guitar hero world tour smashing pumpkins

Smashing Pumpkins to release new track through Guitar Hero

The Smashing Pumpkins are debut new single G.L.O.W. as part of a song-pack on Guitar Hero World Tour.

Apparently, "This marks the first time a band has recorded a new song exclusively for the franchise which will be released afterwards, giving Guitar Hero® fans exclusive access to Smashing Pumpkins music before anyone else."

Sensational. Press release after the link.

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS TO DEBUT NEW SINGLE "G.L.O.W." AS PART OF DOWNLOADABLE SONGPACK EXCLUSIVELY FOR GUITAR HERO® WORLD TOUR

In-Game Model of Vocalist and Lead Guitarist, Billy Corgan, and "Today" from Four Times-Platinum Album Siamese Dream To Rock On-Disc at Launch

Tuesday 2nd September/... The Smashing Pumpkins, one of rock's defining and most acclaimed bands who've sold over 30 million albums, is coming to Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero® World Tour in a ground-breaking way as the band will debut its new single “G.L.O.W.” exclusively in the game. This marks the first time a band has recorded a new song exclusively for the franchise which will be released afterwards, giving Guitar Hero® fans exclusive access to Smashing Pumpkins music before anyone else. The new track, bundled with two other rocking Smashing Pumpkins hits, “1979” and “The Everlasting Gaze,” will be available post-launch of the game as a three-song downloaded content pack.

Additionally, on-disc with the release of Guitar Hero World Tour this autumn, The Smashing Pumpkins’ singer, songwriter and lead guitarist Billy Corgan will appear as an in-game character and will bring with him “Today,” the band’s smash hit from their pivotal and four-times platinum 1993 album Siamese Dream. “Today” is one of the band’s many hits that have defined the alternative music era and continue to resonate on modern rock radio, influencing a whole new generation. Players will be able to experience the unique alternative rocker’s likeness in-game as he sings and shreds on guitar, or play as the revered rock star throughout their vocal and axe careers.

When the house lights go down this fall, a new generation of guitarists, drummers and fearless frontmen will come together and rock with Guitar Hero World Tour. The latest installment in the #1 best-selling video game franchise of 2007, Guitar Hero World Tour transforms music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero’s signature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience that combines the most advanced wireless controllers with new revolutionary online* and offline gameplay modes including Band Career and 8-player “Battle of the Bands,” which allows two full bands to compete head-to-head online for the first time ever. The game features a slick newly redesigned guitar controller, drum kit controller and a microphone, as well as an innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own rock ‘n’ roll anthems. Music creators will also be able to share their recordings with their friends online through GHTunesSM where other gamers can download and play an endless supply of unique creations.

Guitar Hero World Tour is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The Wii™ version is being developed by Vicarious Visions. The PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system version is being developed by Budcat. The game is rated 12+ by PEGI and 12 by the BBFC. For more information on Guitar Hero World Tour, please visit www.guitarhero.com.

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Guitar Hero World Tour: The Smashing Pumpkins

Content: The Smashing Pumpkins Track Pack Price: 440 Microsoft Points Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions Dash Text: [ESRB: T (Teen) MILD LYRICS,MILD SUGGESTIVE THEMES] Downloadable Track Pack for Guitar Hero World Tour featuring “G.L.O.W.”, “1979”, and “The Everlasting Gaze” by The Smashing Pumpkins. Please Note: Many songs are available both as singles and as part of a Track Pack, so please carefully consider your purchases before downloading. For all song credits please visit www.guitarhero.com. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts .

Click here to add these one (or more) of these items to your Xbox 360 download queue

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New Smashing Pumpkins In GH: World Tour DLC

It's another band rhythm video game first as Activision announces that Smashing Pumpkins will debut their new single "G.L.O.W." as part of a track pack for Guitar Hero: World Tour before the song is released to the general public. The song, which I highly doubt has anything to do with the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, will be part of a Smashing Pumpkins track pack, rounded out by "1979" and "The Everlasting Gaze". That makes four Smashing Pumpkins songs for Guitar Hero: World Tour, with "Today" shipping on the disc. In addition to the music, Smashing Pumpkins front man and creepiest bald man in music since Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil Billy Corgan will appear in the game as a playable character, allowing players to experience the joys of being Corgan as they advance through their vocal or guitar careers. I say screw that. I want an entire band made up of Billy Corgan. Corgan on bass. Corgan on drums. Corgan selling refreshments at the concessions stand. It's the stuff nightmares are made of. THE SMASHING PUMPKINS TO DEBUT NEW SINGLE "G.L.O.W." AS PART OF DOWNLOADABLE SONGPACK EXCLUSIVELY FOR GUITAR HERO® WORLD TOUR In-Game Model of Vocalist and Lead Guitarist, Billy Corgan, and "Today" from Four Times-Platinum Album Siamese Dream To Rock On-Disc at Launch Tuesday 2nd September/... The Smashing Pumpkins, one of rock's defining and most acclaimed bands who've sold over 30 million albums, is coming to Activision Publishing, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero® World Tour in a ground-breaking way as the band will debut its new single "G.L.O.W." exclusively in the game. This marks the first time a band has recorded a new song exclusively for the franchise which will be released afterwards, giving Guitar Hero® fans exclusive access to Smashing Pumpkins music before anyone else. The new track, bundled with two other rocking Smashing Pumpkins hits, "1979" and "The Everlasting Gaze," will be available post-launch of the game as a three-song downloaded content pack. Additionally, on-disc with the release of Guitar Hero World Tour this autumn, The Smashing Pumpkins' singer, songwriter and lead guitarist Billy Corgan will appear as an in-game character and will bring with him "Today," the band's smash hit from their pivotal and four-times platinum 1993 album Siamese Dream. "Today" is one of the band's many hits that have defined the alternative music era and continue to resonate on modern rock radio, influencing a whole new generation. Players will be able to experience the unique alternative rocker's likeness in-game as he sings and shreds on guitar, or play as the revered rock star throughout their vocal and axe careers. When the house lights go down this fall, a new generation of guitarists, drummers and fearless frontmen will come together and rock with Guitar Hero World Tour. The latest installment in the #1 best-selling video game franchise of 2007, Guitar Hero World Tour transforms music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero's signature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience that combines the most advanced wireless controllers with new revolutionary online* and offline gameplay modes including Band Career and 8-player "Battle of the Bands," which allows two full bands to compete head-to-head online for the first time ever. The game features a slick newly redesigned guitar controller, drum kit controller and a microphone, as well as an innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own rock ‘n' roll anthems. Music creators will also be able to share their recordings with their friends online through GHTunesSM where other gamers can download and play an endless supply of unique creations.

Related Content

Smashing Pumpkins

• Edit source
• View history

The Smashing Pumpkins is an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Founded by Billy Corgan (vocals/guitar), the band disbanded briefly in 2000, but returned in 2006.

• 2.1 Current
• 2.2 Touring
• 3 Discography
• 4 Songs in Guitar Hero games:

Overview [ ]

Disavowing the punk rock roots shared by many of their alt-rock contemporaries, the Pumpkins have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, arena rock, shoegazer-style production and, in later recordings, electronica. Frontman Billy Corgan is the group's primary songwriter - his grand musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".

Band Members [ ]

Current [ ].

• Billy Corgan: vocals/lead guitar (1988-2000, 2006-present)
• James Iha: rhythm guitar (1988-2000, 2018-present)
• Jeff Schroeder: rhythm guitar (2006-present)
• Jimmy Chamberlin: drums (1988-1996, 1999-2000, 2006-2009, 2015-present)

Touring [ ]

• Jack Bates: bass (2015-present)
• Katie Cole: keyboards, backing vocals (2015-present)
• D'arcy Wretzky: bass (1988-1999)
• Melissa auf der Maur (formerly from Hole): bass (1999-2000)
• Ginger Pooley: bass (2007-2009)
• Lisa Harriton: keyboards, backing vocals (2007-2009)
• Mike Byrne: drums (2009-2014)

Discography [ ]

• Gish (1991)
• " Cherub Rock " and " Today " were released in this album. Another known hit from this album is "Disarm".
• " Bullet with Butterfly Wings " and " 1979 " came out in this album, as well as other well-known hits like "Tonight, Tonight" and "Zero".
• Adore (1998)
• Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
• Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
• Zeitgeist (2007)
• Vol. 1: Songs For a Son
• Vol. 2: The Solstice Bare
• Oceania (2012)
• Monuments to an Elegy (2014)
• Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol.1: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018)

Songs in Guitar Hero games: [ ]

• Cherub Rock - Guitar Hero 3
• Today - Guitar Hero World Tour
• Bullet With Butterfly Wings - Guitar Hero 5
• G.L.O.W. - Guitar Hero World Tour DLC
• 1979 - Guitar Hero World Tour DLC
• The Everlasting Gaze - Guitar Hero World Tour DLC
• Billy Corgan is unlockable Character in Guitar Hero World Tour and unlocked after playing "Today" on Band Career Mode.
• 1 Controllers and controller compatibility
• 2 Guitar Hero (series)
• 3 Guitar Hero Arcade/Setlist

SMASHING PUMPKINS Debut New Song At 'Guitar Hero' Event

The Pulse of Radio reports that SMASHING PUMPKINS debuted a new song at a special Guitar Hero launch party in Los Angeles over the weekend. According to the Los Angeles Times , the track is called "As Rome Burns" and features the lyrics: "We are the new gods/same as the old gods/we'll take all your blood/and turn it into mud/as Rome burns/one by one/two by two/together they ride/side by side/into love/together they die/and still they want to weather the tide/as Rome burns." The group also played "G.L.O.W." , the new track featured in the Guitar Hero: World Tour video game. The single marks the first time a band has recorded a new song exclusively for Guitar Hero . Also in the PUMPKINS set were the songs "Tarantula" , "Siva" , "Speed Kills" , "Superchrist" , "Sounds of Silence" , and a cover of PINK FLOYD 's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" .

