smashing pumpkins reforming?

[Pyser]

billy corgan wrote in a full page ad today in chicago that he wants to reform the smashing pumpkins. thatd be interesting.

course, he does have a new solo album about to come out, so any publicity is good publicity.

i was never a big pumpkins fan, except for a song here and there, but i think itd be cool to see them reform.

it would be not so cool so see corgan and 3 other, new people up there, instead of iha, d'arcy, and well, the drummer doesnt matter.

[NoMyths]

Jimmy Chamberlain was more critical to the Pumpkins success than D'arcy. Hell of a drummer.

[Pyser]

yeah, but he was gone from the group for long stretches there, wasnt he? didnt corgan kick him out after the keyboardists OD?

he was also in zwan, so it seems hed be the first to sign up for a reunion, since he still seems to be on speaking terms with corgan.

[NoMyths]

Yeah, Corgan's called him his best friend. He also plays on Corgan's new album.

[dawgfan]

yeah, but he was gone from the group for long stretches there, wasnt he? didnt corgan kick him out after the keyboardists OD?

he was also in zwan, so it seems hed be the first to sign up for a reunion, since he still seems to be on speaking terms with corgan.

I'm not sure if he's absent from any of the studio records - maybe Adore, but he returned to the group before Corgan disbanded them.

But NoMyths is right - Chamberlain is a hell of a drummer and one of the key factors in the Pumpkin's success. Seeing as how Corgan usually played all the guitar and bass parts himself in the studio, those spots are less critical IMO, though I'd rate James Iha as more crucial than D'Arcy. I believe Melissa Auf Der Mauer filled in for D'Arcy when she left the band (not on good terms with Corgan, perhaps some lingering issues with her ex Iha).

I was a big fan of their earlier work, but as Corgan has moved more towards industrial and electronica, I'm less interested. Not that I don't like those genres, or don't think Corgan has done some good work in both, but to me the Pumpkins were at their best as a rock-guitar band.

[mrsimperless]

Corgan and Chamberlain were most definitely the core. I liked the stuff Zwan put out about as well as any pumpkins album and that had both of them. I can remember thinking how excited I was about Zwan when I heard Chamberlain was on board. That guy is simply amazing.

Did I hear correctly that after the disband of Zwan that Corgan was doing public poetry readings in Chicago?

[Ksyrup]

Uh...I'm thinking Chamberlin won't be getting an invite...


EW: After the Pumpkins broke up, why did you form Zwan [which featured guitarists David Pajo and Matt Sweeney, bassist Paz Lenchantin, and Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin]? Were you eager - maybe even desperate - to re-create the band feeling?

BC: It's the classic thing where you unconsciously re-create a situation to try to fix it. It was a stupid move with good intentions.

.....

EW: Which of your two bands is more likely to reunite?

BC: Pumpkins. You'll never see Zwan. I'll never go anywhere near those people. Ever. I mean, I detest them. You can put that in capital letters. Bad people. James and D'Arcy [Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky] are good people. They might be misguided people, but they're good people. I completely believe in them as human beings, no matter what they do, no matter what they say. I stood on stages with them and watched us change the world, change people's thinking, rock fucking big-time. You can't take that away from me. That's locked in my heart.

EW: So those four people will never share a stage again?

BC: Honestly, from my heart, I sincerly doubt it. The relationships are so ruptured. They are really damaged. I was talking to somebody recently who just laughed and said, "Well, it's always a question of money." It was never a question of money. For everyone else, money is enough. Not with that band. That was a spiritual issue and those spiritual issues are really ruptured... So if you ever do see the four Pumpkins on stage, it means some serious healing has gone on.

[NoMyths]

Did I hear correctly that after the disband of Zwan that Corgan was doing public poetry readings in Chicago?He did one. It was a miserable experience for all involved...especially the tortured verse he read.

[dervack]

Uh...I'm thinking Chamberlin won't be getting an invite...



No, he is still great friends with Jimmy, and as been pointed out, was a drummer on this album, and has played with him recently. I think it was more a case of him not liking Paz more than anything, but I dunno more about that. I will say that the one time I met him and Jimmy, he was very friendly and cordial to everyone who was hanging out.

[dawgfan]

Uh...I'm thinking Chamberlin won't be getting an invite...


EW: After the Pumpkins broke up, why did you form Zwan [which featured guitarists David Pajo and Matt Sweeney, bassist Paz Lenchantin, and Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin]? Were you eager - maybe even desperate - to re-create the band feeling?

BC: It's the classic thing where you unconsciously re-create a situation to try to fix it. It was a stupid move with good intentions.

.....

EW: Which of your two bands is more likely to reunite?

