BILLY CORGAN ON THE REFORMATION OF SMASHING PUMPKINS

On June 21, 2005, Smashing Pumpkins lead vocalist and mastermind Billy Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite The Smashing Pumpkins for another tour and album, thus thrilling fans who eagerly awaited the reunion. Cogan wrote in the ads “For a year now I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams.” Soon fans were trying to figure out if the reunion would include the original lineup, which consisted of Corgan, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, guitarist James Iha and bassist D’Arcy Wretzy. But as it turns out, both James Iha, D’Arcy and the bands second bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur didn’t want to be a part of the reunion tour.

We caught up with Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin to get their thoughts on why The Smashing Pumpkins carried on without them.

“(Corgan) We put out the feelers to them that the door was open but we were met with a sort of cold foot.” “(Chamberlin) They kind of made the decision.”

Smashing Pumpkins finally chose guitarist Jeff Schroeder and bassist Ginger Reyes, along with Lisa Harriton on keyboards to round out the lineup and they performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. We also wanted to know what the band was looking for during the auditions for the new Smashing Pumpkins.

“It’s difficult doing auditions for a band like Smashing Pumpkins because you either have to be super picky and kind of go towards people who are specialized in that field or you got to kind of open the flood gates and make it kind of common knowledge and see what the universe delivers. I think we learned a bit of a lesson on that and I think Jeff and Ginger where certainly delivered by other means than the usual path you’d go to meet musicians, a hiring service or audition and a reader or newspaper. They just kind of came recommended by a friend and ended up being…when you pick somebody for a band like this it’s a little bit more than how they play guitar, it’s ‘can I ride on a bus with them for nine months?’ I’ve got to live with this person, do I get along with them, what are we going to talk about, what kinds of books do they read and those two in particular where a really great fit for us.”

The Smashing Pumpkins are currently in the process of editing a DVD that’s a documentary of their residency Fillmore shows held during their reunion tour in 2007. The band plans to stay very busy as they look to release some of their early demos for Christmas, then put out a new Smashing Pumpkins single in the fall. Billy and the boys plan to do a fall tour as they get ready to put out a new Pumpkins album next year. The Smashing Pumpkins will mark their 20th anniversary this September with a special series of shows in New York, Los Angeles and their native Chicago. Corgan and Chamberlin say they want to make each show special and they plan to have special guests at each show.