Billy Blog

The SP archive project, for which we don't yet have an official nom de plume, is now fully underway. People are being hired, wired, and fired up with this insane pile of stuff to go through. The main focus of our tape transfers is to take any materials from 1985-1994 that are relevant to the Gish, Siamese Dream, or Pisces Iscariot albums and get them into a stable, 96k format. This makes it easier for me to instantly jut around and hear what we have. It is a surreal experience to listen to a demo from 1987 and have no memory of ever recording it, but knowing from the chords and the style that is indeed you that is playing!

A few days ago I started to listen through, in no particular order, to demo tapes related to those early years, and found a lot of ideas that sounded fresh and interesting to me, considering I know now the outcome of those different approaches and interests as I was laying them out then in pursuit of a new sound. Most of the materials would be of little interest to the mainstream fan, but the beauty is we can release these ideas and snippets if we can find the right way to do so. If I had to make a choice today, it would probably be something along the lines of outline the project, and see who might want to buy in with a guarantee that they are assured a limited edition pressing. We all know the songs will be bootlegged, there is no mystery in that anymore, but I feel that because of what these ideas are, in essence a real peek under the covers of how these albums came together, that there will be enough fans who would want to own a physical copy. Putting them together for digital consumption is easy, but probably not going to excite enough people. I know I get motivated when I think about a 20 album vinyl set of my demos from 1985-1994, even if only 500 fans wanted every one, because it means together we get to make something permanent that requires love, and a cover photo, and some liner notes, etc. In essence it is motivating to share more than just a digital file; to make art.



Our main focus in the short term however is to find the relevant songs to be part of the bonus disc on each release, and to get these together in time to get out before Christmas of this year. There are many obvious choices to choose from, for example 'Drown' from the Singles soundtrack and 'Starla', which was the B-side of the UK 'I am One' single for 'Gish' bonus disc. On the surface, if you already own those songs, you might say 'why do I need them again?' Which is a good question I myself ask as a fan. So for example, for 'Drown', we may release an alternate version with has a completely different take of the long end guitar solo, mixed by Butch Vig in 1992. With 'Starla', we've talked about a completely new Kerry Brown mix 2011 style, with the original mix still being available on the 'Pisces Iscariot' record. These of course are those more known titles, but we remain hopeful to find those hidden gems that have never been heard by anyone. For example, I came across a tape the other day where I had played live, right onto an 8 track recorder, 5 songs acoustic, 'Rocket' being one of them. This version I know has never been bootlegged out. But I also found on that same tape 2 unknown songs which are half-written, with me kind of faking lyrics as I often do when I'm writing a song. I never had any intention for anyone to ever hear these versions, and in their raw form are probably not release worthy, at least not commercially. But what I might do is 'finish' the songs now; record a final version after all these years with me on guitar and voice alone, and provide those half-baked versions on the SP facebook page for everyone to enjoy a lost moment in time. So lots of exciting choices as well to come.


WPC

We are now in our fourth week of working on the record, aptly dubbed, for reasons too numerous to count, 'Oceania'. Luckily for all of us it rolls off the tongue easier than say Teargarden by Kaelidyscope. I have seen some professed confusion here and there about how Oceania may fit into Teargarden as a whole and my answer to that would be 'quite nicely, thank you'!

Teargarden was conceived in my head and heart as a documented journey of faith. Where it differentiates from the classic album model is that it is an attempt to capture an arc of expression as opposed to the just result of a foregone conclusion. Teargarden is about the confusion that comes from asking a very real question;, 'how do you make something work that appears to all to be broken?'

I myself feel quite whole and happy in my life, and would love to find once again the magic within/without, without, mind you, the classic costs associated with successful rock and roll. If I once made a strong sound from a place of existential pain and self-loathing theatricality, certainly success would now be to make fantastic music from a healed heart. So 'Oceania' is that next step in my own journey to see if I can actually pull that trick off. In order for me to have taken that first step, I had to start off from a real place of inner truth.

So a year and a half ago, drummer Mike Byrne, bassist Mark Tulin, producers Kerry Brown and Bjorn Thorsrud and I took those first glances into the void, as friends and brothers . Because I was so uncertain as to where it all went, I made no promises to myself that there would ever come the day of another Pumpkins release, much less a stage show to follow. It was for me an all-or-nothing proposition to try to pick back up the real pieces; if there were even any to pick back up. I was certainly focused in those first days of recording on the core feeling behind what we were doing than the actual results. That is not to say I do not embrace that music, for each song is loved by me.

