Talking to Billy Corgan, it’s difficult to remember it’s been almost 20 years since he was the toast of alt-rock. So much has been written about the wild-eyed musical genius that raised the Smashing Pumpkins Band into one of the biggest alt-rock bands of the 1990s, it’s tough not to live in that past. Corgan, to his credit, certainly doesn’t.
“We talk about this a lot,” said Corgan of what he wants fans that attend his shows to take away. “I really, really, really want people to walk out the door and say they have a future. I don’t want them to think that we are locked in a time capsule.”
| Onstage |
| The Smashing Pumpkins |
| When: 7 p.m. Monday |
| Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW |
| Info: Sold out at press time; 9:30.com; 800-955-5566 |
While fans may mourn the departure of past Pumpkins, including drummer extraordinaire Jimmy Chamberlin, Corgan has put those sorrows aside. Instead he’s intent on sharing new Pumpkins music. He and the new Pumpkins — guitarist Jeff Schroeder, drummer Mike Byrne and bassist Nicole Fiorentino — have just recorded a host of new material and are on what Corgan calls an “introductory” tour of the United States.
Corgan sounds like a proud mentor when he talks about how he chose the new bandmates he felt could continue the Pumpkins’ musical legacy.
“You can’t hire professional music types. You have to hire those who went to the clubs,” said Corgan, noting he met then-19-year-old Byrne while he was working at a McDonald’s. “He was just named ‘Drummer of the Year’ by Modern Drummer. He has demonstrated my faith in him was accurate. He is just 21 and he’s on an exciting journey.”
The other bandmates had similar nonmusic jobs pre-Pumpkins. Schroeder was a teacher at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Fiorentino was supporting herself as a waitress while she played gigs. The common thread was that all three members were rabid Pumpkins fans when they met Corgan.
The stew of talents and sensibilities has turned into a musical feast and what Corgan calls “the most stable situation the band has been in for 15 years.”
A healthy physical and spiritual life almost seems to have soothed Corgan’s past angst.
“It has been a very interesting ride, and I had to realize what was important to me about [the band],” he said. “In this fantasy business, we’re an anomaly really. We’re ‘more realer.’ ‘More real’ doesn’t really work in rock ‘n’ roll.”
