“I see it as a form of priesthood.” 3:30 pm // Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Posted by jjb in billy corgan, interview.trackback
Kelli Skye Fadroski of the Orange County Register dutifully publishes today some comments by Billy Corgan in advance of the Smashing Pumpkins’ set at the Sunset Strip Music Festival this weekend. An excerpt:
“I will never get up on a stage and do what people want me to do,” [Corgan] says. “Even if someone said I’d make three times as much money and go back to winning Grammy Awards — I don’t see rock ‘n’ roll that way and I never will. In a weird way I see it as a form of priesthood. You take certain vows. Like Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits and the Beatles, I have my own code of ethics, and sometimes you have to hold strong to those, even when the culture is jumping off your ship like rats.
“From the moment we played the Viper Room, it was like flipping a switch and everyone was like ‘Oh, this is gonna work.’ The phone started ringing again. I’m happy because I got here organically, which proves what my heart is telling me, to stay this course. I once had Neil Young tell me: ‘Put your head down and just walk.’ He told me that 10 years ago and that’s been the best advice.”
Great interview with Bad City, who just supported Smashing Pumpkins on tour. http:// bit.ly/960iBz
“I once had Neil Young tell me: ‘Put your head down and just walk.’ He told me that 10 years ago and that’s been the best advice.”
Ironic isn’t it…the fact that for the last decade all you’ve done is piss and moan, eh Billy?
You’re a great musician, but to this day you have a shit attitude and lie to yourself constantly. I don’t care for the new lineup either, but that’s just me (oh, and millions of others). At least it appeared you were headed somewhere when Jimmy was still in the band up through early ’09.
So…I shall sit, and wait, and hopefully somewhere down the line this band will be about something once again. Feels like I’m watching a garage band play bad covers of once great songs.
Bah.
“Then I sold “Today” to Visa, but the person who really changed my mind on that was Pete Townshend. I’d read an interview – and I know him a little bit, so I’ve even talked to him about it – where he basically said, “Who gives a fuck if they lost their virginity in the back seat of a car to ‘My Generation’? I don’t give a shit. I put it out there to fucking be heard and sold, and I don’t care how they fucking do it!” And why is Bob Dylan doing corporate gigs? At some point, if my heroes aren’t holding to something, why the fuck am I?”
Indeed. I can’t find much to hold onto with this band. I don’t want BC to go back to sounding like Siamese Dream, just to write interesting, involving, dynamic music. All those qualities seem to be cast adrift at this point in time.
if he isn’t going to go on stage and do what people want him to, then why is he currently playing cr, today, disarm, tt, bwbw, 1979 and all the other popular hits that most people know on a nightly basis? sounds like that’s demand and he’s supplying.. but i guess after all that decade long strife struggling with his artistic integrity, playing those hit songs from his past was ultimately what he wanted to do.
i’m not trying to trash the guy here, for the record. but i would debate that a huge reason he’s getting such positive response on this tour is because he is playing what the people ultimately want to hear, and cutting back a great deal on what they don’t want. ugh he just talks too much sometimes.
and if some of you think i’m an asshole in how i articulate my feelings on BC/Pumpkins, read this:
http://forums.netphoria.org/smashing-pumpkins-billy-corgan-discussion/171165-i-really-wish-billy-would-stop-blaming-his-demise-our-being-stuck-past.html
I went to Youtube today and re-listened to “The Fellowship” and “Emerald Green is the Colour.” Man, those are such great tunes. I hope Billy works them into the new SP live sets.
I mean, just in terms of songcraft alone — very interesting compositions. I hope he keeps the arrangements similiar to the ‘Spirits’ versions.
what’s the matter guys? *shakes head*
he can’t win. if he goes out and plays only new songs, average fans will be pissed. if he plays only old songs, he’ll be accused of being a nostalgia act, living off his past.
i dont think the current set is necessarily billy just “doing what people want him to.” I think it’s an attempt to compromise with a very diverse (and cynical) fan base.
and i would agree with that, but i think it’s a bit extreme for him to say “I will never get up on a stage and do what people want me to do,” when he’s essentially doing what the casual fan base wants him to do, which is play the songs they want to hear, and cut down on the obscure tunes and 25-30 minute space jams. Personally, I loved the obscure tune reworkings, space jams, etc., but the general audiences made it pretty loud and clear they weren’t into that stuff in 2007-2008.
What bothers me the most is not so much that there’s these assholes who show up at every show and yell shit like “Where’s Jimmy?” “Where’s James?” “What about D’Arcy?” “Show us your tits!” etc. (although they are quite annoying), it’s that Billy keeps calling these dipshits “old-school/hardcore fans”. No, these are just assholes who came to hear Today and Bullet while they chug their beers, remember their high school/college days, and annoy the rest of the crowd. At least in this article it’s “the part of my fan base”, but honestly, it seems like all too often he associates these morons with all older fans.