This thinking would have been impossible for me 20 years ago, as success was measured for me on someone else's value system, and not my own. I was willing then to willingly submit myself to that system to get what I wanted, which was frankly to be heard. Ahh, the wonderful, vain dreams of a young man. I am lucky now to be surrounded by so much love and support in the group and in my life. Whatever comes as the result of this union is far better in my eyes now than chasing that old kind of success, for to me that type of success gained at such a high cost would no longer be success at all.

And with that preamble, an update: So far, we have laid down the drums for 13 songs, one of which we choose to take off, so that leaves us with 12. Until we get into finishing each one that may be the final number or less I'm guessing. This also doesn't preclude me writing a new song that would be easier to record without drums, or having to wait to cut it when Mike would come back out towards the end of the process to add backing vocals. Putting myself back into 'album thinking' as opposed to 'song at a time thinking' has pushed me to write some really strong songs that fit together as a whole. I know I am prone to grandiose hyperbole at times but I feel this is as strong a batch of Pumpkins songs as I have written for a very, very long time. These songs have come from a place that has laid long dormant within me, and quite honestly I wasn't sure I would ever come into contact with ever again. It has surprised me that that young voice is as strong as ever, and was just waiting for the perfect moment to come back and assert some authority. It has honestly taken this circuitous journey, and this wonderful band, for me to feel safe enough again to open back up with joy.

So it's now Nicole's turn to put down all her bass parts. Because we tracked live together, Nicole has had time to really work on her parts, which are complex and at times dizzying. I am always thrilled with how she re-interprets my progressions and hands them back to me sort-of upside down. Mike did a fantastic job playing on these songs, his strongest drumming yet, as he is coming into his own style and still wrapping his head around the complex dynamic shades of SP. Because the sound of this record from a guitar standpoint with be a hazy and clear wall of loud guitars, our next few days will be focused on getting a unique bass sound that will ring through the big wall so all of Nicole's wonderful parts can be heard. I'm really excited as this record will afford some really inventive, progressive, and flat-out cool guitar stuff, hence the need for a new fuzz thanks to Devi Ever and the dusting off from the closet of some of ye' olde pedals.

I know that there are so many Smashing Pumpkins fans out there rooting for us to get this right, to make really emotional, beautiful, and epic music together. Those of you that have kept their faith in me, and opened their arms to Jeff, Nicole, and Mike have inspired us to reach just that little deeper than maybe we would left to our own devices. It is that Love that pushes us, and nothing else.

WPC

Life on telephones/Love on open roads
Into great unknowns I stumble brightly
Indigo/breathless yet
I’ll link to your regret
Sunflowers as teachers pets/Bent from lightning
I’ll bet/I’ll bend for you
Shadows give your light to me
Shadows give your light to me

In the ways the city pours itself out
You can make this happen
Beyond your doubt
You can make this happen all right now

Eastern days I’m unfraid/cause love to me is such a game
that I believe I can’t embrace/the dreams of lovers
Shadows give your light to me
Shadows give your light to me

In the ways the city pours itself out
You can make this happen
Beyond your doubt
You can make this happen all right now

Zen baby/lightning strikes
the same heart/but never twice
Zen baby/we’ve got to fight
what’s real and what becomes the night

In the ways the city pours itself out
You can make this happen
Beyond your doubt
You can make this happen all right now

download for free at smashingpumpkins.com

wow...10 years since the 'last' old SP break-up show...how time flies...i'll post some reflections on that show on here later today. hope everyone is having a GREAT day...going to the ocean now to say my prayers and make amends xo

first thing that comes to mind is that we only had about 6 days to prepare the about 14 or so extra songs that we added to try to make the show both historic and memorable. normally this much work in such a short time would have been met with resistance, but everyone was in good spirits to have the 11 months of touring finally over. my original plan was to book the metro out for the whole month of January and make one last album, writing songs and recording them live in rehearsal and then playing them at night at the 'shows'...can't remember how many shows we would have done per week? maybe 3 or 4. Iha+ Auf Der Maur hated the idea and said no.... a shame, could have been amazing. band was tight at that point and i was motivated to write more. we had the 2nd to last show at The United Center, and we wanted to film that as well. unfortunately the building wanted to charge us (i could be wrong but...) 50,000$ just for the 'right' to film, not counting the actual costs it would have been to film. so there is no video that i know of. if there is it might be... a lone camera. that show was amazing, although we were criticized for opening the show acoustic. we had been opening with 5 songs acoustic in Europe as a way to set a different tone because each night the audience was thinking they were seeing the band for the last time. there the audiences went with the somber beginning, and so i stupidly assumed that an American audience would go the same way with it. Wrong...!