Fan-filmed video footage from the concert can be viewed below.

The PUMPKINS will release a documentary and concert DVD called "If It All Goes Wrong" on November 11.

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Nirvana, Slightly Stoopid, Smashing Pumpkins on Guitar Hero: World Tour this month

Some interesting additions to Guitar Hero: World Tour coming in December, most notable are three tracks from Nirvana including one from the band's Sub Pop Records debut, Bleach . The track, "Negative Creep," will be featured along with the non-album single, "Sliver" and "You Know You're Right," which was released posthumously on 2002's Nirvana [Greatest Hits] .

Along with Nirvana, a new set of "reggae" tracks from Slightly Stoopid , The Expendables and Pepper will appear in December, as well as three songs from Smashing Pumpkins including "1979."

Update: Oops. That's Guitar Hero: World Tour, not Rock Band 2. Sorry about that.

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Smashing Pumpkins Embrace G.L.O.W., Guitar Hero

The next Smashing Pumpkins single will premiere in Guitar Hero: World Tour on October 27 before it's available anywhere else, as part of a three song downloadable expansion pack that includes their songs "1979," "The EverlastingGaze" and a new song called "G.L.O.W." that appears to concern the Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling .

The Pumpkins' album will be released three days later, on October 30th – the same day G.L.O.W. plans on releasing its next video, "Volume 5: Another Glowing Moment." Coincidence? I think not. For some reason, Billy Corgan and company appear to have tapped into the G.L.O.W. phenomenon about two decades after the shows first aired.

Guitar Hero World Tour will offer Smashing Pumpkins fans thechance to play the song "Today" and use Billy Corgan as theircharacter within the game even if they don't purchase the expansionpack with the new single.

Although it probably wouldn't be a good idea for the band to sellits music exclusively through a videogame, the Smashing Pumpkins' decision to release the single three days early in the game can onlyadd to the buzz. I bet lots of people will be tempted to buy thatexpansion pack, because it means they get to play the song before manyfans of the band even get to hear it.

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Photo: Andra Veraart ; via Reuters

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Kate O'Flaherty

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Pete Cottell

Brenda Stolyar

Guitar Hero World Tour

The Eagles, Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins, supplying downloadable content this month.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec 03, 2008 - Legendary multi-platinum recording artists The Eagles, Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins, all featured in the on-disc set list of Activision Publishing, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero ® World Tour, are returning in December with exclusive downloadable content for the game. Additionally, fans will be in for a treat just in time for Christmas with three free Reggae Rock tracks from Pepper, Slightly Stoopid and Expendables.

The Smashing Pumpkins, one of rock's defining and most acclaimed bands who have sold over 30 million albums, return to Guitar Hero World Tour, tomorrow December 4th, with a three-song track pack featuring the recently released single "G.L.O.W.," "1979" and "Everlasting Gaze."

Featuring the stylistic melodies of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, the pioneers of alternative rock, Nirvana, make their Guitar Hero ® downloadable content debut with the Nirvana Track Pack. Featuring the final single released by the band, "You Know You're Right," along with "Negative Creep," off the band's debut album Bleach, and the smash hit "Sliver," the Nirvana Track Pack will be available for Guitar Hero World Tour on December 11th.

After delivering the timeless rock ballad "Hotel California" to the on-disc set list of Guitar Hero World Tour, The Eagles will thrill the Guitar Hero audience once again on December 18th with three chart topping hits. From the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees' seventh studio album and first in 28 years, Long Road Out of Eden, "Frail Grasp on the Big Picture" is joined by two classic tracks that climbed to the top of the Billboard's Hot 100, "One of These Nights" and "Life in the Fast Lane."

Rounding out the downloadable set list for Guitar Hero World Tour in December are three free Reggae grooves. The Reggae Rock Track Pack is comprised of "Jimi" from Slightly Stoopid, "Your Face" from Pepper and Expendables' "Sacrifice." The free tracks will be available for download on December 23rd.

The Eagles, Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins Track Packs will be available on Xbox LIVE ® Marketplace for the Xbox 360 ® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 440 Microsoft Points and on the PlayStation ® Store for the PLAYSTATION ® 3 computer entertainment system for $5.49. The songs in each Track Pack will be released as downloadable singles for Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PLAYSTATION 3 system for $1.99 and Nintendo ® Wi-Fi Connection for Wii TM for 200 Wii Points. The Free Reggae Rock Track Pack will be available for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 and as singles for Wii.

Guitar Hero World Tour transforms music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero's signature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience that combines the most advanced wireless controllers with new revolutionary online* and offline gameplay modes including Band Career and 8-player "Battle of the Bands," which allows two full bands to compete head-to-head online. The game features a slick newly redesigned guitar controller, drum kit controller and a wired microphone, as well as an innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own rock 'n' roll anthems. Music creators are also able to share their recordings with their friends online through GHTunesSM where other gamers can download and play an endless supply of unique creations.

Guitar Hero World Tour is now available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, the Wii home video game system from Nintendo and the PlayStation ® 2 computer entertainment system. The game is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB. For more information on Guitar Hero World Tour, please visit worldtour.guitarhero.com.

About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as "outlook," "will," "could," "would," "might," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes," "may," "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "estimate," future," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project," "remain," "scheduled," "set to," "subject to," "upcoming" and similar expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales of Activision Publishing's titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard's success in integrating the operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated. Other such factors include additional risk factors identified in Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

*Online gameplay is only available for the Xbox 360 ® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION ® 3 computer entertainment system and Wii TM and may require an additional subscription.

Guitar Hero World Tour © 2008 Activision Publishing, Inc. Guitar Hero, Activision and RedOctane are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

"PlayStation," "PLAYSTATION" and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Used with Permission. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Wii is a trademark of Nintendo.

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Guitar Hero World Tour December DLC Unveiled: Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Eagles, More

The December DLC lineup for Guitar Hero World Tour has been revealed by publisher Activision, revealing the new tunes that owners of the Neversoft and Vicarious Visions-developed music game will be able to purchase and download later this month.

The below tracks will hit PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360, priced individually at $2, which translates to 160 Microsoft Points and 200 Wii Points. PS3 and Xbox 360 owners can also purchase 3-song packs, which go for $5.50 and offer a savings of $0.50.

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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Couple okay songs there, but I'm still glad I only rented GH:WT. HMX 4 Life... =D

harmonix bake me a You Know You're Right RIGHT FUCKING NOW >:(

"As good as D’arcy and James are, it was just going to sound better if Billy played it" – Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, Butch Vig, Flood and more on the Smashing Pumpkins' recording history

Classic interview – From Gish to Zeitgeist, through the eyes of the key players… plus the 11 underrated Pumpkins songs guitarists need to hear

"I'm sorry, I’m on a tangent,” he laughs. “See, I told you. I don’t interview anymore. I’m just talking like a normal person.”

It’s ten minutes into our first interview, and Billy Corgan has gone slightly off-topic. Nothing too outlandish, but he’s affable and apologetic nonetheless. The two of us are sitting on the patio outside a nondescript home studio in Los Angeles, where the audio is being mixed for a forthcoming DVD chronicling the Smashing Pumpkins ’ 12-show run at the Fillmore in the summer of 2007 . 

In two weeks he’ll travel to another studio to record G.L.O.W., a new Pumpkins track for the Guitar Hero World Tour video game. Corgan also went through facial scanning and motion capture at Neversoft to become a playable character.

Billy Corgan: “The gear should always support your vision”

“Digital me,” he smiles, right down to the sheen off his dome piece. There’s a lot on tap in Pumpkinland, but for the moment its chief resident is calm and centred. The loudest thing about him is a pair of bright orange socks peering over the top of his black-and-red high-top Nike Court Forces.

That anybody would announce the fact that they were talking like a normal person seems strange unless that person happens to be Billy Corgan. Frequently misinterpreted and misquoted, it’s understandable that Corgan is somewhat of a guarded interview, at least in regards to certain topics. Gear isn’t one of them.

“I love talking about that stuff,” he says. “I’d rather talk about that stuff than talk about emotional stuff. So yeah, as far as you want to go down the rabbit hole...”

The thing is, the further down you go, the more you realise that the emotional stuff and the technical stuff intertwine like patch cables. Personalities, playing styles, tension, harmony, exploration everything is interconnected.

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Riffs and rifts. Tone and atonement. The collective dynamic among Billy Corgan, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin , guitarist James Iha , and bassist D’arcy Wretzky manifested itself in one of the most sonically diverse and emotionally-complex bodies of work in rock history. 

As individuals, they affected one another just as much with their absence as they did with their presence. They are torchbearers of the Alternative Nation, and their music resonates with hippies, shoegazers, goths, shredders, and e-music experimentalists alike.

“Thousands of songs have come and gone over the past 20 years, but we can count on one hand the iconic bands that are a staple in the format,” says Michael Martin, Vice President of Programming at 98.7 KYSR in Los Angeles. “We test thousands of records in a year, and Smashing Pumpkins are always near the top with multiple tracks. It’s beyond the single and beyond the album. It’s the band.”

Jimmy Chamberlin on drum education, developing your style and the mechanics of drumming

With Corgan at the helm, the Pumpkins filtered their concepts through a gamut of accredited producers, engineers, and mixers, achieving unique creative and critical outcomes for each project. The motivation, whether conscious or subconscious, remained the same: Move forward, apply pressure, don’t fake it.

“Go back and read the press on us from 1989 to 1992,” says Corgan. “People had no clue who we were and where we were going. We were onto something and we followed it through, and it built up into something that sold and was popular. 

The mainstream world only wants to hear you when you have your shit together Billy Corgan

"It had its moment, but I think once we crested that wave it was back to a level of experimentation. What we didn’t understand were the ramifications it was going to have on the band commercially. You can’t build yourself into this superpower and then say, ‘I’m going to go back to being arty guy.’ They don’t want to hear that, and I wasn’t sophisticated enough to understand that. Now I am.