And to those people, I say this: PLENTY of bands have had lineup changes (some a lot more than TSP):
AC/DC
Black Sabbath
Cheap Trick
The Cure
Deep Purple
Dio
Fleetwood Mac
Guns N’ Roses
Iron Maiden
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Megadeth
Metallica
Mötley Crüe
Queens of the Stone Age
Rainbow
Santana
Simply Red
Van Halen
Whitesnake
Hell, even the Beatles had 2 other members before the Fab Four were finalized- did they have to deal with dickheads yelling “Where’s Stuart? What about Pete?” at their early shows?
You wanna see a band that never changes its lineup, go to a ZZ Top concert. They’ve had the same 3 guys since 1969. I’d rather see Billy go on performing with other people than to not do so because some dopes feel somehow “betrayed” or “cheated” out of something that was never really theirs in the first place.
Honestly, we went through the same shit when Jimmy left the first time- people whining about how it just wouldn’t be the same with Matt. But guess what? It all worked out fine. Sure, some people will always argue that X lineup was better than Y, but to completely dismiss a new lineup without even bothering to check them out is just plain stupid & stubborn. And I know I’m not alone in saying their new lineup does kick ass.
If he would have not instigated fights and made fun of the fans for the 20th aniversery dates,\ most of the bad taste goes away. In 2007, people in COlumbus went nuts for Muzzle and Set the Ray(Detroit got this gem and thought they loved hearing it). As far as the 25-30min, including Heavy Metal Machine, the March Hare, and the redone Sound of Silence would kill most any bands connection with the fans on most nights. Silverfuck proved even back in the ‘Golden Era’ of the Pumpkins the fans weren’t into long drawn out songs…. Touring is BIlly’s Job and it’s his attiude that makes or breaks most nights not the setlist. No differnt than a Boss at work showing up with piss and vinger spewing out their mouth and ruining everyone elses day or coming in with a smile and cheering everyone up…the more intresting topic to me is what bands could survive with out playing their more regonized songs. Even Tool fans get pissed if they don’t hear certain songs.
*sigh*
It’s so hard being a Smashing Pumpkins fan. Especially when half the fanbase bitches and moans about Billy bitching and moaning.
Jeff is awesome
Mike is awesome
I’m sure Nicole is awesome once I see her play
Billy is still writing great material….I don’t really know what to say to those who disagree with that statement other than ‘you are WRONG, and you are WRONG to feel that way.’ If you don’t like anything he’s done in the past decade then…move on?
To add to the list above me, how about Pink Floyd? I don’t know how many people I’ve talked to wearing PF shirts who don’t even know who Syd Barret is. Even after Roger Waters left, they still put out some good music under the name. Billy has far more right to use HIS band name than Waters or Gilmour (or any of the other bands listed).
I’ll agree the setlists could certainly feature less hits. As to WHY Billy has so many there is surely debateable. I’m seeing them four (maybe five) times in September so I’m hoping for some change ups but either way I’m gonna enjoy the shows.
I’ve seen NIN five times, and Reznor played TWO songs off ‘Fragile’ in all those setlists…THAT pisses me off. Billy makes damn good setlists in comparison.
oh yeah add NIN to that list too (don’t care that it’s ‘always been just Trent’, NIN is a band name just like SP)
Neverthehero, you make a good point. His attitude at the shows does make a big difference. It seems to go back and forth for him. All my experiences have been very positive so I guess I’m lucky in that regard.
@ 34 Well said I agree with you that the new line up kicks ass. I also think that list of bands you mentioned have not only had people come and go throughout the years but most still play only the hits that people wanna here and do it for the money. Some don’t even write new material. Atleast we should be happy the pumpkins aint living in the past like some bands and are moving forward, and are in good space with the new members. So I agree with Rasheed in that Billy has recently created setlists that find a balance to cater for the cynical fans too. And I actually think it’s a great thing that Billy’s has a so called code of ethics in his mind. Otherwise god only knows what he’d be like. He runs his own world, the fans or non fans don’t run his world. And it’s like this cos he deserves it. And for this some people think he is arrogant!! Gees Louise give the man a break! He’s been writing music for 25 years and I’m sure will continue for many more. But if people keep bitching and moaning he might just throw in the towel one of these days so critics should just back off a little don’t you think. Or maybe it’s the critics that keep him going to better improve himself. Anyway I’m going around in the same old circle again. This topic is like the inevitable feeling of deja vu again. :0
i dont think billy cares what critics think wombat77. i know i wouldn’t; look at pitchfork. i don’t know what’s critical about their critics other than after reading a PF article/review, i want to critically injure my brain. moving on, i was at that columbus show! it was my first SP concert and I got to see Set the Ray and Muzzle; i even got to hear billy diss the bengals and browns :) I’m 23, SP has been my favorite band since right before machina, and i LOVE, i repeat LOVE the long drawn out “space-jams”. Control your ADD Emerica, it’s fucking music. i would rather see billy fuck around than play half the old songs that he does.
