An incredible musician, Paz Lenchantin is mainly a bassist and violinist, but she also plays guitar, writes, and sings.
Her name is pronounced like "paws", and it means "peace" in Spanish. Her last name is pronounced "lay-SHAWN-tain".
Paz was born in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, on December 12, 1973, but has lived in Los Angeles most of her life. She was born into a musically gifted family, and some of her relatives appear in a couple of her projects. Her mother, Analia, is a proficient musician, along with her sister Ana-vale, and her brother, Luciano, who is in the band Big Milk along with Steve Luxenburg and Mike Fonte. She has had extensive training in piano and violin, and she teaches a class at Flea's school of music, when she isn't touring.
In the beginning, Paz was centered on her classical teaching, and she found it hard to turn from all her training to the bass. But when she heard Eric Avery from Jane's Addiction play bass, she was convinced. Oddly, Paz really started playing bass while learning guitar. She took the b and e (bottom two) strings off, tuned the guitar down, and went from there.
As for musical projects, Paz is best known for her role as bassist on the debut album of Billy Howerdel's band A Perfect Circle, Mer De Noms. She also did backing vocals on two songs off of Mer De Noms, Judith and Orestes, and the violin on Rose. Lastly, she joined her brother Luciano (who played viola) to play violin on 3 Libras. Paz left APC after recording the album and touring to join Billy Burke's band.
Paz also did a solo album, Yellow mY skYcaptain, between playing with A Perfect Circle and joining Zwan. It is incredibly hard to get a copy these days. The album was produced in a limited quantity, and is sought for by fans who didn't happen to know about it when it came out. I haven't been able to get to it.
Paz is also known for her work on Mary Star of the Sea, the debut album by Zwan, Billy Corgan's post-Smashing Pumpkins band, which, as of September 15th, 2003, is no longer together. She again played bass and did backing vocals, and she also cotributed writing to Settle Down, the second track off of the album. Her sister Ana-vale played cello on one of the songs on the album, Of A Broken Heart, once again emphasizing the fact that Paz grew up in a family of accomplished musicians. Also, while touring with Zwan, Paz was working on her next solo effort.
Right now, Paz is touring with fellow Zwan bandmate David Pajo as "Big M", and working on her next solo album.
Aside from these works, Paz has played with a number of different people:
Melissa auf der Maur - mutual fans, Paz played with Melissa in her one-shot band The Chelsea, along with friends Radio Sloan and Sam Malone. Paz also appears on Melissa's solo album.
Queens of the Stone Age - played violin along with her sister Ana-vale on their latest album, Songs for the Deaf, especially the track Mosquito Song.
Jarboe - plays bass, violin, and sings on her album "Men".
Cherry Llama - a band Paz was in when she was seventeen, she played bass, violin, and guitar, and she also sang backing vocals.
Pete Yorn - played violin with him at a concert once.
Joey Santiago - guitarist from The Pixies, Paz was in a band with him called The Martinis.
Ryeland Allison - Paz and her brother played with Ryeland in a band at one point.
Sci-Fi Channel - Paz did sound design for them while in New York.
Projects/people Paz is related to:
Flea from RHCP - Paz teaches piano at Flea's music school.
Big Milk - Paz's brother's band.
Camerata Tango - group that Paz's mother (Analia) and sister (Ana-vale) play in. She played with them once on June 2nd, 2001.
Danny Lohner - he and Paz are friends, and one of Paz's basses is on loan from him.
Sources:
http://www.simplypaz.com
http://pazmusic.com/