Smashing Pumpkins: the Beatweek interview with Billy Corgan

It’s a new decade for Smashing Pumpkins, and founding frontman Billy Corgan is restocking the band’s roster and taking a unique approach with new album “Teargarden by Kaleidyscope” in that the forty-four song opus is being written, recorded, and released one song at a time, all available for free online. In our cover story interview, Billy fills us in on how the already partially-released new album is coming along, how it’s going with the new Pumpkins lineup in the studio, why he’s given up on the record industry machine, and why he feels like after the twists and turns of the last decade, he and Smashing Pumpkins are now “back in the deep end of the pool” when it comes to creating music…

You’ve released just a few songs so far out of a planned forty-four songs for Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. How far along are you in terms of creating the album?

Currently I’m working on finishing songs 7 and 8, and I would say of all the songs I’ve worked on so far that these two are the ones I’m most excited by. Sounds like the best of old school SP set into the future.

“Widow Wake My Mind” has something of a funk/psychedelic tinge to it. Can we expect more songs along those lines, or should we not be reading anything into the early songs yet?

Not only is the album a work in-progress, but its also a journey in-progress. I’m still figuring out what I’m trying to say, and the act of releasing them as I go along is definitely informing my decisions in a fresh way. It is doing a good job of keeping me in the moment, and I have lots of directions I plan to go before it would all said and done.

Is “Teargarden by Kaleidyscope” the title of one of the forthcoming songs, or where did that title come from?

It’s a title I had in my pocket for about 5 years. I was inspired by the idea of trying to find a mythical place that symbolizes both the end and beginning of our life’s spiritual journey.

The previous Pumpkins album sold pretty well through the traditional album pricing model. Why give this one away for free?

Well, as I’ve said a few times free isn’t free. It isn’t easy taking all this on on my own, but the reason I choose to do it is I didn’t want to negotiate anymore with a broken system until it is fixed. I wanted to move at the speed the internet is moving, which of course is lightning speed. In this thinking I have tremendous flexibility to reach people in all sorts of different contexts without constantly asking them to give me more, more, more. Right now it is all about the music and I love it.

Why release one song at a time?

I think there is so much information out there it is hard to expect anyone to take the time to really sit and digest a full body of songs without something being overlooked.

You released Machina II as a digital-only album a decade ago. Was there anything you learned from that process that helped you formulate your plans for the Teargarden release?

I learned that music was more readily found without a commercial demand attached to it. It gave me the courage to announce the new album the way that I did without too much worry, knowing that eventually it would go where it needed to at it’s own pace.

Are you trying to change the way music is distributed in general, or is this just a personal choice?

I have given up on the old music business. If anyone else wants to work within that system I can understand why. I am not fighting any causes for this kind of thing because history shows me that no one really cares too much about the business side. Fans just want exciting music and I agree with them that that is the most important thing. That said, I am in talks with the Pumpkins old label EMI to release a lot of unreleased materials and I really sense that they are ready to work with me to create a new way to put fans and my music together that takes care of everybody. So I am encouraged by that.

New Pumpkins drummer Mike Byrne just turned twenty. How has his presence, his youth, impacted the music?

His enthusiasm is great, and he is a good barometer if what I’m trying to do is just not interesting enough. He is still learning so in some ways I have to slow down a bit because he just doesn’t have the experience and sometimes me slowing down isn’t a bad thing.

At this rate it’ll take you a couple years to push all the songs out the door one by one. Are you committed to this release model no matter what, or might you adjust it based on how things end up going?

The plans is to keep going along until I’m done. But God doesn’t always agree with my plans. Hopefully nothing we’ll get in the way of completing the vision of what I’ve said out to do. So far the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

The Teargarden by Kaleidyscope process is still just getting underway.

What else should we know about it that no one’s thought to ask yet?

Most questions I get seem to focused on the business aspects, with almost no questions about the artistic process involved. So if I was going to say anything it would be that I feel really good about the work I’m doing and the direction I’m headed, and although the past few years have been confusing at times for me and my fans, I’m glad I stuck to a path that I felt would help me get back to a place of great creative enthusiasm. It is not an easy road but I really feel I’m back in the deep end of the pool.

What motivated you and Kerry Brown to launch a record label?

Label is still a question mark.

What should we know about everythingfromheretothere.com?

Not much to say other than it is a spiritual site that I still have plans for, but as I’m working on writing a book it is the place currently I have the least time for. I’m still trying to figure out how to contribute more there in a visual way and not just posting screeds.

A number of Pumpkins songs are featured in the latest Tap Tap Revenge game for iPhone. Do you think this kind of thing will be a legitimate promotional model for musicians in the long term?

I love anything that puts music and young people in the same location. Long term I have no idea. Technology is moving too fast to predict anything.

I’ve been wanting to ask you this for awhile: Most people named William who go by “Billy” in childhood (myself included) have ended up switching to “Bill” at some point in adulthood. What made you stick with “Billy”?

My real name is William. It is probably time to give up the ghost of Billy.

What should we expect this year in terms of Smashing Pumpkins tour dates?

Tour stuff is still being worked out, but there are plans to perhaps tour America, Asia, and a few other places. Wherever SP goes there is always a ripple in the fabric of time and a bunch of demons come tripping out looking for the party so each decision is made carefully and often with pause. Because you just never know who might show up at our shows and exactly what they might be looking for when they do arrive. We just want to make people happy.

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