once we finally lit it up with 'glass' theme (song 6) the place went nuts. for the Metro show itself, we found someone to be a clown in between acts, to hold the sign up announcing each of the 3 parts. what most people don't know is that the kid doing it (a total coincidence) was related to Jonathon Melvoin. i found out before the show, but i took it as a sign that his spirit was with us... in the building that night so i said i was fine with it.

we played 38 songs i believe, over 4 hours of music. i had never played that long before, nor have i since. i wasn't even sure my voice would hold up that long, but it did. actually it got stronger as the night went on. the first song was 'rocket', which we were supposed to play after the mellon collie theme intro, which was played off a cd. the theme finished, i lit into the opening riff of 'rocket'. unfortunately, no one turned off the cd, , so as i was playing i heard 'tonight, tonight' come blaring out of the p.a....classic SP fuck-up for trying to be fancy. the show as i remember was fairly good, but incredibly hot and at about 90 min in the crowd was just totally worn out. i thought to myself 'wow, we got a long way to go!'.

act 2 honestly felt like a sad funeral, and people started talking. i felt the whole thing slipping away from me, but i realized that it was all part of the journey of death that we were on. life moves on, and when the show was over i too had to move on. i honestly thought that it would be the last time i would play most of these songs, and it felt good to let them go.

act three was designed to bring the energy back up, and it did. the last encore i think was 'silverfuck', which had a lot of improvisation in it. it wasn't all planned out, and i remember thinking of my deceased mother alot. it all came down to 'where was mommy?' in the end of it all, as it begins so does it end. ...i turned to look at Jimmy and said 'that's it', and it ended without form best as i remember. i broke down on stage crying but i remember being quite embarassed about it. i've thought about that moment many times, and i wish in hindsight that i'd let myself just have a good cry right then and there, because you won't find yourself in a spot like that many times in your life. after we had a little party, playing dvd bootlegs of the band on a screen on stage.

once it was over, there was a shift, so playing the videos felt like watching a car crash again and again. it was overkill for everyone, including me. pictures and Chopin would have been better. i asked where James was, and someone had said he had left, without saying goodbye to me or Jimmy, a real final fuck you... in my eyes. outside of a phone conversation about business in 2001, i haven't seen him since. one more thing: please stop asking about the show ever coming out (i say this good heartedly). it will come out when the time is right. it should have come out in 2001 but EMI squashed it, and we got the rights back. hopefully it will be put out one day when all the albums get re-issued. it would make sense for it to come out with the Machina era stuff.

i think as more time goes by we all should look at SP as having 2 totally different eras, 'old school' and 'new school' or whatever. call it what you want, the SP of 2005-2010 and counting has been a different animal, albeit with similar goals set in a different world. 'old' SP ended exactly 10 years ago this night, and it a'int ever coming back. from my vantage point, that's a good thing. that band will never sell out and never grow old gracefully (because honestly it couldn't). long live SP 1987-2000 a great fucking band when it was 'on'. and a nightmare when it was 'off'.

thanks for checking out these thoughts/memories, love BC

(from Billy Corgan's Facebook)

Seeing a masterwork like 'The Wall' performed by great, dedicated musicians reminded me of the crazy dreams i once had; that music, with a real deep intention and spirit behind it, had the power to positively change the world. i am once again inspired to try. Thank you Roger, Dave, ...Richard, and Nick! I shall soldier on LOL. Jessica and I went last night to see Roger Waters perform 'The Wall', and i have to say as much of a fan of that particular work as i already am, seeing it staged live blew my mind. a really fantastic and memorable performance of an epic body of songs.


(from Billy Corgan's Facebook)

the last time i had been that far south in the Americas was with Zwan in 2003, and although i had enjoyed it, there wasn't a lot of energy waiting down there for us on that tour. The 1998 tour i was seriously ill and honestly don't remember much of it, but the fact that it was during the Adore era meant that the show... didn't have the common SP Rawk power behind it. That leaves only the few scant SP shows in 1996 as any indication of what a motivated hot-blooded crowd can do when mixed positively with the dynamics of the up and down, loud and soft and spacey.So i went into this tour with high hopes, and a real sense of purpose because i know how long fans from that part of the world had asked and even begged me to bring this incarnation back around. Let me say first the fans in all 5 cities (buenos aires, sao paulo, santiago, lima, and bogota) were fantastic. It took us a few days to find our groove, with all the flying and off days in between every show. The tour ended stronger than it began. I'd like to come back down no later...than 2 years from now. So thank you again fans from this last tour that came! I hope it was worth the wait for all of us.

love, BC

(from Billy Corgan's new Facebook. add, 'like' or spike it)

