Music

Billy Corgan talks Smashing Pumpkins reunion, says original line-up is talking again

by Richard Howard

If you’ve been noticing an unusual number of 30-something year olds in black ‘Zero’ shirts serenely floating past you on the street, there’s a perfectly good explanation for it. Those shirts are worn by hardcore Smashing Pumpkins fans, and those fans are pretty damn sure that, in the near future, they’ll be seeing the original lineup of their favorite band perform for the first time in nearly two decades. Sez who? Well, nobody yet, but the possibility has been alluded to by none other than SP frontman William “You Darn Kids Get Off My Lawn and Doggone It Do I Love Wrasslin” Corgan Jr.

While drummer Jimmy Chamberlain has been sporadically playing with Corgan over the past few years, James Iha participating in the band’s recent In Plainsong acoustic guitar tour was a huge surprise for fans.

Of course, there was no way bassist D’arcy Wretzky would be coming on board, considering how much she and Corgan despise each other. Then again, that’s what they said about Axl and Slash. Funnily enough, the progress of this whole thing has been eerily similar to the events preceding the Guns N’ Roses reunion. Following reports that the four original members had come together in filing a lawsuit concerning the leaking of some old demos, Corgan dropped a Facebook post on May 2 wishing Wretzky a happy birthday – not something you do when you still want to see someone die a slow and painful death, right? Then, Corgan made the following statement in a Facebook video log:

“There’s some big stuff happening. We’re making plans. I can’t give that away, but it’s going to be interesting.”

Cue euphoria and stories claiming that, according to “industry sources,” Corgan is shopping a reunited Pumpkins tour. And of course, cue Billy “Settle Down and Let Your Wiser, More Level Headed Elder Take The Mic” Corgan clarifying that the band isn’t at the point (but also leaving the door really, really wide open for the band’s reunion).

According to Corgan, he and D’arcy are talking for the first time in over 16 years and the original lineup as a whole is back in contact. And while his “primary interest” is the band “having good relationships again” as opposed to “just going out to play because there’s a big stack of money there,” he acknowledges the excitement surrounding the idea and assures that “if that band ever gets back on stage, it will be about music.”

That’s some classic Corgan rhetoric right there. So hold on to your SP hearts, friends – while a ‘classic album’ tour might make Corgan gag with revulsion, things are looking good that 2017 will offer the opportunity to see the original Smashing Pumpkins rip through “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” once again. Check out the video and transcript of the relevant (aka not about wrestling) portion below.

“There are some things going on, but they’re the type of things I didn’t even think were worth talking about because they’re more private than public. But at the same point, I don’t want people speculating about something that’s got nothing to do with what’s going on. First off, we’re back in contact again, the band. I’ve been in communication with D’arcy for the first time in 16 or 17 years, it’s awesome to have my friend back. So we’re all in communication, which as I said not too long ago, my primary interest in the old band was us having good relationships again.

Not to go into the weeds on the whole thing, but we were a family for a very long time, it just makes life easier to communicate. You can talk about the old days, you can have a laugh, you can see how each other are, you can check in, and sometimes there’s business things that come up where it’s easier to just talk about them than to have to go through a bunch of lawyers and stuff. So maybe that’s fueling some of the rumors. So of course when you get to the point where you’re in communication, and the relationships are good again, and it’s a good vibe, you yourself, and people around you who know what’s going on, start saying: ‘Is the band going to get back together?’ We’re not at that point, and I think that’s a good thing. We’re not rushing to something, we have to repair some things between us, and see what’s out there for us, if those opportunities are even there.

We’re not interested, nor have we ever been interested, in just going out to play because there’s a big stack of money there. Of course the business is part of what goes on, but the band was never about that, and if the band should ever be again in that form, in some iteration, obviously because there’s other people involved, because it would be about the music. So speculate away, because that’s from me, not an anonymous source…

… There’s excitement there that surrounds the idea that maybe there’s the possibility that we will get back together, but until you here it coming from my mouth that the band is getting back together and we will play dates, my primary concern is the family relationships of the band that are ultimately so much more important. I can tell you without a doubt that if that band ever gets back on stage, it will be about music, it will be about playing music that fans love, and that we love.”

[h/t Stereogum]