Pajo opens up a bit on Corgan
April 29th, 2008 by jjbtags: dave pajo, zwan, interview, criticism
In the course of shuffling his iPod for The A.V. Club, longtime indie stalwart and current Dead Child metalhead Dave Pajo talks not too much shit about Billy Corgan and what he’s previously termed “the Zwan eggsperience”:
[Dave Pajo:] When I was in Zwan, Billy got so mad at me when he found out I didn’t know any Smashing Pumpkins songs. He would say, “You haven’t heard ‘1979′?” But I didn’t listen to any of that shit when it was breaking. Delta blues was way more exciting to me than the Pumpkins and that whiny voice. [Laughs.] I knew that one “rat in a cage” lyric, but that was the only Pumpkins I could recognize for the longest time. But, yeah, Billy would get really mad about that: “How can you not know ‘Tonight, Tonight’?” [Laughs.]
AVC: But Zwan didn’t even play Smashing Pumpkins songs, right?
DP: No! But that’s one of the reasons I initially liked the guy—he was so arrogant, it cracked me up. He would constantly bring up the fact that he sold 25 million records, or that his hit song was played at the Super Bowl or something. It just made me laugh. You know that character Alan Partridge, the one Steve Coogan played? Billy reminds me of Alan Partridge if he’d made a hit record. But after a while, the joke wears off.
Not wanting to let a good dustup settle down too soon, A.V. Club interviewer Jason Heller brought it back a few paragraphs later:
DP: [Playing bass for Early Man for a couple months] reminded me of that enthusiasm I had for playing metal when I was younger. I totally know this is part of my midlife crisis.
AVC: Do you think reverting to metal was also a reaction against your experience in Zwan?
DP: Yeah. Zwan really did put a sour taste in my mouth, as far as music goes. I don’t want to talk too much shit about Billy, but… He really does know how to beat the sound and life out of music. I just wanted to do something that wasn’t money-oriented or art-oriented. With Dead Child, we’re not trying to make poetry. We just want to play a party and knock the windows out.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
I still call bullshit that he never heard “1979″ etc. when they came out….namely because they were fuckin’ everywhere to the point where you couldn’t miss them. I was there too Dave! You either had to be in a cave or without any substantial friends to miss those songs when they came out.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Gee, good to see Pajo is on the up and up.
Remember when we saw Papa M at the Empty Bottle? Town and Country totalllllly schooled him. When they brought out that bass clarinet, I knew it was over.
But it looks like they’ve learned to “relax a little” with their new (sixth!) album of noise. Maybe Pajo will make the switch to post-post-rock after he gets over his metal phase.
Don’t most men buy a sports car when they turn 40 instead of joining a metal band and knocking the windows out?
April 29th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Oh, I believe him on not hearing those songs. “1979″ was the biggest hit and it only got to #12. Wasn’t like they were playing it in malls, and not everyone listens to the radio. Louisville may not even have had a New Rock Alternative on the FM dial.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Pajo having such a dislike for Corgan actually validates Corgan’s previously-stated suspicions about his (Pajo’s) motivations for joining the band.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:15 am
Also validates Corgan calling him and the rest of Zwan (apart from the Jimmy) indie posers. He claims what this other band was doing was more exciting after just saying he’d never even heard the Pumpkins.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:52 am
Pajo sucks.