“I don’t think we’re going to threaten the Jonas Brothers,” says James Iha of Tinted Windows‘ self-titled debut, recently released on S-Curve Records. But the power pop generated by the multigenerational band—which also includes Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne), Taylor Hanson (Hanson) and Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick)—is a teenage dream of catchy choruses and withering walls of guitars befitting the former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist. Iha is guest editing magnetmagazine.com all this week; read our Q&A with him to get a glimpse into the formation of Tinted Windows.
Iha: Like a lot of people, I’d never felt so vested and interested in every aspect of a presidential election. It was awesome and dazzling in every sense, and it seemed like I was checking my computer every couple of hours for the latest news. And like a lot of people (there’s an Onion story on this), I felt this huge vacuum in my life once it was all over. I started reading the recaps (the post-election Newsweek issue, in particular), but then I was like, “This is pointless.” And, of course, I was crushed when my man lost. Just kidding!