“The mainstream world only wants to hear you when you have your shit together. It may take us three years to get our shit together to a point where we can make that kind of level of work, and then we’ll show up and we’ll set the phasers to stun. I’m 41, Jimmy’s 44, we still have a good seven-plus years where we can play that kind of music that way. I think Superchrist is a good indication that we’re still willing to light stuff on fire.”

A blunt force psychedelic jam produced by longtime friend Kerry Brown, Superchrist is both a push to the future and a nod to the past. It’s the first fruit of a band no longer beholden to a label, Zeitgeist fulfilled their one-album deal with Warner Brothers and rekindles a raw, brazen energy that, to Brown, was a cornerstone of Gish-era recording.

Gish (1991)

If you ever saw that band play live, they could absolutely crush people Butch Vig

The Smashing Pumpkins rose to prominence in the shadows of Wrigley Field on the North Side of Chicago in the late 1980s. Outfitted in cold weather thrift store threads, they delivered punishing body blows of bombastic, cinematic love-rock, their pop appeal perfectly shaded behind a treacherous wall of sound. Destiny handed them an alternative pedigree, but their cover material, Sookie Sookie (Steppenwolf), The Joker (Steve Miller Band), Venus In Furs (The Velvet Underground), exposed deep roots that would inform their future recordings.

“The Pumpkins looked like they were from Mars,” says producer Butch Vig . “To see how they looked and hear how they sounded was one of the reasons why people thought they were really special. If you ever saw that band play live, they could absolutely crush people.”

The band had already released a self-produced single for I Am One in the spring of 1990 before Corgan contacted Vig about producing a Sub Pop seven-inch for the song Tristessa. The strength of that partnership prompted Vig to sign on for their full-length debut, which was to be recorded at Vig’s Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.

“Billy was very ambitious,” Vig remembers. “He wanted to make everything sound amazing and see how far he could take it; really spend time on the production and the performances. For me, that was a godsend because I was used to doing records for all the indie labels and we only had budgets for three or four days.”

The band loaded into the studio with a modest amount of gear, most of which can be seen in their first few videos. On stage, the band’s signature sound was rooted in Corgan and Iha’s mid-’70s Strat/’87 Les Paul combination, but the recording centred around Corgan’s rig: An early ’80s Marshall JCM800 2203, known as the Soul Head, run through Marshall 1960A cabinets, all purchased off “some stoner guy” in Chicago for $800. 

The KT88 tubes in the JCM produce a round, creamy tone that, when used in conjunction with an ADA MP-1 tube preamp, produced the Gish tone. Using the low input side of the JCM, Corgan would turn the master volume all the way up, and then use the preamp’s volume to make micro-adjustments. A host of effects, from the Fender Blender to the Phase 100, were folded in for extra fuzz and sweep comb filtering. The bass parts were recorded with Wretzky’s black Fender P-Bass, dubbed the “Rat Bass” for the scattering of white rat stickers all over the face and played through a Trace Elliot AH300SM.

“Billy was ‘green’ only in the sense that he didn’t necessarily have hands-on experience, but he knew what he wanted,” Vig continues. “He’s a big fan of Queen and ELO, and those records had big produced sounds, and as much as he didn’t know maybe from an engineering standpoint how to do it, I think sonically what he heard in his head, he understood.”

The band would collectively hash out the arrangements through exhaustive rehearsals, but when it came time to record, Corgan laid down the majority of the parts. This oft-talked about procedure became a standard practice.

“As good as D’arcy and James are, it was just going to sound better if Billy played it,” says Vig. “I think it probably caused some friction, but it was something they dealt with and accepted in the band.”

The drums were the one component of the Smashing Pumpkins that Corgan could not reproduce. A jazz drummer by trade, Jimmy Chamberlin paired swing and subtlety with a thunderous intensity reminiscent of legends like Keith Moon and John Bonham . 

Chamberlin has been a Yamaha endorsee since 1993, but back then his setup was a Pearl DLX Series kit with a 16x22-inch kick and a Yamaha steel snare. As Chamberlin remembers, the kit was miked with Sennheiser 421s on the toms, Shure SM57 s on the snare, an AKG D112/Electro-Voice RE20 combo on the kick, and AKG C414s as overheads.

At the time, Vig didn’t have a tremendous amount of money to make significant cosmetic changes to Smart, but the shape of the studio’s live room, all odd angles and no parallel walls, made for an incredible sound, inspiring the live feel of the band’s studio performance. 

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Gish was recorded onto a two-inch, 24-track Otari MX80, but few things were recorded through the studio’s newly acquired 56-input customized Harrison console (Vig relied largely on outboard Summit and API preamps) though he says that Harrison’s versatile EQ section and exceptional high- and low-pass filters made it easier to quickly carve out pockets in the mix for Corgan’s unique tone. When all was said and done, Gish cost around $20,000 to produce and took just over 30 days to record.

I was over the moon to think I had found a comrade-in-arms who wanted to push me, and who really wanted me to push him Butch Vig

“For me, that was the equivalent of making a Steely Dan record,” laughs Vig who, two months after wrapping production on Gish, travelled to Los Angeles to record Nirvana ’s Nevermind . “Having that luxury to spend hours on a guitar tone or tuning the drums or working on harmonies and textural things... I was over the moon to think I had found a comrade in- arms who wanted to push me, and who really wanted me to push him.”

But for all its sonic ambition, Gish couldn’t hold a candle to what came next. After touring behind their first record, Butch Vig and the Pumpkins spent five months recording their follow-up, Siamese Dream, working 14-hour days, six days a week. And towards the end of the recording process, after tours had been booked and a release date established, they worked a full seven days. Alan Moulder, whose history with dense guitar bands like Ride and My Bloody Valentine, was asked to mix. He booked two weeks at Rumbo Studios in Los Angeles.

Siamese Dream (1993)

We didn’t care if anybody thought it was overproduced Butch Vig

“When we set out to make Siamese Dream, we wanted to go way, way over the top,” explains Vig. “We didn’t care if anybody thought it was overproduced.”

Tack a zero onto the Gish tab and you come close to matching Siamese Dream’s total cost. Through it all, the tenacity of the group’s work ethic was eclipsed only by the pressure to succeed. Along the way, Iha and Wretzky ended their relationship, Chamberlin developed what would become an acute substance abuse problem, and Corgan’s creative turmoil pushed him to the point of near suicide. 

James Iha on his new solo album, guitars and The Smashing Pumpkins

His songwriting, as if voiced by a choleric yet optimistic teenager well beyond his years, hinged on defiance, acceptance, family, and alienation. Of the “hundreds of dumb riffs” they would play, the ones that stuck not only sounded good, they felt good to play.

“I’m a person who tends not to repeat technique, which I guess is kind of suicidal in a way,” says Corgan. “Most people look at a recording career as a series of conclusions. I’ve always treated my recording career more like a journey. I think when an artist gets into a comfortable set of choices, that’s where the death of creativity lies.”

Months of recording meant lots of time for experimentation and tweaking. To help minimise distractions, Vig and the Pumpkins checked into Triclops Studios in Marietta, Georgia, a cosy space that allowed the band a sort of temporary respite. Unlike Smart, Triclops’ ’70s style room had high, woody ceilings that made for a modest decay. 

We found a secret weapon on that record Butch Vig

Vig brought along his API Lunchbox loaded with modular pres for the bass and a few guitar overdubs, but most of the instrumentation was run through the studio’s Neve console onto Studer A800s. Corgan’s “Soul Head” and Marshall cabinet were still in effect, but he no longer used the MP-1. Instead, Corgan achieved Siamese Dream’s highly stylized tone with a litany of DOD pedals and a ’70s-era, silver-faced Big Muff Pi. As the guitar he’d used on Gish had been stolen, his go-to guitars became ’57 Eric Clapton re-issue Strats with Lace Sensor pickups.

“We found a secret weapon on that record,” says Vig. “A little preamp in a pedal steel guitar. It wasn’t built for a loud guitar. It was built for a low output on a pedal steel, so it had this super high-end white noise gain that gave the guitar this sonic jet sound.”

That pedal steel preamp, coupled with an old school tape flanging created by physically speeding up and slowing down the reel by hand is the sound behind Corgan’s otherworldly solo on Cherub Rock. Quiet features hard-panned left and right guitars running through the Big Muff with the tone turned all the way down, while the howling break in the chorus to Mayonnaise is nothing but pure feedback created by Corgan’s $60 pawn shop “Mayonnaise Guitar.”

You can’t have 40 guitars that are all full range – there have to be places for them to fit Butch Vig

But Corgan’s gear was only part of the equation. The endless overdubs, at least 40 in Soma are well-documented, but Vig says that proper mic configuration is what allowed the parts to congeal. Vig’s mic'ing technique was as follows: Corgan would crank up his amp to full gain, and then set the guitar down. After boosting the headphones send on all the mics, Vig entered the room to move around the mics, using the phase-shifting hiss from Corgan’s guitar echo as his guide. According to Vig, an AKG C 414 produced the widest spectrum of sound, a Sennheiser 421 accented the midrange, and ribbon mics were used to obtain a smoother sound with quick, yet mellow, transients.

“You can’t have 40 guitars that are all full range,” says Vig. “There have to be places for them to fit. You could have low-midrange, or you could have everything scooped out with a high-pass that’s cut at 300 or 400kHz.”

The miking tactic seemed almost drum-like, which, given Vig’s musical expertise, is a fair assumption. “Maybe from me being a drummer, that’s an aesthetic I brought to the table that I didn’t even really understand at the time,” he says.

My voice is really hard to record Billy Corgan

The army of guitar signals would later make vocal tracking a strenuous procedure for Corgan. Vig didn’t much care for the midrange in Corgan’s voice, so to soften that particular timbre he used a Shure SM7 (generally regarded as a more “open”-sounding mic when its roll off and boost features are engaged simultaneously) through an API preamp and a Summit TLA-100 Tube Limiter, all fed back into Corgan’s headphones. Like everything else, vocal takes were abundant, with Corgan sometimes singing for eight hours at a time to make sure his tracks were pitch-perfect.

