A lot of talk surrounding Billy Corgan, or William Partick Corgan as of late, stems from the release of his new album Ogilala. Fans want to know more about what he’s going to do after that album is released. Many thought that the possibility of The Smashing Pumpkins getting back together wasn’t so far-fetched, but as Corgan stated himself, maybe that chapter of his life is over. He said in an interview with Rolling Stone:
“But I’ll say this and I mean it: If we never play a note together again, that’s OK. I’m way, way more interested in the fact that we have peace with each other. I’ve reached the point in my life where I’m not in a hurry to get to anything. If it’s there, great. If it’s not, cool.”
On Corgan’s new album, he collaborated with guitarist James Iha. That was the first time they worked on new music together since the release of Machina II/The Friends & Enemies Of Modern Music in 2000. More recently, Iha and Corgan played together at performance about a year ago, where Corgan played a new song for an exclusive VIP set at one of their concerts. During an Interview with Rolling Stone, Corgan spoke more about the rumors of their legendary band finally reuniting.
Corgan is thrilled that they are on good terms after the band’s falling out over a relentless work schedule. Now that he is working on his own music, he had the chance to reunite with guitarist James Iha and bassist D’arcy Wretzky. That, however, isn’t quite enough for him to go head-first into a new project with them.
He said he’s okay with the band not getting back together, as long as they have peace between them. For almost 15 years the band was always together. He mentioned the tension between band members after the falling out.
“We were in a pressure cooker for 13, 14 years. We were literally together almost non-stop for a long time. We did a lot of work and we put ourselves through some crazy s–t. When the family thing broke, it was one of those things like, ‘Hey, have you talked to your cousin?’ ‘Eh, I love him, but you know, whatever.’ So it was like that for a long time, and now that that’s over, and the family thing is resolved, it’s awesome.”
Now working solo, with some collaborations with other artists, he has his focus on just keeping the peace and moving forward. Last month, Corgan released one single from Ogilala called “Aeronaut” that featured production by Rick Rubin. He’s also been releasing a string of Facebook Live videos every day leading up to the release of his new album on October 13.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
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