After getting his start in music as a vocalist in various death metal bands at a young age, Jimmy Pitts became interested in playing keyboards upon hearing bands such as Pestilence, Entombed, ParadiseLost, and Grave incorporate keys into their sonic atmospheres. Beginning the instrument at twenty-one, Jimmy sought to make up for lost time by delving into every piece of literature on theory, composition, technique, and harmony he could find. Jimmy became obsessed with Schoenberg’sTheoryofHarmony to the point of fanaticism, which pushed him to practice piano every minute that was not filled with sleep. Although self-taught, Jimmy accredits his tutelage to the words and works of the masters he studied extensively during this time. This intense period of studyforced Jimmy to acquire theoretical knowledge and skills at an extremely rapid pace. By the time he had been playing for four years, Jimmy had already recorded albums with Scholomancefor The End Records, where he received international accolades from the metal press for his keyboard performances. Around the same time, Ron Jarzombek asked Jimmy to perform on the track,Multi-Masking, off of the progressive metal masterpiece, Spastic Ink – Ink Compatible. These two projects laid the foundation for the many albums to come and an ongoing exploration into every form of music that inspires him.
After the demise of Scholomance, Ron Jarzombek introducedJerry Twyford (bass)and Jimmy toAlex Arellano Malca (drums) — The Fractured Dimension was born. Their first endeavor, Towards the Mysterium (2008), was a dedication to Alexander Scriabin, which featured compositions that were influenced by his music, poetry, and mystic visions. Along with additional influence from the works of Slonimsky, Schoenberg, Cage, Cowell, and Cecil Taylor, Towards the Mysterium is all wrapped up in a RIO/Avant-Prog meets ELP delivery. Although difficult listening for the general public, the album was well-received by the progressive community and warranted a follow-up release, which the band immediately began to create. The sequel took seven years and finally saw the light of day in the 2015 album, Galaxy Mechanics, which showcased a dramatic change of styles from the more avant-garde into a progressive metal powerhouse. Galaxy Mechanics introduced rhythm guitars throughout along with intense drumming from the addition of Hannes Grossmann, which harkens nostalgically back to the music of Scholomance. A new album is in the works which further pays tribute to those same neoclassical and dark metal roots, while at the same timebringing in new elements for fans to discover.
During the long delay of a second album from The Fractured Dimension, Jimmy’s interests veered off into various modes of expression. In the interim, his creative soul led him towrite two books, The Conscience Market and To Build a Better Slave, score an interactive movie entitled Darkstar, replacing the music of Rush, reconnect with visual art and video editing, explore jazz music withMikhal Caldwell, and begin another project with the world-renowned drummer, Marco Minnemann.
The collaboration with MarcoMinnemann, which led to the Pitts Minnemann Project, brought Jimmy, Jerry Twyford, Fountainhead, and many other virtuoso musicians together to create two masterpieces of epic proportions. The two albums blended Prog, Jazz/Fusion, Metal, Rock, World, and Avant-Garde music styles into a whirlwind of warm improvisation and composition. The Pitts Minnemann Project proved to be Jimmy’s most successful venture as a composer and bandleader to this date.
The Pitts Minnemann Project opened many doors for now past, as well as current and future music projects for Jimmy. His 40+ album discography speaks of the prolific nature of his creativity, as musicians worldwide felt moved by the album to seek Jimmy out as a session musician. One such musician was the metal guitar hero, Christian Muenzner, then of Obscura, now of Alkaloid. Through a meeting arranged by Tom Geldschlager, Christian approached Jimmy to play keyboards on his solo album, Beyond the Wall of Sleep. Being a huge fan of Christian’s guitar playing and compositional style, Jimmy agreed and recorded the album. This collaborative work with Christian helped Jimmyto not only land the gig with Christian’s power metal supergroup, Eternity’s End, Jimmy’s current leading band, but it led to Hannes Grossmann asking Jimmy to perform on his first solo album as well, The Radial Covenant. Joining forces with these superhuman musicians helped to facilitate a revival of Jimmy’s interest in extreme metal. In turn, his interest led to other collaborations with tech metal masters, Equipoise for their Birthing Homunculi demo, and session work for the upcoming albums of Virulent Depravity and NYN.
While studio work has been Jimmy’s primary focus throughout the past several years, he has performed or shared the stage with many phenomenal musicians, including a recent stint as secondary keyboardist withVitalijKuprijof Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Jimmy’s past stage performances also include the Detroit Jazz Fest,Minneapolis Metal Fest,andIowa Metal Fest, along with opening up various shows for bands such as King’sX, MikeStern, Marbin, and other national acts.
The year 2016 has proven among the most productive yet, with 2017 poised to bring even more music through the complex intricacies of Jimmy’s artistic mind and masterful maneuvering of his fingers. Eynomia – a symphonic metal band from Minneapolis, featuring MikeLepond of SymphonyX, and founded by the powerhouse vocalistPhyliis Rutter, which Jimmy is a collaborative memberon their upcoming release. In addition, Jimmy is working furiously on the third album ofThe Fractured Dimension, as well as shredding zestfully as a guest musician on many live and studio projects with the finest and coolest musicians on Spaceship Earth.
