Billy Corgan
Seven years after their implosion under the weight of ego clashes, drug abuse, and a lack of musical focus, the Smashing Pumpkins reformed with just two original members -- guitarist-vocalist Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain -- and were lambasted for cashing in on their legacy with the release of 2007's actually-pretty-good Zeitgeist. Ironically, it's only now that Chamberlain has exited the band (again), leaving 43-year-old Corgan as the original lineup's sole survivor, that the Pumpkins are finding new recognition in the alternative landscape they helped shape.
After parting ways with their major label, Corgan's band -- guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Nicole Fiorentino, and 20-year-old drum whiz Mike Byrne -- have begun releasing their new 44-song album Teargarden By Kaleidyscope for free, one song at a time, on their website. So far five songs are available, and each chronological set of four are being released as a limited edition CD via Corgan's own Martha Music label.
The Pumpkins' "leaner, meaner" lineup also recently launched a world tour, culminating with a sold-out set at SPIN's 25th-anniversary concert series in New York (read our review here). As the band prepared to head to Japan, we checked in with Corgan to discuss the Smashing Pumpkins' resurrection, new album, and future plans.
I read that you recently fainted onstage in Tampa. Are you okay?
Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit bruised up. It's happened before, where I just… over sing. I just faint. If you see the video, I fall down and when I wake up five seconds later, I get up and finish the song. The last time it happened was in 2008. I've done like 1,700 shows, so it's not a normal occurrence, that's for sure.
After a period away from the limelight your music career is really revving up again.
I've been so busy lately. It's unbelievable. The band has really taken off again. The positive reaction to what we're doing right now musically, and the emotion coming off the stage, has lit a fire. I haven't seen a reaction to the band like this probably since the mid-'90s. We just had this thing happen that was kind of funny: Los Angeles' alternative radio station KROQ had a poll asking, "Who was the best band of the '90s?" We crushed the competition. We received about 38 percent of the vote over U2, Nirvana, and a bunch of other bands. Even KROQ site said that they were surprised.
You've been releasing the 44 songs from Teargarden By Kaleidyscope one-by-one online. How long will it take to release the entire album?
Probably about four years. Things are taking off right now so much that we're getting a lot of demand to go on tour, so I've got to figure out when I'm going to record. Right now I only have three more songs done and waiting to be released, and I have probably 60 songs written. I love [writing and recording song by song] because it's that sense of being in the moment again. It reminds me of being young and playing a gig and trying out new material. There's a sense that I can exist in the moment with the music.
The new material is more direct and less grandiose than previous Pumpkins albums.
True. But I'm headed back in that direction [laughs]. One thing I've learned to appreciate as I've gotten a little older is direct forms of communication. Back in the day I was determined to have the band sound larger than life, maybe to cover up for the fact that we weren't larger than life. Now I'm happy to find clarity in what I'm doing. I've been listening a lot to mid-'70s rock, like UFO, Rainbow, and Queen, and from a production point of view, there's actually not a lot going on. But you can hear everything, so when [Deep Purple guitarist] Ritchie Blackmore plays you really hear it.
Who's producing Teargarden By Kaleidyscope?
Pretty much me. I work with some different people, but it's pretty much my problem. I think the days of working with producers in the conventional sense are over for me. I'm lucky in that I've worked with some of the best producers in the history of rock: Flood, Alan Moulder, Butch Vig, Roy Thomas Baker. I've been a real student while sitting at the feet of those masters. There just comes a point where you graduate and want to do it your own way.
The Smashing Pumpkins and Hole both played Japan's Summer Sonic festival. Did you say hello to Courtney?
No. I'm not interested in anything to do with Courtney anymore. I've completely broken my relationship with her. I've always considered her a great artist, but I want nothing to do with her.
What was the final straw?
You can Google all that [laughs]. I'm having a nice evening. You don't want to ruin my evening by recounting the stones along the road.
Should I also not ask about Pavement [who dissed the Pumpkins in their song "Range Life"] then?
They're just annoying. I think history has judged the bands appropriately: My band continues to be a source of excitement, and their band continues to be a source of record critics' masturbatory diatribes.