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS ANNOUNCE NOVEMBER 23 AS THE STREET DATE FOR THEIR NEXT EP TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE VOL. II "THE SOLSTICE BARE"

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS will release TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE VOL. II "THE SOLSTICE BARE" on November 23 via Martha's Music/Rocket Science Ventures. This physical-only four-song EP is a limited-edition, beautifully packaged CD & deluxe 12-inch vinyl picture disc with the four songs: "The Fellowship," "Freak," "Tom Tom" and "Spangled" as well as an unreleased B-side track, "Cottonwood Symphony." The lid covering the 12- inch box is a metallic/foil wallpaper motif, with a 1970's design by The Flavor Paper Co. As with the band's EPTEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE VOL. 1: SONGS FOR A SAILOR, which was released in May of this year, quantities are limited worldwide.

Here is the song "Tom Tom"...



TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE VOL. II "THE SOLSTICE BARE" marks the second EP to emerge from the band's in-progress 44-song project TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE, from which songs are being released online, one at a time for free (with four-song physical EPs being issued along the way). Thus far, two singles have been released from VOL II: THE SOLSTICE BARE: the first single "Freak" is quickly ascending the U.S. Alternative radio charts. With a cumulative audience of over 20 million, "Freak" is receiving national airplay at the biggest Alternative rock stations in the country. And the second release "Spangled"--described by Corgan quite simply as "just a pretty song"--is also earning critical attention.

Writing in The New York Times (7/27/10) about their July 26 sold-out show at Terminal 5 in NYC, Jon Pareles observed:

"Some of Mr. Corgan's 21st-century songs, like the new 'Freak,' aim their rage at sociopolitical targets; many of them revolve around blunter, simpler riffs than his 1990's songs. And instead of recording for a major label and waiting to release a group of songs for an album, Smashing Pumpkins are now posting individual new songs free online. When there are 44 of them, they are to be packaged as a boxed-set album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope."

At SPIN.com (7/27/10), William Goodwin noted:
"...'Freak,' another Teargarden track, was a union of pop-rock sensibility with heavy, distorted bass lines and lyrics that show Corgan can still be the romantic mouthpiece for disenfranchised youths. If 'Freak' was an indication, Pumpkins fans have something to look forward to."

Things are CRAZY right now and I like it that way. The Ray Davies (feat. Billy Corgan) song that was recorded at Coldwater Studio came out on November 6th, 2010. It sounds very cool and you should check it out here. Kevin Dippold did a great job engineering the track. The Pumpkins are in the midwest right now recording new songs for Teargarden By Kaleidyscope and Billy seems very excited about the way the recordings are progressing. The band will be hitting the road again soon, tour dates can be found here. I look forward to checking out the California SP shows in December.

SONG WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD STARTING TODAY AT THE SWEET RELIEF MUSICIANS FUND WEBSITE FOR 24 HOURS AND THEN CAN BE FREELY DOWNLOADED AT AT HTTP://SMASHINGPUMPKINS.COM

BAND ANNOUNCE AUSTRALIAN TOUR IN OCTOBER

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS will issue a brand new track Spangled will be available for free download starting today for 24 hours exclusively through the website for The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund: http://www.sweetrelief.org. "Spangled" will then become available the next day at http://www.smashingpumpkins.com where a widget is also offered that enables fans to host the song anywhere on the web. It's just a pretty song, says BILLY CORGAN of Spangled, which marks the sixth release from the band's in-progress 44-song project TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE. It is the second song (the recently released "Freak" was the first) from what will be the band's second EP--TEARGARDEN BY KALEIDYSCOPE VOLUME 2: THE SOLSTICE BARE (release date TBA)--tied to this project.

When visitors go to the Sweet Relief website, they'll be encouraged to donate to the organization, although it is not a requirement to contribute money when freely downloading the song. The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. Visitors to the site who donate $10.00 (or more) to the Sweet Musicians Relief Fund can also enter a raffle to win a Fender "Billy Corgan Stratocaster" custom guitar that will be signed by the musician.

The Pumpkins recently raised over $80,000 at their sold-out benefit concert Tuesday, July 27 at Chicago's Metro for Matthew Leone, bassist for Chicago band Madina Lake. The money is going to the Matthew Leone Fund at Sweet Relief and is helping to pay for the ongoing medical care needed for the musician who this past June was hospitalized with severe brain trauma after intervening to stop a woman he passed on the street from being beaten by her husband.

In touring news, the band--singer/guitarist BILLY CORGAN, guitarist JEFF SCHROEDER, drummer MIKE BYRNE and bassist NICOLE FIORENTINO--have announced they will return to Australia this October for shows in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.