“My voice is really hard to record,” says Corgan, smiling. “It’s hard to record, it’s hard to monitor, and it’s hard to mix. I’m Irish, I’m meant to sing sad ballads! My voice isn’t really meant for rock, and I’m pretty sure many people out there would agree with me.”

He laughs again, and you can hear it a little clearer. His voice. That voice, lurking underneath his conversational tone. That unmistakable inflection that can shift from an airy lilt to a nasal, sandpapery growl at the turn of a verse. 

To some, it represents instant alternative rock salvation; a vocal uppercut to the face of the status quo. To others, Bruce Britt of the Broward-Palm Beach New Times, for instance, it’s the “most annoying voice in rock.” But Siamese Dream has gone four-times platinum on the strength of that voice because emotionally, it carries with it as much layered complexity and contradiction as the instrumentation that backs it. 

“Today” was the greatest day Corgan had ever known, not because it really was, but because it couldn’t get any worse. Somehow that was enough of a comfort to lure him away from the edge . Somehow, against all odds, the Smashing Pumpkins kept moving forward.

“People don’t always articulate their expectations,” says Corgan. “I think whenever we would work with producers, they would do their best to try and balance those forces between what somebody would want, what I would want, and what was best for the record.”

Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995)

Before a single note was recorded, Corgan knew he wanted the next release to be a double album. Flood and Alan Moulder, friends since their early days at the prestigious Trident Studios in London, were tapped to co-produce. 

The band began rehearsing at Pumpkinland, their Chicago recording space, and Billy began funnelling cassette demos to Flood for review. Roughly two-thirds of Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness was tracked at Pumpkinland on an Otari MTR-90 MKII, while the remaining portion was tracked at the Chicago Recording Company on Studer A820s.

“I love recording at 15 ips NAB, but with Dolby SR, because it just adds a whole different dimension to the sound,” says Flood. “Apart from the obvious benefits of Dolby, if you tweak the Dolby unit really, really well, it’s a bit like adding an Aphex and a dbx sub-harmonic bass enhancer on every channel. 

Also, the way that tape changes the sound or modifies the sound, 15 ips is technically not correct, but I find it to be so musical, particularly on the bottom end. This was very much a conscious decision, and very much a part of the album’s sound.”

"A lot of Mellon Collie was tracked by the band at deafening volumes. I mean deafening." Billy Corgan

Another conscious decision was to change up the manner in which the group recorded. In the past, the band had only used one room to track, which of course meant only one thing could be going on at a time. Hours spent waiting for one person to finish up their part led to frustration. 

For Mellon Collie, Flood would generally work with Corgan in the A room on the Otari and an MCI board, while Moulder worked with Wretzky and Iha in the B room on a Pro Tools rig slaved to both Tascam DA-88 digital recorders and two-inch tape. 

The combination of analogue and digital opened up a world of recording possibilities and played to the creative strengths of Mellon Collie’s adventurous spirit. A track like Thru The Eyes Of Ruby, which contains approximately 70 guitar tracks, would have been nearly impossible to do with tape alone. Likewise, Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans contains roughly six sections that were all recorded at different times with different instrument and microphone configurations and then fused together, another beneficial byproduct of editing in Pro Tools.

Guitar and amplification choices were the key differences between Siamese and Mellon Collie. For the bass, Wretzky switched up from the P-Bass to a ’60s era Fender Jazz Bass reissue with Ampeg and Mesa/Boogie amps. For Corgan, what sounded great about the Siamese fuzz pedal set up in the studio made it sound horrible live. He still had his Marshall 1960A cabinets, but Corgan shifted to a Mesa Boogie Strategy 500 and a Marshall JMP-1 preamp (Corgan also notes that he used an Alesis 3630 to drive extra gain into a Marshall). As the ultimate goal for Mellon Collie was to capture the band’s live, unbridled sound, Billy largely used this touring rig to record.

“Flood felt like the band he would see live wasn’t really captured on record,” says Corgan. “So a lot of Mellon Collie was tracked by the band at deafening volumes. I mean deafening. There was so much SPL in the room that it was physically uncomfortable. Your ears, your emotional resistance, would wear down.”

Flood also discovered that Corgan was a much better singer pitch-wise when he didn’t use headphones, so he switched Corgan up to a Shure SM58 and had him sing in front of open speakers.

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“My experience with U2 taught me that a lot of things you’d expect to become problematic with monitors in the room aren’t, and by careful use of screening, by positioning the monitors and what you put in the monitors you can actually get a lot of benefits,” says Flood. 

We also developed this system whereby we had what was called ‘rehearsal mode’ and ‘tape mode’ Flood

“For instance, Jimmy used to love having the kick drum and a bit of snare going through his wedges, which were directly behind him. So if you’ve got a kit that’s lacking a bit of bottom end, you pump the kick and the snare through the wedges and you start to tweak them to get extra weight. 

"We also developed this system whereby we had what was called ‘rehearsal mode’ and ‘tape mode.’ In rehearsal mode, everybody was on the floor, the amps were blaring, and you wouldn’t have to worry about spills. We had the speakers inside these big coffin flight cases in the back of the room and mic'd them close up, then mic'd them about six feet away. Then we’d close the lid. When you were tracking in tape mode, everybody could flick over at the flick of a footswitch and their amps would be quietly purring away in the corner. When you’d give a little bit back to them in their own respective monitors, automatically the sound of the room cut right back and you’d get the vibe of four people playing on top of each other.”

For the drums, Chamberlin’s core Mellon Collie kit was a Yamaha Maple Custom with a 16x22-inch kick, a 22-inch ride, 18-inch and 19-inch Zildjian A Custom crashes, 22-inch swish knockers, and 10-inch and 15-inch fast crashes. Because of his big band background, he frequently changed out his snares, building his kit around the snare and the ride as opposed to the kick. The familiar drum rolls all throughout “Tonight, Tonight” can be attributed to Jimmy’s classic 5 1/2x14- inch Ludwig Supra-Phonic.

“From there I go to microphones as far as how I want the drums to sit dimensionally in the track,” Chamberlin informs. “If I want the drums upfront and aggressive, I’ll use a lot of AKG C 414s so they sit in front of things dimensionally. If I want the drums to sit in a rhythm section configuration, I’ll lean back towards the 414s and maybe some Shure SM98s. Then maybe go for Shure 12As on the bigger drums.”

Mellon Collie debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 when it was released in October of 1995. Less than a year later it had crested $6 million in sales and was later nominated for seven Grammys. It was the most powerful statement the Smashing Pumpkins had made to date. Unfortunately, much-publicized events that took place during the group’s 1996 tour produced an equally powerful effect.

"Blank page is all the rage. Never meant to say anything." Blank Page (1998)

Death, divorce, and harsh life realizations “that have only recently probably finished playing out,” says Corgan, clouded the two years after Mellon Collie’s release. By the time Corgan saddled down to write Adore, Iha was focusing on his solo album (Let It Come Down), Wretzky was a sporadic presence, and Chamberlin was out of the band. Filter’s Matt Walker was brought in to replace Chamberlin for the remainder of their tour, but the hole left by the original drummer’s absence would significantly impact the creation of the new record.

“I thought I was going to do this really different album,” says Corgan. “So typical me, I didn’t use any of my gear. Like, any. I went out and bought new guitars and strange amps, a Fender Blackface and a Selmer combo, I think. Most of my memories with Adore have more to do with programming.”

Adore (1995)

The success of Eye, an industrial hip-hop crossover track that appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch’s Lost Highway instilled much-needed confidence in Corgan. It was basic electronic production, but it proved to him that he could press on with more sophisticated fare. Corgan hooked up with Brad Wood (Liz Phair, Placebo) and began recording with the band in Chicago during the summer of 1997. Never one to do anything the easy way, Corgan decided to load into a new studio nearly every week. It was catch-as-catch-can recording. If something wasn’t working in a new surrounding or couldn’t get set up in time, it wasn’t used.

“He was trying to create a different environment, quickly and geographically, and trying to avoid certain things that happen when a band settles into a studio,” says Bjorn Thorsrud, who has engineered every Pumpkins record since Adore.

“I did go around and proclaim rock to be dead, which was probably the stupidest thing I ever did." Billy Corgan

The material was recorded on a mix of analogue and digital formats. Already familiar with Studio Vision Pro for MIDI and audio editing, Corgan used ReCycle to chop up and manipulate drum loops. A Kurzweil K2500 and an Alesis HR-16, the same drum machine used to create the beat for 1979, were also used for additional rhythmic elements and sequences. Wood’s classic EMS VCS3 “Putney” was featured prominently on Ava Adore. 

As it was with Mellon Collie, experimentation was paramount. Boxes would show up in the post every other day, each one containing a new sample library, vintage synth, or rack module gobbled up from eBay or plucked from the pages of Keyboard magazine. Still, the pieces weren’t fitting together and, eventually, Corgan and Wood parted ways.

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“It was a total crapshoot,” says Corgan, who soon relocated to L.A. to refocus his energy. “I was out of depth. There was no process, there was no system, and there was no go-to piece of gear. There was nothing. I learned a tremendous amount, but I couldn’t tell you what the hell I did.”

Billy reached out to Nitzer Ebb’s Bon Harris, who contributed additional programming and sound design with the aid of his Nord Modular, Oberheim Xpander, and massive Roland System 100M. But the songs didn’t come into full focus until Corgan reconnected with Flood, whose experience with bands like Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails made him the perfect candidate to help actualize Adore’s hybrid vision.

