Jack Irons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jack Irons | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jack S. Irons |
| Born | July 18, 1962 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Drums |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Label(s) | Sire, MCA, EMI, Capitol, Epic, Morgan Creek, RCA, Hollywood, Pollen Records, Breaching Whale |
| Associated acts | Spinnerette, Chain Reaction, What Is This?, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Latino Rockabilly War, Redd Kross, Eleven, Raging Slab, Pearl Jam, The Les Claypool Frog Brigade |
| Website | www.jackirons.com |
Jack S. Irons (born July 18, 1962 in Los Angeles, California) is a drummer who is best known as a former member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. He has also worked with Redd Kross, Raging Slab, Joe Strummer and The Latino Rockabilly War, and The Les Claypool Frog Brigade.
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[edit] Musical career
[edit] What Is This? and Red Hot Chili Peppers
Irons was a founding member of, and the original drummer for, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Irons attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California alongside Anthony Kiedis, Michael "Flea" Balzary, Hillel Slovak, and Alain Johannes. As teenagers Irons, Alain Johannes, and Hillel Slovak formed the band Chain Reaction in 1976. The band was soon renamed to Anthym with Michael Balzary (Flea) included in the line-up; the band then changed its name again, settling on What Is This? in 1980.
Soon thereafter Flea formed the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Anthony Kiedis, Slovak and Irons in 1983. The band quickly gained popularity around Los Angeles, but when What Is This? signed a recording contract Irons (along with Slovak) left the Chili Peppers to concentrate on What Is This?. With What Is This?, Irons recorded two EPs (Squeezed, 3 Out of 5 Live) and one full length album (What Is This?). After the recording of the self-titled What Is This? album, the band broke up. Irons played on several tracks on an album by the duo Walk The Moon, made up of Johannes and Natasha Shneider. After hearing that Cliff Martinez had resigned, Irons returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Irons can be heard playing drums on the band's third album The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987), as well as on the band's cover of "Fire" (originally penned by Jimi Hendrix and first released on the Chili Peppers' The Abbey Road E.P.). When childhood friend and bandmate Hillel Slovak died of a heroin overdose on June 25, 1988, Irons left the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Slovak's death was such a huge shock to Irons that he has been clinically depressed ever since.[1]
[edit] Eleven
After Irons left the Red Hot Chili Peppers he went to a hospital to receive treatment.[2] After a brief stint with Joe Strummer's backing band, Irons teamed up with Johannes and Shneider in 1990 to form Eleven. With Eleven, Irons recorded the albums Awake In A Dream (1991) and Eleven (1993). Midway through the recording of Eleven's third album, Thunk (1995), Irons departed to drum with Pearl Jam, and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden played drums on the album's remaining four tracks. Irons returned to the band once again in 2002 prior to the recording of the band's fifth album, Howling Book (2003).
[edit] Pearl Jam
Jack Irons was asked by bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard to join Mookie Blaylock, the band that would become Pearl Jam, in 1990, when the band was first forming and still looking for a singer and a drummer. Although he didn't join the band at that time because he was committed to his own band, Eleven, he did pass on a cassette of the band's work to a singer named Eddie Vedder, a local musician in San Diego at the time, with whom Irons had formed a friendship. Vedder joined the band and Irons had no more to do with the project for the time being.
Irons became the official drummer for the band in late 1994 following the departure of Dave Abbruzzese. His first recording with the band was "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me" for Vitalogy. He drummed on the Pearl Jam/Neil Young collaboration Mirror Ball (1995) and on the subsequent Pearl Jam records No Code (1996) and Yield (1998). In 1998, prior to Pearl Jam's US Yield Tour, Irons left the band due to dissatisfaction with touring.[3] As a member of Pearl Jam, Irons brought a unique drumming style to the band, particularly in the way he played his fills and with his use of a trash can lid as a cymbal.[4] Irons co-wrote the music for the No Code songs "Who You Are", "In My Tree", and "I'm Open". He also wrote and sang on the Pearl Jam songs "●" (from Yield) and "Whale Song" (which was on the band's collection of rarities and B-sides entitled Lost Dogs). Coincidentally, Matt Cameron, from the now-disbanded Soundgarden, replaced him again as he did four years prior on Eleven's record.
[edit] Other musical projects
Aside from the aforementioned bands, Irons recorded and toured as a member of Joe Strummer's backing band The Latino Rockabilly War for the Earthquake Weather album, and also toured with Redd Kross in support of the band's Third Eye album. In 1992, Raging Slab (a band notorious for having over 25 different drummers over the course of the band's 18 year career), complete with Jack Irons on drums, began recording the follow-up to its 1989 RCA Records self-titled debut, with producer Michael Beinhorn at the helm. The entire album was recorded, mixed, and mastered; however when RCA Records executives heard the album, it was rejected. The album, titled Freeburden, remains unreleased. Irons performed with other members of Pearl Jam on Neil Young's 1995 album Mirror Ball, and subsequently toured Europe as part of Young's backing band.
Aside from popular music, Irons has also worked as a drumming advisor and teacher for numerous US television projects. In 2004, Irons released a solo album called Attention Dimension. The album features appearances by former bandmates such as Alain Johannes, Flea, Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Les Claypool. Eddie Vedder contributed vocals to a cover of Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".
