretzky
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D'arcy Wretzky
D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky (born May 1, 1968) is an American musician. She was the original bassist of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins and is credited on their first six studio albums. She left the band in 1999. She has also been a member of Catherine and performed with Filter.
Wretzky was born and grew up in South Haven, Michigan, where her mother, Vikke Anderson, a working musician, encouraged D'arcy and her sisters to perform music. D'Arcy played violin for 9 or 10 years, played oboe, and performed in choirs while growing up. She also was in gymnastics. D'Arcy intended to have a musical career from the time she was 10 years old.
She later referred to her father, Jerry Wretzky, a pipefitter with a love of horseback riding, as "a very strange man". D'Arcy was a self-described "tomboy" and had a contentious relationship with her sister. D'Arcy suffered from severe stage fright during her childhood. 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, prompting her to return to the United States. She moved to Chicago and later joined the Smashing Pumpkins. Wretzky said that she is a self-taught bass player.
Wretzky was married to musician Kerry Brown from 1993 to 1999. Wretzky said that she had a miscarriage in 1999.
After a concert at a local rock club, Wretzky overheard Billy Corgan criticizing the Dan Reed Network, which was performing. An argument and discussion followed and Corgan recruited her to be in his band, the nascent Smashing Pumpkins, which at the time, was merely Corgan and James Iha using 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 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 her and Corgan, however, that Corgan played the bass tracks on Gish and Siamese Dream. Wretzky often contributed backing vocals on some songs on studio albums and in concert. She contributes vocally in Smashing Pumpkins songs such as "Daydream" from Gish, many songs on Siamese Dream, "1979", "Cupid De Locke", "Farewell and Goodnight", "Beautiful"; "Where Boys Fear to Tread" from Mellon Collie, and "Dreaming" and "The Bells" from The Aeroplane Flies High. Wretzky also co-wrote the Smashing Pumpkins song "Daughter".
In 1995, Wretzky and Iha started an independent record label called Scratchie Records, featuring artists such as the Frogs.
Wretzky's time in the band was marked with alternating periods of happiness and discomfort. Corgan considered her the "moral authority" and "moral conscience" of the band. In the aftermath of the success of 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Corgan said that she began an "apparent slow descent into insanity and/or drugs (take your pick)." After the short, nine-date "The Arising!" tour in April 1999 with all four original members performing together for the first time since 1996, Wretzky decided to leave the band and intended to pursue an acting career. The band was recording Machina/The Machines of God and Machina II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music at the time and as a result she performed very few bass parts on the album.
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D'arcy Wretzky
D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky (born May 1, 1968) is an American musician. She was the original bassist of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins and is credited on their first six studio albums. She left the band in 1999. She has also been a member of Catherine and performed with Filter.
Wretzky was born and grew up in South Haven, Michigan, where her mother, Vikke Anderson, a working musician, encouraged D'arcy and her sisters to perform music. D'Arcy played violin for 9 or 10 years, played oboe, and performed in choirs while growing up. She also was in gymnastics. D'Arcy intended to have a musical career from the time she was 10 years old.
She later referred to her father, Jerry Wretzky, a pipefitter with a love of horseback riding, as "a very strange man". D'Arcy was a self-described "tomboy" and had a contentious relationship with her sister. D'Arcy suffered from severe stage fright during her childhood. 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, prompting her to return to the United States. She moved to Chicago and later joined the Smashing Pumpkins. Wretzky said that she is a self-taught bass player.
Wretzky was married to musician Kerry Brown from 1993 to 1999. Wretzky said that she had a miscarriage in 1999.
After a concert at a local rock club, Wretzky overheard Billy Corgan criticizing the Dan Reed Network, which was performing. An argument and discussion followed and Corgan recruited her to be in his band, the nascent Smashing Pumpkins, which at the time, was merely Corgan and James Iha using 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 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 her and Corgan, however, that Corgan played the bass tracks on Gish and Siamese Dream. Wretzky often contributed backing vocals on some songs on studio albums and in concert. She contributes vocally in Smashing Pumpkins songs such as "Daydream" from Gish, many songs on Siamese Dream, "1979", "Cupid De Locke", "Farewell and Goodnight", "Beautiful"; "Where Boys Fear to Tread" from Mellon Collie, and "Dreaming" and "The Bells" from The Aeroplane Flies High. Wretzky also co-wrote the Smashing Pumpkins song "Daughter".
In 1995, Wretzky and Iha started an independent record label called Scratchie Records, featuring artists such as the Frogs.
Wretzky's time in the band was marked with alternating periods of happiness and discomfort. Corgan considered her the "moral authority" and "moral conscience" of the band. In the aftermath of the success of 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Corgan said that she began an "apparent slow descent into insanity and/or drugs (take your pick)." After the short, nine-date "The Arising!" tour in April 1999 with all four original members performing together for the first time since 1996, Wretzky decided to leave the band and intended to pursue an acting career. The band was recording Machina/The Machines of God and Machina II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music at the time and as a result she performed very few bass parts on the album.
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