SPIN-Interview 2017: "William Patrick Corgan Is Living the Dream"
 

Interview of WPC with Ian Cohen, SPIN-Magazine October 12, 2017

https://www.spin.com/featured/willia...ala-interview/


Skilled Person
...
What do you mean by “scarlet letter”?
You know, “there he is making a funny face at Disneyland.” All that stuff. I do a synthesizer show at my tea house, which is free by the way, for thirty people, and it gets these write-ups about how I’ve lost my mind. It’s all a bit silly, but you’re obviously valuable to a particular group for a particular set of reasons. Is it generational? Is it a need to have pariahs so they can lift their heroes higher? I mean, whatever. But the conversation exists because of the proportionality that I listed, which is: I’m a skilled person. If I wasn’t a skilled person, there wouldn’t be anything to talk about. I’m not sitting here, “nah nah nah,” like a little kid’s “nah nah nah” phase. It’s not like that. It obviously hasn’t changed my path. I mean, I’ve done stupid things in reaction to it. But that’s human. I reserve the right to be dumb.
...

Promises for a still unknown Smashing Pumpkins-reunion
...
As far as not wanting to live in the past, how does that weigh on your mind when James Iha is involved with this record and there seems to be more talk than ever about a Smashing Pumpkins reunion?
It doesn’t. It’s like, the door is open, and hopefully there will be some energy by which we, in some combination, can coalesce. But I’ve learned not to repeat my mistakes, which is, “It has to be this way, in this time frame.” I’m applying no pressure. I’ve opened the door to it because of personal relationships and the peace that’s been demonstrated within, and hopefully there will be an opportunity there. If there is, great, if there isn’t, I’m happy to have the friendships. I don’t feel any burning need to prove a point.
But I will say to the world, be careful what you wish for, because if we do come back in any format, we’re going to punch people’s heads in. It won’t be the shy, retiree “roll around with our walkers” spree. We’ll go right back to being the band that we are—not even were, the band that we are. People, rightly so, will often attach a lot of the whole group’s polemic mission to me. Fine, I was out front, I was writing the songs. But trust me, the other three were just as big of bastards. We enjoy taking on the New York snobs. We love punching people right in the guts where the hypocrisy grows.

https://static.spin.com/files/2017/1...-1344x1000.jpg

I can see the headline "Billy Corgan calls original Smashing Pumpkins members bastards" :D

"It’s probably the most positive response I’ve gotten in twenty years on a record"

didn't he say very similar things about MtaE?

"Do you read the reviews?

No, I don’t read anything"

So ummm where does the "positive response" come from? Your little cohort?

Free synthesizer show by a skillful man. How noble.

:rolleyes:

"are there are contemporary artists that you admire?

I don’t listen to anybody."

yup

He's totally missing out on Alcest.

Can you pinpoint when you re that way, just completely disconnected?

Spin magazine, 1998. It started Spin magazine, 1998.



LOL

I actually laughed out loud

That was an awesome interview. Best thing since Machina II.

I like how Billy talks about how he doesn't like to be antagonistic anymore, but then the interviewer is kind of a dick to him so he ends up being a smartass anyway. But unlike in the past, he seems less angry when he's doing it. More like he's just amusing himself. I think he really got under that interviewer's skin which is funny.

He also sounds batshit insane which is funnier

Tru

I always thought this about his smartassness in the 90s... that he was for the most part just having a laugh at everyone and that he got misinterpreted a lot for non-serious shit he said in interviews.

but then he learned the internet and we found out he really is just a big assface

He's all over the place. He sounds like a mess.

"But I’ve learned not to repeat my mistakes, which is, 'It has to be this way, in this time frame'"

"...we’re going to punch people’s heads in"

:think: No pressure for D'arcy huh.

Lol new york snobs.

that must have been directed at spin and the interviewer.

well also the Pumpkins got no love in New York early on. they turned their noses up at them immediately

- CNN

from jimmy c's twitter

Love this. Great intel and wisdom from @Billy https://t.co/jd45Oma1yb

— Jimmy Chamberlin (@jccomplex) October 13, 2017

"To me, life is about being in the present. That’s the greatest lesson I’ve learned, is just, be in the present."

...

"I’ve been wrong about every record I’ve made since Mellon Collie. I mean, Adore was very artistic but had commercial potential. The record company abandoned it after six weeks. It got shitty reviews. It was treated like a fucking cancer on my musical life. Twenty years later, everywhere I go, people want to talk about that fucking record. I was “wrong” then, “right” now, but it didn’t suit me a lot of good to be right then."

did he actually say this??!!

holy shit

This interview is fucking gold. Corgan sounds like a sane, self-aware person in it. I think he's being disingenuous regards the Civil War question and song titles. But it was candid enough.

Also lol the interviewer is Ian Cohen, who Falco of Future of the Left went fuckign mental at and called a cunt for giving their album a bad review on pitchfork. I imagine Billy hated him.

Definitely worth reading if you haven't. Cohen gets destroyed: http://futureoftheleftv2now.blogspot...-name.html?m=1

He's wrong about one thing, people don't want to talk about Adore, they wanna talk anout where dat Machina reissue!?

I can think of no other celebrity who has been worse suited for the internet than Billy.

I read this line and thought "Nah, it can't have been that long" and then I realised it has been that long........

Fuck... I'm old. :eek:

nah, he's old.