The dissonance was evident to Flood upon arrival. The mix of disparate Pro Tools sessions and one-inch tape created a textured canvas that proved difficult to homogenize, and the tension between band members was palpable. The band worked at Sunset Sound until reoccurring technical difficulties with the Neve console forced them to complete the project at the Village Recorder in Santa Monica. To further Adore’s maudlin, Goth-tech spirit, Corgan assumed a Max Schreck-like persona, emphasizing his shaved head with lighting and make-up and donning long, flowing garb that accented his 6-foot 4-inch frame.

I did go around and proclaim rock to be dead, which was probably the stupidest thing I ever did Billy Corgan

“I did go around and proclaim rock to be dead,” Corgan laughs, “which was probably the stupidest thing I ever did. I was in my Adore personality saying things like ‘Fuck the electric guitar !’ And of course, 12 months later I’m playing The Everlasting Gaze.”

Many fans attributed Adore’s stylistic shift directly to Chamberlin’s lack of participation, and contrary to favourable reviews and another Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album, Corgan insists “nobody got the record.” “To Sheila” pumped blood through its mechanized heart, “Ava Adore” flashed her crooked teeth, but the bite wasn’t as strong. Chamberlin’s raw power was replaced by reverberating, distorted 808 kicks. Shuffle and swing turned into quantized grooves and fills. Predictable ticks marched along in place of glittering cymbal embellishments.

“I don’t feel excluded from Adore,” says Chamberlin. “When I listen to that record, I hear decisions that I totally influenced because I wasn’t there.”

Machina / The Machines Of God (2000)

"You know I’m not dead. I’m just living in my head." The Everlasting Gaze (1999)

Chamberlin returned to the Smashing Pumpkins in March of 1999, but another absence would alter the face of the band’s fifth studio release, Machina/The Machines of God. Flood was once again asked to produce, but unlike Mellon Collie, where many ideas were mapped out before a single note was recorded, few were aware of Corgan’s creative intent: a concept album about a fictitious rock band fronted by a character whose life is forever altered after hearing the voice of God. As could be expected, the sonic subtext would prove just as esoteric.

The goal was to take the digital lessons learned from Adore and apply them to a rock environment. How does one create the sound of a band playing on another planet? Through tape degradation, synth-like mechanized guitars, soaring pads and effects, heavily-processed vocals, and of course, big drums. 

Chamberlin returned with a custom-made Yamaha green maple kit, but Machina marked Corgan’s first real departure from his fleet of Fenders, instead using a Les Paul Junior reissue with P90 pickups that often ran through a Crate practice amp. An SIB Varidrive and a host of Moogerfooger pedals were also used to add to Corgan’s sonic repertoire. The hazy shimmer in big choruses for Stand Inside Your Love and The Everlasting Gaze is another trademark Machina sound.

“I hope I’m not taking credit for somebody else’s work,” laughs Alan Moulder, “but I’m pretty sure I created it with a tape delay on a short, slappy guitar reverb going through an AMS Harmonizer. I think I ducked it with compression triggering off the drums.”

To help the band gel with the new material, Corgan decided to take the Pumpkins out for a few select club dates in April of ’99 while Flood went on holiday. They would return to the studio fine-tuned, ride that live momentum through a weeklong recording session, and then bring in Moulder to mix after another head-clearing break. When Wretzky’s commitment to the band began to erode, plans began to change. Though rumoured since late summer, it was publicly announced in September that she had left the band.

“Billy and I thought, ‘How are we going to do this?’” Flood remembers. “We decided that we were going to have to make a very different kind of record. They saw out their time on the tour, and after that we pretty much went back to the drawing board. Certain songs on the record are survivors from that first period, but it meant a shift in the way the songs had to be formed.”

The majority of the songs were recorded into Pro Tools through Corgan’s API Legacy board, but the band had multiple mixing consoles to choose from at Chicago Recording Company, so Flood performed a litmus test. He transferred two songs onto tape using a Studer A280, which as luck would have it, was found in each of the mix rooms. He then ran the tape through each console with all the faders at zero, no EQ, no panning and then into a DAT machine. When he compared the recordings, the differences were unbelievable. 

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Of the Neve VR72, SSL 6056E, and the ’80s Neve broadcast console that Corgan brought in, the SSL won out. Its low-mid punch would help tighten up the record’s bright sound. Though Corgan wasn’t a big fan of SSL boards, the team found a workaround.

“Howard Willing, one of the mix engineers, knew a guy at Inward Connections who built an API simulation mix bus,” remembers Moulder. “The idea was that we were going to replace the mix bus in the SSL with this API one, which kind of ‘de-SSL’d’ it a bit.”

Machina was made with the understanding that it would be the Pumpkins’ final album. Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, originally intended to be the second disc on a Machina double album before Virgin vetoed the idea received an internet-only release, but a handful of copies were distributed on vinyl through Corgan’s own imprint: the befittingly titled Constantinople Records.

"Erase the schemes that I’m drawn to believe. There’s no fear anymore." Sunkissed (2008)

Zeitgeist (2007)

I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist Billy Corgan

“I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist,” admits Corgan. “I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don’t just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that.”

A few key decisions had already been made before Corgan and Chamberlin set out to record Zeitgeist. Thematically, the record was going to bear down on the country’s sordid sociopolitical state, and blunt force analogue production would galvanize the ship. Furthermore, Corgan penned Zeitgeist knowing his new band members would be both qualified players and singers, which allowed him to expand the scope of his vocal parts.

We were working purely on intuition as to what the overall sound should be” Roy Thomas Baker

Corgan and Chamberlin began demo-ing at a rented space in Arizona before moving to Kerry Brown’s studio in Los Angeles for further fleshing out. Though initial work began with Michael Beinhorn (Korn, Black Label Society), Roy Thomas Baker became the album’s primary producer.

“We were working purely on intuition as to what the overall sound should be,” says Baker, whose long list of production credits includes Queen’s A Night At The Opera. “It was supposed to be an analogue sound, but it wasn’t supposed to be old school. If you’re doing everything intuitively, there’s no such thing as old and new school. We were going for an audio uniqueness as opposed to sonic purity.”

Corgan’s new guitar rigs included Diezel Herbert and Einstein heads (the latter for overdubs) and a Bogner Uberschall , again run through his classic Marshall cabinet. He also began experimenting with different model Fenders in preparation for the release of his signature model Strat, but, as Baker recalls, “there were more guitars in the studio than at Guitar Center.” Recording at The Village on both a new Neve 88R console and a vintage Neve 8048, the goal was to capture the impenetrable truth of a live, organic performance. 

Jimmy is probably one of the most unique drummers I’ve ever worked with. Even when he does something he considers bad, it’s still better than 98% of the people out there at their best” Roy Thomas Baker

As Corgan isn’t generally a punch-in player, all the guitar parts had to be replayed from the top down, which at times put both Billy and Jimmy in even more visceral situations. Drums for the nearly ten-minute epic “United States” were recorded in one take.

“Jimmy is probably one of the most unique drummers I’ve ever worked with,” says Baker. “Even when he does something he considers bad, it’s still better than 98% of the people out there at their best.”

The drums were recorded in Studio A at Los Angeles’ Sage and Sound, a spacious room with 18-foot ceilings and a fully restored Neve 8048 console. The drum and overhead mic configurations didn’t change much from the Gish days, but the room was miked with an AKG C24. Chamberlin also switched to his now-favourite crash, a lush, dark 22-inch Zildjian Constantinople and downsized his kick from a 16x22-inch to a 14x22-inch to obtain more resonance and a different shell sound. Another tactic he used to employ fuller sound in his drums was to customise the bearing edges to 60 degrees instead of 45, which Chamberlin says pushes the sound around the drum instead up back to the drummer.

“Roy was the only guy that really noticed that phase cancellation,” laughs Chamberlin. “That guy hears things that nobody else hears! I learned more with Roy Thomas Baker in those four or five months than I have ever learned in my entire recording career.”

In addition to Baker, former Pantera and Soundgarden producer Terry Date assisted in the final stages of production. For Corgan, Dates’ straightforward approach to the songs “helped them resonate on a physical level,” and was a good foil for Corgan’s complex methodology. Mixing was also a very absolute process.

“Everything had sort of an on/off switch,” explains Baker. “So instead of having various degrees of volumes, we’d have the approach of, ‘It’s either on or it’s not.’ Billy would say things like, ‘I can hear it, but it should either be a lot louder, or a lot quieter.’”

Everything got progressively louder and louder

Corgan, Chamberlin, and Baker took their methods even further during the mixing of the American Gothic EP. “We did everything by hand . . . multiple hands,” laughs Baker. “I was sitting on one end and Billy and Bjorn [Thorsrud] were on the other. Jimmy was maybe standing back and listening to the overall mix, leaning forward and turning something on—and everyone had different faders. Everything got progressively louder and louder, it was like a race to see who could reach peak volume the fastest! We had a good laugh doing that.”

Jeff Schroeder: "The Smashing Pumpkins guitar sound is very unique in terms of what’s required

The four-song American Gothic represents some of the Pumpkins’ best and most exciting material to date. It also signals a potentially new style of “bite-sized” recording that seems to fit with Corgan and Chamberlin’s current creative mindset: smaller packages, single producers, streamlined concepts. Corgan isn’t one to force the issue these days, and now that the Pumpkins no longer report to a label, anything goes.

“I know the next record is going to be really psychedelic,” says Corgan. “I don’t think the Sabbath influence is going away anytime soon, but I’m thinking more late ’80s/early ’90s English shoegazer mixed with ’60s psychedelia and ’70s funk. I can hear it in my head, but that doesn’t mean it’ll ever get out of my head.”

Fans can expect a Smashing Pumpkins 20th Anniversary Tour sometime in late 2008, as well as the Fillmore live DVD release. But spring of 2009 is when things should get really interesting. As this article is being written, SmashingPumpkins.com is petitioning fans for original photos from 1987–1992 in preparation for the release of a Gish box set, which may include everything from demos and B-sides to revisited versions of old songs. 

