Billy Corgan
In the Smashing Pumpkins latest press release Billy Corgan answers questions about Oceania
April 30, 2012
by MonteLDS
Photo by Richard Shay
The latest press release by Mitch Schneider Organization came with a short interview with Billy Corgan.
In the interview Billy said the following about recording and producing Oceania:
“From a production standpoint I was dead set on making an album where every song was just as valuable as any other, ignoring the typical claptrap you hear about needing a single. The only way to make the case that every song on Oceania is worth hearing is to put your heart into the sequence as a cohesive whole. Once we felt we’d achieved that balance, only then did we let anyone outside our world hear the record we’d made..”
Billy then touched on the importance of the legacy of this bands lineup.
“If we’ve learned anything from playing as an intact unit now for over two years, it’s that unless we create our own sound and our own legacy, it’s a given that people will default to what they know; whether it’s my past or someone else’s. We know we have much more in us to share than being an alluring, virtual jukebox. Being in The Pumpkins will always be defined by what we can create from our hands and hearts right now, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Also in the press release Richard Shay, son of Chicago legend Art Shay is revealed as the photographer who took the photo for the cover of Oceania.
Live Essentials: Greater London Radio on 08-23-1992
April 29, 2012
We’re going pre-Siamese Dream this week. This is a short, charming live-acoustic set from an FM broadcast on Greater London Radio. To start, we are treated to an early version of Rocket (with alternate lyrics). For those of you who have never heard Dance of the Dwarves, allow yourselves to be enlightened by a “small excerpt—33 seconds of sheer SP comedy spender. The set closes with a beautiful rendition of Spaceboy.
Rocket (alt. lyrics) (4:46)
Listen/Get the Whole Show
You can listen to and download the show here: http://archive.org/details/tsp1992-08-23.FM.flac16
Flashback Friday: Machina Interview CD
April 27, 2012
by MonteLDS
While looking through my Smashing Pumpkins collection I found this little promo interview disc I had. Since you have seen a number of recent interviews with Billy, I though we could flashback to one that came out right before Machina. Here are all the questions. I have written the answers Billy gave to some of the questions. I’ll like write answers to all the questions over the weekend.
New Lengthy interview with Billy Corgan appears on FasterLouder.com.au
April 26, 2012
by MonteLDS
A new interview with Billy Corgan has come online today. In the interview Billy talks about his new book, working with the Veronicas, Oceania, Zeitgiest, Machina re-issue, and the future. Here are some quotes from the interview.
Billy Corgan talks to News.com.au
April 25, 2012
by MonteLDS
In this latest interview with Billy Corgan, he explains that it’s not his job to be an oldies act or a jukebox. The article quotes him to say, “When we were on the Mellon Collie album tour I had people down the front shouting for Siamese Dream songs.”
He goes on to emphasize that, to him, playing old albums in full for concerts is the death of everything that is new.
When he discusses the recent open letter by Axl Rose to boycott the Guns N’ Roses’ Hall of Fame induction, Billy says it would be problematic for the original line up to ever reunite.
“You have to understand I’ve been sued by my former band mates,” he says. “I’ve had them cost me money, crazy amounts of money, over dumb s—. T
hey don’t want to participate in things that involve fans, but they still want to make their money because they were around when stuff happened.”
Live Essentials: London Hotel Room on 1991-09-01
April 21, 2012
London, UK, 1991—This is a classic show that features a stunning solo-acoustic performance by Billy (from the “Fish” Era) and short interviews between songs. With only 5 tracks, and running under 30 minutes, it’s a great short listen that you’ll find yourself coming back to again and again.
The set contains some unique versions of songs. As billy puts it, “It’s the same song, but a different interpretation.”
Through the interview sections we learn some interesting tidbits. For example, at the time, Billy liked all of his songs, but sometimes not the way he did them on the record. Also, when asked his favorite song, he replies, “Probably a song that consistently stays with me is Snail…it wasn’t one of those songs when you first played it you thought, this is a great song. I really had to work on it and work on it, and kept it in my mind and kept thinking about it.”
Obscured/Tristessa Tease/Rhinoceros Tease (5:17)
Listen/Get the Whole Show
You can listen to and download the show here: http://archive.org/details/tsp1991-09-01.shnf
Flashback Friday: The Smashing Pumpkins perform Crestfallen at the 1998 VH1 Fashion Awards
April 20, 2012
by MonteLDS
On October 25th 1998, the Smashing Pumpkins performed Crestfallen live on the VH1 Fashion Awards in New York. At the time, a promo for Crestfallen was in circulation but the song was never released as a single.
On this night, we saw a rare live performance of Billy Corgan playing the piano/keyboard. During the Adore tour, touring musician Mike Garson played the keys on Crestfallen (as well as other songs).
Billy Corgan talks with VMusic
April 18, 2012
by MonteLDS
Billy did a Q&A with an Australian website called VMusic. In the interview, Billy talks about being in Las Vegas for a wrestling convention. He talks a little about how Resistance Pro is going and how much fun it is.
In the interview, Billy says that the Oceania tour will start in Australia, and mentions that he wrote a song for the Veronicas’ album that isn’t being used – although he does play a guitar part on the upcoming album.
He explains why Australia is the perfect place to debut Oceania
I think it’s really cool that the official Oceania tour starts in Australia. Our Australian fans will be the first to hear it and see what we’re gonna do. We’re working with the guy who’s been working with Roger Waters on The Wall - he’s doing the graphics for our tour. We’re gonna have a really interesting stage show. It’s more of an experiential thing than just us getting up and playing with a bunch of bright lights.
He also says that he isn’t sure if they will be playing the Oceania set at Splendour because it would be a tough crowd.
Billy does mention that his spiritual autobiography is slated for next year.
You can read the full article here.
Crestfallen.com Friday the 13th Interview with Billy Corgan
April 17, 2012
by MonteLDS
Photo by Silvia Soares Lopes
On Friday the 13th (April 2012), Crestfallen.com interviewed Billy Corgan over the phone. The interview lasted for well over an hour and covered the reissue process, an in-depth look at the Lucky 13 project, the upcoming release of Oceania, and much more.
For anyone interested in learning more about the Lucky 13 project, I believe this interview will shed some additional light on it.
Preview of the Friday the 13th Interview with Billy Corgan: Will Oceania have a single?
April 16, 2012
On the evening of Friday the 13th, Jonathan Monte interviewed Billy Corgan over the phone, for over an hour. The two spoke about the reissue process, The Lucky 13 project, the upcoming Oceania release and more. We are sharing a little snippet each day, until the whole interview is released on Tuesday. Here’s the third snippet.
In this part of the interview Billy is asked if there are plans to release a single before Oceania is released.
The current plan is to make it about the album. Meaning, we are having a lot of conversations, none of which are finalized, but essentially somewhere in the week-or-less period before the album is actually available for sale, we make it so everybody can hear the album, and they decided on their own whether or not they think it’s a worthy work. So, we’re not sending out copies for review. We’re not trying to sell the album off of one song. We believe that the album in totality will be significant enough that people will be motivated to want to own it…if you want the marketing campaign that is essentially it in a nut shell.