BC: Pumpkins. You'll never see Zwan. I'll never go anywhere near those people. Ever. I mean, I detest them. You can put that in capital letters. Bad people. James and D'Arcy [Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky] are good people. They might be misguided people, but they're good people. I completely believe in them as human beings, no matter what they do, no matter what they say. I stood on stages with them and watched us change the world, change people's thinking, rock fucking big-time. You can't take that away from me. That's locked in my heart.

EW: So those four people will never share a stage again?

BC: Honestly, from my heart, I sincerly doubt it. The relationships are so ruptured. They are really damaged. I was talking to somebody recently who just laughed and said, "Well, it's always a question of money." It was never a question of money. For everyone else, money is enough. Not with that band. That was a spiritual issue and those spiritual issues are really ruptured... So if you ever do see the four Pumpkins on stage, it means some serious healing has gone on.

I'm interpreting that exchange as Corgan talking about everyone but Chamberlain. I'd be highly surprised if any Pumpins reuinion doesn't include Chamberlain...

[cthomer5000]

Geez, I was just talking about the inevitability of this today, but i was thinking more likely 10 years down the line like the Pixies, rather than so soon.

[Ksyrup]

I'm interpreting that exchange as Corgan talking about everyone but Chamberlain. I'd be highly surprised if any Pumpins reuinion doesn't include Chamberlain...Well, Chamberlin was in Zwan. And he hates the people in Zwan. He made no exceptions for anyone. Then he says:

"James and D'Arcy [Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky] are good people."

And then:

"So if you ever do see the four Pumpkins on stage, it means some serious healing has gone on."


That leaves Chamberlin as the 4th member of SP, and the only one he has negative feelings toward.

[dervack]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainment/cst-ftr-billy22.html

Of his former bandmates, Corgan remains closest to Chamberlin, who performed with the singer and songwriter in the post-Pumpkins band Zwan, and who appears on some tracks on "The Future Embrace."

[Pyser]

Well, Chamberlin was in Zwan. And he hates the people in Zwan. He made no exceptions for anyone. Then he says:

"James and D'Arcy [Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky] are good people."

And then:

"So if you ever do see the four Pumpkins on stage, it means some serious healing has gone on."


That leaves Chamberlin as the 4th member of SP, and the only one he has negative feelings toward.

if chamberlin is on the new corgan record, which was obviously done post-zwan, there is really nothing to argue.

[dawgfan]

Well, Chamberlin was in Zwan. And he hates the people in Zwan. He made no exceptions for anyone. Then he says:

"James and D'Arcy [Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky] are good people."

And then:

"So if you ever do see the four Pumpkins on stage, it means some serious healing has gone on."


That leaves Chamberlin as the 4th member of SP, and the only one he has negative feelings toward.

I disagree. I think in Corgan's mind, when he's talking about Zwan, he's talking about everyone but Chamberlain - since Jimmy was a Pumpkin, in Corgan's mind when he's talking about the people in Zwan, he's talking about the new people that joined him and Chamberlain in comprising the group; i.e., in those statements, "Zwan" = everyone in Zwan - the 2 former Pumpkins.

As has been stated multiple times, Chamberlain and Corgan are friends, and they both appeared on each other's recent solo projects.

When Corgan talks about Iha and Wretzky being "good people", that doesn't mean he didn't have conflicts with them. He's differentiating between the Pumpkins and Zwan in essentially saying that while he had differences with other members of the Pumpkins, he thinks that they're fundamentally good people. He obviously doesn't feel that way about the people in Zwan, Chamberlain excluded.

[Ksyrup]

if chamberlin is on the new corgan record, which was obviously done post-zwan, there is really nothing to argue.
I don't have any specific knowledge, so you may be right. All I know is from what I've read of direct quote from Corgan. And those are subsequent to any recording he's done lately.

[PilotMan]

I can tell you that being a huge Pumpkins and Corgan fan, that his US tour is sold out, and that Jimmy does play on his new album, and that they are still very good friends. As far as the rest of the band, I remember reading some things that Billy said. He seemed to be burning some bridges with Iha, as he blames him for the breakup of the band in the first place. I would be happy to see a reunion, but I still doubt that there ever will be one.

[cthomer5000]

his US tour is sold out
Fire your fact-checker. Neither New York City show is sold out yet.

[Pyser]

hxxp://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1504715/20050627/smashing_pumpkins.jhtml?headlines=true

the drummer is in for the reunion...ending that debate.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I saw that. Not knowing much about them, I guess Billy's interview comments were not clear to me, because I read it completely differently than he apparently intended.

[dervack]

hxxp://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1504715/20050627/smashing_pumpkins.jhtml?headlines=true

the drummer is in for the reunion...ending that debate.
Saw that yesterday, I just didn't feel like bumping an old thread. :D