Talk Radio Network’s Mancow Muller interviewed Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin of the Smashing Pumpkins last Monday. Audio of the interview can be found here.
Here’s the first portion of a lengthy full transcript:
Mancow Muller: Billy!
Billy Corgan: Yeah! Hey, good morning.
MM: I thought you’d never do my show again.
BC: Oh, stop it.
MM: Are we friends now?
BC: We are friends.
MM: Okay. I told you just a couple times that you hurt my feelings when you said that you didn’t think radio really helped the Pumpkins. Have you changed your mind on that?
BC: [laughs] It’s helping me now.
MM: Jimmy’s on the line too, Jimmy Chamberlin. Billy Corgan, the lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Chamberlin…
Jimmy Chamberlin: What’s up, Mancow?!
MM: Hey guys. I got a chance to catch you in, uh, I don’t know, Toronto, I think, and it was spectacular.
JC: Oh, thank you!
MM: How are things going for you guys?
BC: Good. We’re so busy, it’s crazy.
MM: What are you working on right now, Billy? Aren’t you working on one of the Guitar Heros or something?
BC: Yeah, I’m going to be in the new Guitar Hero, like, actually be in the new game, which was pretty cool. We just recorded a new song, we’re getting ready for our tour, we’re getting ready for our 20th anniversary tour, we’re getting ready to put out a Gish box set.
MM: The new song is called “G.L.O.W.”, right?
BC: Yes sir.
MM: What does it stand for?
BC: Glorious Ladies of Wrestling.
MM: What?!
BC: Don’t you remember the Glorious Ladies of Wrestling?
MM: Yes! Yes, I do.
BC: I bet you had a few private moments with the Glorious Ladies.
MM: I did, I did, actually. Farmer’s Daughter.
BC, JC: [laughter]
MM: Billy, what weird things turned you on?
BC: Uh, I don’t know. I don’t talk about those things.
MM: You don’t have a record company now, do you?
BC: No, no, we’re free. It’s awesome. I mean, it’s amazing to be free in the market…”market” sounds so businesslike. In the world we live in now, the digital market world, whatever, it’s so cool because you can basically do whatever you want.
MM: Did they ever “get” you, Billy? Did they ever get the Pumpkins?
BC: The last record company, no, unfortunately. But some of the people at our old record company did, and they had everything to do with why we were so successful.
MM: And of course, the minute the Smashing Pumpkins had a hit, a lot of your people started hating you. The minute we played you on the radio people hated you.
BC: Well, that’s just the weird “alternative” world.
MM: But isn’t that weird?
BC: You remember that episode of Star Trek where Captain Kirk had to fight his…self? His anti-Captain Kirk? That’s what it’s like being in alternative rock. It’s like, if you’re too good, they hate you; if you kind of suck and you smell bad and you have a beard, you’re good. It’s that weird thing. You gotta be good enough to be listened to, but bad enough that the mainstream world doesn’t want to hear you. We’ve been around for twenty years now, and we’re still…still getting it done. So we must be doing something right.
MM: You told me something in Toronto that I want to reveal, and I hope you don’t get mad at me. You said you’re making more money now than ever before.
JC: [laughs]
BC: Uhh…did I say that?
MM: Yes, you did. Selling your CDs online, doing whatever the hell you want, no middlemen, touring when you want, collecting the money and not having to divvy it up with record companies and promoters…you’re doing better than ever before.
BC: That’s basically true, but we also have to spend more money to do that, so maybe it’s a bit of a lie, but yeah. Put it this way: the most important thing with that is the freedom — not sitting in the back of your mind thinking somebody’s going to shut us down here somewhere along the chain. I think that’s what’s really important to get back to just making great music, and if people want it, they’ll find it, believe me, in this world.
MM: You’ve made me mad, you’ve burned bridges. Do you regret any of that?
BC: Oh yeah. Of course I do. I’m 41 years old now. I did a lot of stupid things. But I’ll say this: most of the stupid things I did were at least out of the idea that I didn’t care because I wasn’t gonna get on my knees and *bleep* anybody else *bleep*…
MM: What about Jimmy?
BC: Oh, I’ve done that many times.
MM: No, but I mean, would Jimmy have *bleep*?
BC: With the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, yes, he would have.
JC: [laughs]
BC: The point is we came out of nothing. We were lower-middle-class kids. We didn’t grow up thinking we were gonna be on, you know, Solid Gold or whatever. Suddenly we found ourselves in this situation. So we were like, we had to make weird choices. I think we were immature and we didn’t realize that dying wasn’t a good idea. [laughter] You know, killing ourself, killing each other…those were all bad ideas.
MM: Standing next to Jimmy on stage is an amazing thing. The amount of energy that you put out, Jimmy. You are an amazing drummer. Billy, do you tell him? I know you have trouble with this…do you tell him how great he is?
BC: All the time.
MM: Can you do it right now?
BC: I think Jimmy is the best drummer in the world.
JC: Aww, thanks!
BC: I think no drummer in the world can do what Jimmy does, wihch is to play with that level of power for two hours like that and play to such a high level. And he’s able to play all different styles. Jimmy’s played on mellow songs, heavy songs. I mean, he’s up there with Bonham, you know…
MM: I agree.
BC: That level of drummer who’s been able to play in a different variety of music and have his style impact the way people play the drums, that’s the hallmark of a great drummer. Right now, I think pound-for-pound he’s the best drummer in the world.
JC: Aw, thanks a lot.
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