Irons is featured on the track "Milky Ave" on the album Ultra Payloaded by Perry Farrell's band Satellite Party.[5] Joining him on the album is former bandmate Flea. Irons is currently recording for Spinnerette, which features Eleven bandmate Alain Johannes.
[edit] Personal life
Irons is married with two children.[6]
At the age of 25, Irons was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[6]
[edit] Discography
[edit] What Is This?
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Squeezed | MCA |
| 1985 | What Is This? | MCA |
| 3 Out of 5 Live | MCA |
[edit] Red Hot Chili Peppers
| Year | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Uplift Mofo Party Plan | EMI/Capitol | All |
| 1988 | The Abbey Road E.P. | EMI/Capitol | "Fire" and "Backwoods" |
| 1989 | Mother's Milk | EMI/Capitol | "Fire" |
| 1992 | What Hits!? | EMI | "Fight Like a Brave", "Behind the Sun", "Me and My Friends", "Backwoods", and "Fire" |
| 1994 | Out in L.A. | EMI | "Behind the Sun" (Ben Grosse remix), "Get Up and Jump" (demo version), "Out in L.A." (demo version), "Green Heaven" (demo version), "Police Helicopter" (demo version), "Nevermind" (demo version), "Sex Rap" (demo version), "You Always Sing the Same", "Stranded", "Flea Fly", and "What It Is" |
| 1997 | The Best of Red Hot Chili Peppers | EMI/Capitol | "Behind the Sun", "Me and My Friends", "Fire", and "Fight Like a Brave" |
| 1998 | Under the Covers: Essential Red Hot Chili Peppers | EMI/Capitol | "Fire" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues" |
[edit] Eleven
| Year | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Awake In A Dream | Morgan Creek | All |
| 1993 | Eleven | Hollywood/Third Rail | All |
| 1995 | Thunk | Hollywood | All except "Why", "Seasick of You", "Big Sleep", and "No Ground" |
| 2003 | Howling Book | Pollen | All |
| 2005 | Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen | Hollywood | "Stone Cold Crazy" (with Josh Homme) |
[edit] Pearl Jam
| Year | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Vitalogy | Epic | "Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me" |
| 1995 | Merkin Ball | Epic | All |
| 1996 | Home Alive: The Art of Self Defense | Epic | "Leaving Here" |
| M.O.M., Vol. 1: Music for Our Mother Ocean | Interscope | "Gremmie Out of Control" | |
| No Code | Epic | All | |
| Hype!: The Motion Picture Soundtrack | Sub Pop | "Not for You" (live from Self-Pollution Radio) | |
| 1997 | The Bridge School Concerts, Vol. 1 | Reprise | "Nothingman" (live) |
| 1998 | Yield | Epic | All |
| Chicago Cab: Soundtrack | Loosegroove | "Who You Are" | |
| 1999 | M.O.M., Vol. 3: Music for Our Mother Ocean | Hollywood | "Whale Song" |
| 2003 | Lost Dogs | Epic | "All Night", "Don't Gimme No Lip", "Black, Red, Yellow", "Leaving Here", "Gremmie Out of Control", "Whale Song", and "Dead Man" |
| 2004 | rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991–2003 | Epic | "I Got Id", "Hail, Hail", "Do the Evolution", "Who You Are", "Off He Goes", "Given to Fly", and "Wishlist" |
[edit] Solo releases
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Attention Dimension | Breaching Whale |
[edit] Contributions and collaborations
| Year | Group | Title | Label | Track(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Walk The Moon | Walk The Moon | MCA | Some |
| 1989 | Keith Levene | Keith Levene's Violent Opposition | Rykodisc | Some |
| Joe Strummer | Earthquake Weather | Epic | "Gangsterville", "Slant Six", "Shouting Street", "Sikorsky Parts", "Jewellers and Bums", and "Ride Your Donkey" | |
| 1990 | The Buck Pets | Mercurotones | Island | All |
| 1991 | Michelle Shocked | Arkansas Traveler | Mercury | Some |
| 1993 | Sun-60 | Only | Epic | "Mary X-Mess" and "Tell Me Like You Know" |
| The Buck Pets | To The Quick | Restless | All | |
| 1994 | Ethan Hawke | Reality Bites: Original Soundtrack | RCA | "I'm Nuthin'" |
| 1995 | Neil Young | Mirror Ball | Reprise | All |
| 2007 | Satellite Party | Ultra Payloaded | Columbia | "Milky Ave" |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Chili Peppers’ Jack Irons Pays Tribute to Slovak". contactmusic.com. May 14, 2006.
- ^ Marks, Craig. "The Road Less Traveled". Spin Magazine. February 1997.
- ^ Fischer, Blair R (1998-04-17). Off He Goes. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-06-28.
- ^ Single Video Theory. Pearl Jam. Video. Epic, 1998.
- ^ Bilton, Chris. "Satellite Party: Is Jane’s New Addiction Worth Feeding?". Ukula. 2007.
- ^ a b Peiken, Matt. "Jack Irons: This Inner Life". Modern Drummer. June 1998.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Official website of Eleven
- Official website of Spinnerette
- Jack Irons at Allmusic
- Jack Irons at the Internet Movie Database
- Jack Irons - Lukin.com
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Irons, Jack |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Musician, Songwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 18, 1962 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
