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Watch Pill-Popping Billy Corgan Talk Smashing Pumpkins

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Smashing Pumpkins’ Twitter feed has posted a link to a bizarre yet informative video interview filmed backstage at London’s O2 Academy, Brixton, where the band plays tonight and tomorrow night. In the short clip, Billy Corgan and his troops discuss their upcoming album, reject the notion of becoming a nostalgia act, and — in the case of Corgan, at least — down pill after pill:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/MKPyn5iKfBs?version=3

Fans will have to wait until at least March 2012 to own the band’s upcoming ninth album, titled Oceania, Corgan says in the interview. “We actually thought it was going to be coming out now, but the response behind the scenes has been so strong we actually pushed it back a little bit, because everyone told us we were crazy to not put it out with sort of a formal release,” he explains. He also reiterates a previous announcement that Oceania will be a 13-song, hour-long record.

Then, as the other members of the band speak, Corgan can be seen popping a ridiculously huge number of what appear to be pills. As a guy who recently jumped into the pro wrestling biz, Corgan would seem to be playing a character here — he has previously said audiences “just aren’t sophisticated enough to know that I’m playing around.” Then again, his sinuses sound a bit congested. Regardless, Corgan’s performance — complete with a winter hat you might expect to see in South Park — is a fine source of bemusement.

Without naming any names, Corgan also takes shots at other bands from the ’90s. “It’s amazing how many people from my generation have totally sold out and just cashed in and just gone and played their old songs, and they have no ambition and no future,” he says. “They don’t call you an old band anymore, they call you a heritage act. That’s the last thing we’re gonna be.”

That isn’t to say Corgan is ignoring fans of early SP hits. On November 29, the Pumpkins will launch their reissues campaign with newly remastered and expanded versions of 1991’s Gish and 1993’s Siamese Dream. The band recently wrapped up a fall U.S. tour and will be playing across Europe through December 9, with more tour dates expected next year. Read SPIN’S review of SP’s Los Angeles show here.