The group also has archived performances of their first 40 shows, warts and all. As they have no label contract in place, the size of the box set is to be determined, which is good news for superfans, as Corgan is no stranger to releasing Herculean sets of material. 

The Pumpkins will also embark on a small-scale tour to support the release, which means Gish songs, Gish gear, and intimate Gish-sized venues. Need more message board fodder? Corgan plans to give each and every Pumpkins album the same treatment. Does all this historical activity signal a break in fresh songwriting? Not a chance.

“Look, we hit massive homeruns. We never followed them up. We never took the safe, obvious next step" Billy Corgan

“This should now be where I prove what I’ve always felt I’m capable of,” says Corgan. “There’s nobody in my way, there’s no MTV not playing my video, there’s no gatekeeper. If I can truly do phenomenal work, it will be heard, whether it’s acquired for free or bought, it doesn’t make any difference. There’s nothing standing between me and an audience.

“Look, we hit massive homeruns,” he continues. “We never followed them up. We never took the safe, obvious next step, and I think that gets lost. We’re not a milk-it band. We never were a milk-it band. There’s that old saying, ‘If it’s on the cover of Time, it’s too late.’ By the time people got around to understanding what we were doing, we were gone. Now is the time to prove our mettle.”

Age Of Innocence: An 11-song journey through the Pumpkins' underrated catalogue

1. tristessa (gish).

Palm muted guitar chunks, extreme snare rolls, and a mellow break followed by a blistering solo, Tristessa is every trademark Pumpkins embellishment rolled into one track. 

Producer Butch Vig utilized light compression through a combination of Summit and API compressors to preserve headroom and accommodate the song’s extreme dynamics, but Corgan’s Gish-era, attack-style guitar still cuts through the mix like a blade.

2. Starla (b-side from the I Am One single)

An epic, mesmerizing track built up around extended solos, Starla was produced by Kerry Brown and recorded through a Soundcraft TS12 board onto a TASCAM MS16 one-inch tape machine. Brown used a Yamaha SPX90 for the reverb effect on Corgan’s voice, and an Eventide H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer is responsible for the backwards effect that runs through the first third of the song. 

“I remember that overdub guitar solo,” says Brown. “Just him, the headphones, and the cabinet. You don’t hear that much anymore. You can’t simulate what you can do with a cabinet in front of you. I mean, Billy was bending notes on a mic stand!”

3. Glynis (No Alternative compilation)

Though it’s rarely played live, Glynis is one of the Pumpkins’ finest non-album tracks, and can only (officially) be found on the 1993 No Alternative compilation. 

An old Speak & Spell “hello” starts the song, and the soupy solo in the middle is the result of double-tracked guitars fed through a vintage Electro- Harmonix Bassballs pedal. The song is a dedication to former Red Red Meat bassist Glynis Johnson, who passed away from AIDS-related complications in 1992.

4. Beautiful (Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness)

A result of digital/analogue synergy, Beautiful is a processional ballad featuring opening and closing orchestral-style arrangements created via MIDI. Corgan handpicked sounds that fit with the song’s psychedelic vibe, and then jammed to the track in MIDI, adding and removing notes as he went along. 

“There’s something about that visual connection to my brain that’s really good for me in terms of writing,” says Corgan. “But let me say this,” he continues with a laugh, “can we please get off MIDI? When you’re a guitar player, you plug it in. It works; it doesn’t work. If it’s the pedal, you change the battery. But then you’re sitting in front of a computer and you get that spinning wheel of death. . . .”

5. Eye (Lost Highway soundtrack)

Most people know Eye as the electro-rock crossover from the popular David Lynch film, but the track began as an instrumental for Shaquille O’Neal. The two were linked up by a longtime friend of Corgan’s. Being a big sports fan, Corgan was up for the challenge. 

He concocted the instrumental before speaking with Shaq, but the two weren’t able to meet up to seal the deal. Lynch, on the other hand, thought it was perfect for Lost Highway. The track relied heavily on a Kurzweil K2500 for its 808-styled percussion, a Waldorf VST for the synth line, and a 12-string acoustic lined in direct.

6. Blissed & Gone (Still Becoming Apart promo)

With radio samples and distorted percussion sliced and diced in Propellerheads’ ReCycle, Blissed & Gone is another product of Corgan’s Adore-era experimentation with loops and samples. “I remember playing the song for Rick Rubin when he came to visit me in the studio, and he didn’t know what to say,” Corgan remembers. “That’s the trip I was on.”

7. Untitled (Rotten Apples)

The final track recorded by the original Smashing Pumpkins line-up in 2000, Untitled was semi-acoustic home cooking that rekindled the vibes of Gish and Siamese Dream. 

"The song was our way of saying ‘f**k you’ to all those people who thought we’d somehow lost our minds and weren’t able to return home" Billy Corgan

The chain for Corgan’s solo, one of his favourites, features a DOD FX84 Milk Box compressor and a Shin-Ei Companion Fuzz Wah. “The song was our way of saying ‘f**k you’ to all those people who thought we’d somehow lost our minds and weren’t able to return home,” says Corgan. “We were in the studio for what appeared to be the last time, so it was very emotional, and we had only three days.”

8. The Everlasting Gaze (Machina/The Machines of God)

The Everlasting Gaze is the first track off Machina, a highly conceptual piece that marked the return of Chamberlin, but whose course was altered by the departure of Wretzky halfway through recording. The shiny, cosmic grunge that defines the album is encapsulated in this four-minute juggernaut. 

Corgan switched up to a Les Paul Junior ’57 reissue with P90 pickups, but the extra crunch came by running it through a little Crate practice amp, then going direct into the box from the amp’s line out jack. “When we really wanted to ‘go there’ we would plug into the headphone jack,” laughs Corgan.

9. Pomp & Circumstances (Zeitgeist)

When Danny Elfman had to bow out amicably of doing the string arrangement, Corgan opted to forego their second option for an internal fix. Using an E-mu Emulator II, they built up a shredded wall of sound that was then bounced down and tape degraded numerous times until it was virtually falling apart at the seams. 

The tonal disparity between the 8-bit E-mu (although it used a data compression algorithm that gave the equivalent of at least 12 bits), an inspired, bluesy solo, and Corgan’s soaring vocals, doubled nearly 30 times in true Roy Thomas Baker fashion give the song its uniquely operatic feel.

10. Again, Again, Again (The Crux) (American Gothic EP)

Another product of the Pumpkins’ tenure with Roy Thomas Baker. The exceptionally loud Gibson J-160E acoustic had such a distinctive punch in the lower midrange that it was paramount to pair it up with an electric that didn’t overshadow the tone.

 The solution: A 1973 Telecaster run through a ’60s Selmer amp and double-tracked. If Zeitgeist is the sound of a world pounded into dust, American Gothic is the sound of that world waking up to a new era of possibility.

11. Superchrist (Fresh Cuts, Volume 2)

Superchrist pairs the Pumpkins with longtime friend and producer Kerry Brown (Starla) for a 6/8 psychedelic jam. A custom API console in Studio 3 at Sunset Sound was used for tracking, with a fair amount of trial-and-error determining which instruments sounded best on what channel. 

With 18 analogue drum tracks thrown against the well-worn tone of a 1958 Fender P-Bass (run through an Ampeg SVT-VR head with an SVT- 810E cabinet and miked with an AKG D12), “ballsy” doesn’t even come close to describing the sound.

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GHWT: DE works best off of the following:

• OS: Windows 10 (64 bit)
• CPU: Intel Core i5 6th generation or AMD equivalent
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• GPU: Dedicated GPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 900 or AMD equivalent

Take a peek through our helpful Getting Started guide for more information.

This guide should cover most problems that you may encounter when installing or trying to play the mod. Read on!

Mods go in the DATA/MODS directory.

Read the Installing Mods page on the Wiki for a complete guide on how to install characters, songs, and other modded content.

“My friend called me: ‘You won’t believe this, and it’s probably not gonna happen, but I gave Billy Corgan your number. He might call you, he might not…’” Ginger Pooley reflects on her time with the Smashing Pumpkins – and why she had to give it up

Before she returns to action with Garbage, Ginger Pooley reveals how she went from teenage Pumpkins obsessive to landing the bassist spot alongside Billy Corgan, the challenge of quitting the band she loved, and what she learned along the way

Ginger Pooley went from playing bass at local parties as a SoCal teenager to holding down the low-end in a Christian ska group then pulling double duty on the Vans Warped tour, to playing bass in the Smashing Pumpkins alongside Billy Corgan.

That’s a trajectory that few players can claim, but Pooley – formerly known as Ginger Reyes and Ginger Sling – possesses a multi-genre versatility and an unmatched work ethic. She earned both by hauling her gear around in beat-up Honda Civics and Isuzu Rodeos by herself, which helped when it came to learn dozens of Corgan’s new and old songs.

Pooley’s fierce chops scored her the Pumpkins gig. What’s also fierce is her moral compass and pragmatic, free-thinking personality, which led her to step away from the Pumpkins in 2010 in the name of family – a decision few would have made.

“It was definitely a mental workout,” she says. “But that’s a good thing. It was not an easy gig; I would never say it was. I’m proud of having been able to do that. Next to raising my daughter and giving birth, that gig is up there.”

She went on to gig with Glee and Gwen Stefani, and release music with husband Kristopher Pooley as Burning Pools. But for the most part she’s been removed from the scene; something that’s about to change. “I can’t go into too much detail,” she says. “But this summer, I’m playing bass with Garbage for their European tour.

“My daughter is going into high school in the fall. I feel like, in a way, I’ve graduated from a certain phase of life. The Garbage thing came up recently, and I’ll just share that I’m very excited. I’m working on learning the songs.

“The work ethic gifted to me by the Pumpkins helps me get prepared. I can hear it in my ear, like, ‘Okay, time to get to work.’ It’s about getting mentally prepared – all that stuff that doesn’t come easy to me.