Gonna kick down something to you that Ayn Rand kicked down to me:
“Hatred of the good for being the good”
Hatred towards someone who successfully embodies that which one values but can’t quite embody. That’s what I see going on against Billy Corgan. People haven’t felt that resentment towards, say, Thom Yorke/Elliott Smith/Kurt Cobain, because they adopted increasingly meek/dissociated personae. But when Corgan looks you in the eye and says, “Yes, I am extraordinary talented and hardworking. Yes, this is easily the most important thing in my life ['a form of priesthood']” – obvious truths which did apply to Yorke/Smith/Cobain – it activates peoples’ “Oh God, I’m wasting my life” insecurities.
It either activates their insecurities or their bullshit filters. I don’t even think Billy believes half of the things he says, except as a form of positive reaffirmation/PR spin/denial.
I will never get up on a stage and do what people want me to do,” [Corgan] says. “Even if someone said I’d make three times as much money and go back to winning Grammy Awards — I don’t see rock ‘n’ roll that way and I never will.
Adam: then why is he currently playing cr, today, disarm, tt, bwbw, 1979
I think he’s specifically talking about reuniting the original lineup, and this stupid trend where bands play an entire album from start to finish (which to me is one step away from playing the county fair, but Pitchfork seems to love it).
He made this more explicit in last month’s Rolling Stone interview:
If I walked onstage tonight and there were 20 people out there, I [still wouldn't] go back and like ring up anybody that used to be in the band. That’s it. It’s over. I’ll go make some kids or play the fucking ukulele. I will never, ever, be that guy. And I’ve said a lot of things that I’ve gone back on, but I can guarantee you I will never be that guy. It’s just not in my DNA.
I don’t think he’s just talking about putting a few singles in the setlist.
PS: I hope all of you that miss the old days are writing your letters to EMI. Put your complaining to good use and get us that Gish box set!
i never saw that RS article, does anyone know where I could find a transcript or a scan?
Sorry, should’ve linked. I think it was web-only.
This part is pretty “relevant”:
Q: A lot of fans are very focused on the original lineup.
A: In that lineup you had two people who could play with a high level of musicianship, and two people who couldn’t. And somehow that worked. James [Iha] and D’arcy and Jimmy… fascinating people. Jimmy, world class drummer. James, very creative when he wanted to be. D’arcy had a really incredible intuitive sense. But that band was not built to last. Believe me, if that band had anything left in it, not only would I do it because it would be creatively interesting, but it would be incredibly financially lucrative. People say, “Well come on, just shake hands backstage and ride in separate buses.” Part of my being a spiritual person is, I’m not gonna be in a band with people who don’t like me.
ah ok i did see that.
and i don’t think he’s speaking about anything specific. he just specifies that he will not get on a stage and do what people want him to do. that could imply several things, sure. no, he’s not up there with the original line up, but he is still performing under the name people most associate with him, and he is playing the standards. i’m just asking, if that’s the case, what he is doing now on that stage is what he’s wanted to do all along? if that’s so, good for him.
I see that the honeymoon of the new tour has worn off. The hate is back and stronger than ever.
@gishgeek Oh don’t think we can say that when there is still a lot of gigs to come this year which we should be excited about. (woo hoo their on tour!) Here comes the 2nd big wave of live musical genius that is SP. I am saddened by the negativity though especially when SP is still alive. Did we really have to wait 7 years of hiatus (2000-2007) just to hear a whole lot of negative gibberish on the net. It’s all about the music so let’s listen and enjoy! I’m still excited about this band and I have to say even more excited than I was when Billy announced that SP were back in June 21st 2005! And that day was pretty awesome.
i’m gonna put this out there. Having been a long time fan of SP/Corgan’s, I am very happy that he is happy and has found a place where he feels content with his career. I may not a agree with how he is doing it and what is being put on that stage right now, but I can’t as a fan of his work over the years, or as a human being deny him his happiness.
I just wish he’d stop with these criticisms of his ‘old school’ fan base, and his often public criticisms about his old band mates. It’s insulting and it’s a huge, huge part of what brewed negativity during the first two years the band came back. And it’s unfair for him to say that the 07-08 lineup didn’t have chemistry going for it, when at the time he was saying some of the same things he is saying now (this band sounds as good as it did in 1996, etc etc). That band had good energy, and musicianship as it grew, imo, and I don’t think it’s fair of him to dismiss it so easily. I think if he’d let a lot of his own negative feelings go, a lot of the fans would let them go too.