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“I’m just starting out; I’m in a deep dive and listening. For gear, I’m not totally sure yet. We’re still working on all that. I’ll probably bring my Fender P-Bass , and there’s some drop D involved. We’re still in talks.”

Pooley’s rock ’n’ roll ride means her advice for those just starting out is worth hearing. “Be kind to yourself," she says. “Don’t judge yourself too harshly. Just be gentle.

“Try your best – and if things don’t work out, it means there’s something else better out there for you. It’s okay if something doesn’t work out. I didn’t learn that until way into being an adult. So I would wish that for everybody.”

My dad got me a cheap bass they called a Bender – a Fender rip-off called a Bender, and it was awesome!

What first drew you toward the bass guitar ?

“When I was in high school, I made a friend who was playing bass in a metal band. It was the ’90s, so there were a lot of parties in random places, like in a field near your house, and somehow they’d get a bunch of cables over and get power.

“My friend was there and I saw him play, and thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I like that. Whatever that is, I like that.’ It just resonated with me. I didn’t seek it out; it just showed up, and I kind of dove into that.”

Once you dug in, what types of players resonated with you?

“All the players in high school were into metal or Rush. So it was all about who could do the coolest riff. Geddy Lee was a hero at the time; then, as I started listening to more and more music, I got into The Beatles. It became about Paul McCartney and his playing. It’s so melodic, and the parts are just so cool.”

Can you remember your first bass?

“I was 14 or 15 when I told my dad I wanted to play. It was around Christmas time, and I didn’t expect it, but I got a bass for Christmas. He went to the music store and got a cheap bass they had called a Bender – it was like a Fender rip-off called a Bender, and it was awesome!”

Do you still have it?

“I ended up exchanging it for a Washburn!”

That’ll be one of those things that years from now will be worth a ton of money on Reverb!

“I know! I should look that up; I don’t even know if it exists anywhere. But I exchanged the Bender for a Washburn, and I honestly don’t remember what I was playing after that.

“In high school, it was just me practicing in my room for the most part; but towards the end I started playing a few of those parties I talked about. I don’t remember but it was probably just whatever gear was already set up.

“I remember I had a little Gallien-Krueger head and some other little things. But pretty soon after that, I started touring and got an Ampeg SVT, which I was hauling around in my Honda Civic hatchback – and it did fit back there!”

What was life like once you started gigging?

“It was pretty lowkey, but I played a lot; a lot of DIY, where you’re just trying to book shows. It was a lot of indie bands, playing all-ages shows, or putting shows on at a coffee place or a parking lot. There was a lot more opportunity for people to put shows on themselves. A group of people would say, ’Sweet, let’s have a show.’ And there was definitely no money involved as far as getting paid!”

In high school you can be guarded and very vulnerable; I had Pumpkins quotes written on my backpack, like a lyric from a song, ’I just wanna be me.’

How did you end up joining your first band, The Israelites?

“I was about to graduate and a friend saw me play at one of those parties. He was like, ‘Oh, you need to be in a real band. These people at my church have a band, and they’re called The Israelites…’

“They played a lot of traditional ska concerts, and ska was pretty big at the time – No Doubt was blowing up, so a lot of bands took after ska and roots reggae kind of stuff. I had no idea about that scene because I was more into punk rock.

“But I got introduced to this band and I dove into this new world of music I’d never heard before. It was pretty legit. We played a lot of those shows I was talking about; we had shows every weekend, and we’d rehearse twice a week.”

And you were going to UCLA at the same time.

“I started college, but I was busy every weekend. We’d have a show, and I was driving all my gear on my own and using like a printed-out map! The band played at this place in Arizona, a church or some event; and basically, the band was a little too preachy for me. The music itself was very traditional, a lot of that old ’60s ska music, which already had religious undertones.

“And that was cool, but I felt like that was good enough for me as far as needing to share your faith in music. So, I’m rolling my eyes and stuff, like, ’Come on, let’s just play. This is excruciating.’

“So the powers that be in that band were like, ‘This is not working.’ I got canned in Phoenix, Arizona, and had to ride home to California with the singer for like six hours. That was a long ride after getting canned! 

“Most bands don’t last forever anyway – and when you’re 21, you think, ‘Okay, I’ve got a whole future ahead of me.’ And literally as soon as I got home, the Halo Friendlies called me, saying they needed a bass player.”

Going from a Christian ska band to a punk band like Halo Friendlies showed a lot of versatility.

“I don’t know… I already loved punk rock; it was more my thing anyway. The Halo Friendlies made more sense for me as a person. It just resonated with my personality; it was a good transition.

“They were all female, which was cool. It was more collaborative and it was just a really fun environment. Again, it was a lot of DIY; we all hopped into this old Isuzu Rodeo with a trailer – like, a wooden trailer from the ’60s, where you had to lift the door off – it was just so old! It was unloading gear, driving ourselves and staying up all night to drive while the others slept in the back.”

You went from the Halo Friendlies, to a stint with Lo-Ball, recording as Ginger Sling, to joining the Pumpkins.

“I discovered the Pumpkins in high school – it wasn’t hard because they were everywhere. They just resonated with me. In high school you can be guarded and very vulnerable; I had Pumpkins quotes written on my backpack, like a lyric from a song, ’I just wanna be me.’ It could be embarrassing, but it’s also what I thought, which meant a lot to me.”

When playing with a pick and paying attention to what the kick pattern is doing, I sync up. I feel like that was a very percussive way of playing

How did you get the Pumpkins gig?

“I was doing the solo thing, playing here and there with artists who needed a bass player. And I had a friend who was a writer for magazines; she interviewed Billy and they became friends.

“After a while, he told her, ‘We’re looking to record; we’re gonna get the band back together, and I’m looking for a bass player. If you know anybody, let me know.’ So she called me and said, ‘You won’t believe this, and it’s probably not gonna happen, but I gave Billy your number. He might call you; he might not.’”

“I was like, ‘That’s amazingly awesome; that would be great!’ She definitely had low expectations that I Billy would even reach out. And he did; and then we met up, started chatting, and became friends who would meet up every once in a while. And then, he’s like, ‘We’re gonna start some auditions. I’ll connect you with our management.’”

And what was the audition like?

“I was scheduled to come in and learn a couple of songs, and the person who would be there was [drummer] Jimmy Chamberlin. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m gonna have a heart attack. I get to play with Jimmy Chamberlin; this is going to be the highlight of my life!’

“I was pumped even to just be in the same room, to play two songs and say, ‘Okay, I did it.’ So I played a couple songs with him and he’s like, ’Great.’ Then he emailed or texted me, ‘Can you come back in two days and learn two more songs?’

“I went back, and that was the pattern; I’d come back, play, learn more songs, go home, make sure I learned the songs well, and that got stretched out.”

When did you learn you’d finally gotten the gig?

“I knew there was another bassist auditioning at the time. Then I stopped hearing about her, and it seemed like it was just me coming in. It just kind of dragged on; it was pretty vague. I think about that time [guitarist] Jeff Schroeder started coming in too.

“It was kind of like we were rehearsing – like, to work out, ’Is this a good group? Does this gel? Does it make sense? Does it sound good?’ It was like dating.

“Jimmy must have been reporting back. And then, maybe a few months later, he’s like, ‘Okay, Billy’s gonna come in. We’re gonna do a couple of songs all together.’ He did, and he seemed pretty happy. And I’m not sure if Jimmy or Billy told me – I can’t remember – but someone had said, ’Oh, I really like how hard she plays.’

“I’d really dig in when we did the heavy stuff. I’m not a light player, and I think my playing has some power to it because of my background in punk rock. It’s also very rhythmic – but no-one has said that; I’m not speaking for Billy now.

“For me, especially when playing with a pick and paying attention to what the kick pattern is doing, I sync up. I feel like that was a very percussive way of playing. I’m not saying I’m better than anybody, or that’s unique at all. And maybe I played a little bit harder than previous players.

“That’s my guess. And maybe Jimmy thought that we gelled or had a sound that wasn’t the same. Or maybe it’s because I’m a pretty mellow person. I can’t say why, exactly; those are just my thoughts off the top of my head.”

Whenever we would go into soundcheck, Billy would come in and say, ‘I’ve got this new song’ … there were already like 250 plus songs!

It sounds like the chemistry was pretty evident.

“It was definitely surreal. We rehearsed in Chicago for about a month straight of full-on days. It was exhausting. It was like training for boot camp! So by the time we played our first show, we were so locked in. Everything revolved around the show –eating, sleeping, everything.”

Were there any nerves?

“I definitely wasn’t nervous when the first show came; it was exciting. I remember the tour manager coming backstage one day and just confirming the spellings of our names for Rolling Stone or something like that, because they were gonna officially announce who was in the band. I remember being like, ’Okay, it’s official – it’s happening.’”

What sort of bass rig did you bring to the party?

“When we got into rehearsals, there were already some Ampeg SVTs there. I believe it was one of the Heritage models, which are beautiful. I think there were eight of them, and we definitely had them on each side of the stage, which also looked really badass!

“Walking into rehearsal, I had all the gear already there. There were no pedalboards or anything, though I eventually got some pedals over time.”

Learning those songs must have been a challenge – they’re pretty complex.

“There were definitely some hard songs to play. I can’t think off the top of my head, but there was nothing that was like four bars of this and four bars of that. The timing and forms of everything were so crazy, and they were really hard to learn and remember.

“That’s a credit to Billy. He’s just so creative and out of the box; he can’t not be that way. It would never occur to him to do something simple. You might think, ‘That sounds simple,’ but a lot is going on. So, most of the songs were difficult to learn, but also really fun to play.”

Did Billy give you pointers, or were you able to put your spin on the songs?

“There’s a lot of layers, and I played those like they were played. But there was a lot of jamming going on too, and there I was pretty much given free rein.

I honestly believe that Billy would have been cool with having the family out on tour, which I thought I’d do

“But whenever we would go into soundcheck, Billy would come in and say, ‘I’ve got this new song,’ and I was like, ‘Oh God, another new song to learn,’ because there were already like 250-plus songs! But he’s just so prolific.”

And then you did something that most musicians wouldn’t dream of: walking away from one of the largest gigs in the world.

“It’s really kind of you to put it that way. At the time it was a no-brainer – there was not even a second thought because I had a whole series of things happen. I was pregnant; I was planning on coming back and I’d been messaging Billy about starting rehearsals.

“But as soon as I had my daughter, my mom passed away. That was really difficult, and my daughter’s birth had been very difficult; and having a newborn was very difficult. When I realized how much work it is to have a baby, I was like, ‘I can’t even fit in my brain those 250 songs – plus the new ones every day.’ And I wanted to be the kind of mom that was present physically.”

I won’t use the word ‘regret’ because I’m sure you don’t; but do you ever wish you’d found a way to balance the two?

“I honestly believe that Billy would have been cool with having the family out on tour, which I thought I’d do. And that was gonna be fine, but it’s so taxing having to raise a newborn. It’s just so taxing on your body with nursing, and I just knew right away, ‘This is not gonna work because this gig is so demanding.’

The standard was so high, and the work ethic was so high; I don’t know if people even understood how high the standard was

“I later took my baby on the road with the Glee tour, but that was not as demanding because we were playing two-minute pop songs. But with the Pumpkins I just knew ‘There is no way I can give 110 percent to this band and 110 percent to my family.’

“With the Glee thing, I reached out to Billy, saying, ‘Hey, is this okay?’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’ And the person who was managing the Glee tour also managed the Pumpkins, so it was a small world.

Your era of the Pumpkins has gained a cult following over the years. Was it tough to see them move on without you?

“When the Glee tour was in rehearsals, the Pumpkins were rehearsing right next door – in the very next room. My baby was there, and I’m pumping milk in the bathroom; I could hear the rumble of the bass and drums of the Pumpkins through the bathroom walls.

“Nicole Fiorentino was starting to rehearse with them. That was surreal for me: ‘Okay, that was my gig, now that’s not my gig.’ I wouldn’t say there was like, regret – but it was kind of like when you’re seeing your ex get engaged or married! It’s like, ‘Okay, but I got married too, so it’s fine!’”

Making that decision had to have impacted you as a person, probably forever. 

“Oh, God, it just completely transformed me. What was required... the standard was so high, and the work ethic was so high; I don’t know if people even understood how high the standard was.

You were playing with Jimmy Chamberlin and Billy Corgan, two of the best players in that genre, or even rock itself. You’re trying to keep up

“I can’t say what things are like now, but back then the band was coming back from hiatus, doing a new record, and having this big push, so the standard and work ethic were really strong. It was all about doing the best you absolutely could and being focused. There was no downtime to mess around.

“I don’t want to say perfection was required, but there was just so much work involved. You were playing with Jimmy Chamberlin and Billy Corgan, two of the best players in that genre, or even rock itself. You’re trying to keep up.

“My work ethic definitely grew; I’m a totally different person than before the band as far as knowing what it takes to work and play in a band. When you’re doing something on a big scale, it has to be as perfect as it can be. I don’t know if I would have understood that if I hadn’t been in the Pumpkins.”

• The Garbage tour commences on June 26.

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Andrew Daly is an iced-coffee-addicted, oddball Telecaster-playing, alfredo pasta-loving journalist from Long Island, NY, who, in addition to being a contributing writer for Guitar World, scribes for Rock Candy, Bass Player, Total Guitar, and Classic Rock History. Andrew has interviewed favorites like Ace Frehley, Johnny Marr, Vito Bratta, Bruce Kulick, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Rich Robinson, and Paul Stanley, while his all-time favorite (rhythm player), Keith Richards, continues to elude him.

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Watch CBS News

10,000 people applied to be The Smashing Pumpkins' next guitarist. Meet the woman who got the job.

By Li Cohen

Updated on: May 3, 2024 / 11:29 AM EDT / CBS News

The Smashing Pumpkins has been an iconic alt-rock ban for decades. And now the group has added a new member to help them carry on for decades more. 

"The news you have been waiting for has finally arrived," the band announced on social media last week. "SP is excited to officially welcome highly-skilled veteran guitarist Kiki Wong. Kiki joins the band's touring lineup of Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and James Iha, along with mainstays Jack Bates and Katie Cole." 

The band said in January it was seeking a new guitar player after Jeff Schroeder announced his departure from the group in October.  

The Smashing Pumpkins put out a public call for an additional guitarist in January, and in less than two weeks, they announced they received more than 10,000 submissions for the job – so many that eight people were "working full-time to review each and every one." 

Wong's arrival to the group comes after she played guitar for the Los Angeles-based rock band, Vigil of War. Her passion for music started when she was just 6 years old, she says on her website , when she started taking classical piano lessons. At 13, she got her first acoustic guitar that her father purchased from Costco, and in the years after, she joined "countless garage bands" and also learned how to play the drums. 

Once she got her pre-med bachelor's degree in biological science at the University of California, Irvine, Wong says she decided to commit to music full-time with all Asian-American girl band Nylon Pink. Her career has only blossomed since. 

"It's never too early or too late to follow your dreams," Wong says on her website. "...With music, I want to break the barriers of genres and stereotypes. I want to clash styles and make them one. After all, we only have one world. We might as well unite it with music."

Her music became so popular that Smashing Pumpkins co-founder and lead singer Billy Corgan says he was a fan of hers "before she submitted her name to be considered." 

"It's great that someone of her acumen will be part of our touring family," Corgan said. "I can't wait to hit the road with Kiki as part of our mad circus." 

The band is headed out on an international tour this summer, kicking off in the U.K. in June before hitting the U.S. and Canada from July through September. 

Wong said the process of joining the band has been " an absolute wild ride ." 

"I am beyond honored and humbled to be chosen to perform alongside some of rock's greatest and most influential musicians of all time," she said. "I never thought little ole 15-year-old me playing metal guitar in my bedroom would amount to this moment. It goes to show hard work and perseverance truly pays off if you're willing to push through the tough stuff,s o never lose hope out there." 

Wong, who is of Korean and Chinese heritage, joins The Smashing Pumpkins at the start of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. 

"Being in the rock and roll/heavy metal industry as an Asian American female isn't easy," she said in a 2021 interview with Asian American Pacific Islander Musicians . "I've received a ton of hate from people who judge me for being who I am. Though it may seem like a setback, there have been so many more positive feedback and support than negative." 

"I grew up in a 92% Caucasian community with very little exposure to other Asians besides my own family. It was difficult understanding my identity and where I fit in at such a young age," she added. "I hope to see more young emerging AAPI musicians who want to keep rock and roll alive. I hope that I can help inspire them to go against the grain of what we're told we're supposed to do and feel safe to creatively express themselves through music and not feel judged."

Li Cohen is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News.

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Smashing Pumpkins share more details of Billy Corgan’s new unscripted series

The eight-part series 'Billy Corgan's Adventures In Carnyland' will premiere on May 14

Smashing Pumpkins have given more details about the new reality show Billy Corgan is fronting.

• READ MORE: Smashing Pumpkins release new single ‘Beguiled’ and tell us about their three-part “rock opera”, ‘ATUM’

The eight-episode series, Billy Corgan‘s Adventures In Carnyland, is set to premiere on the CW on May 14 and will let fans “see behind the scenes of SP, Billy’s family and wedding, the NWA and more”.

In another post on X/Twitter, the band encouraged followers to guess who said: “Wrestling is not really in my life”. They then offered a hint: “The show focuses on behind the scenes of SP as well…”

They added: “The show is honest and authentic…and features important people in Billy’s life who… don’t like wrestling.”

The countdown is on! @Billy Corgan's new reality show premieres May 14 on @TheCW app and https://t.co/JijlUk1EhH Binge watch all 8 episodes as you see behind the scenes of SP, Billy's family and wedding, the @nwa and more. — The Smashing Pumpkins (@SmashingPumpkin) May 1, 2024

From ‘Adventures in Carnyland’ premiering May 14 on @TheCW “Wrestling is not really in my life” Who said this? Hint: the show focuses on behind the scenes of SP as well… — The Smashing Pumpkins (@SmashingPumpkin) May 7, 2024

. @Billy 's new unscripted series will show you behind the scenes of SP and Billy's life, family, and wedding (and yes, wrestling as well). The show is honest and authentic…and features important people in Billy's life who… don't like wrestling. — The Smashing Pumpkins (@SmashingPumpkin) May 7, 2024

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The series was first announced in February and centers around Corgan’s involvement in wrestling, having served as the president of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) since 2017.

It was confirmed at the time that the partnership would see several of NWA’s programmes streaming for free on the US network, and also include a new “ unscripted untitled series about Corgan’s life, family, role as president of NWA and his ‘day job’ .”

The eight-episode series was directed by Volk-Weis and Ian Roumain. The pair executive produced the project alongside Corgan, his wife Chloe Mendel, Cisco Henson and Benjamin J. Frost. Volk-Weis’ media firm Nacelle Company is producing.

A press release reads: “When he isn’t churning out albums and touring the world with his legendary band The Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan is also a wrestling promoter who owns the storied National Wrestling Alliance, which he intends to restore to its former glory.

“As if being a rock star navigating the demanding politics of running both a band (Pumpkinworld) and a group of eccentric wrestlers (Carnyland) isn’t tricky enough, Billy is also a father of two AND he’s planning a wedding to his longtime partner, Chloe. Can he possibly keep all these balls in the air? Tune in to  Billy Corgan’s Adventures In Carnyland  to find out!”

Smashing Pumpkins are set to embark on  a UK and Ireland headline tour with Weezer this summer , including a show at The O2 in London.  Find any remaining tickets for the run here .

Additionally,  Corgan and co. will hit the road for a North American tour  in July.  Find any remaining tickets here .

• Related Topics
• Billy Corgan
• The Smashing Pumpkins

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