The Smashing Pumpkins

[neorev]

@valiantsteed

He fired her with no heads up claiming she wasn't focused on the Pumpkins.

From Nicole:
“No it was not mutual by any means. I posted awhile back on my page about it, I’m sure a lot of people missed it. Billy and I disagreed on my level of commitment to the band. we had very different ideas of what my priorities were. at the time, my #1 priority was SP and I know in my heart I gave my absolute everything to that band. it wasn’t until after the fact that I started focusing on my own music 100%. but you can’t change someone’s perspective. in the end, it was for the best. everything happens exactly how it’s supposed to, I truly believe that. I had a good run and nothing lasts forever anyway! moving forward, up and on. it’s all good ; )”

"it was more a vague "let go" situation, but I definitely did not quit. thanks Justin Davis Jacobs I agree. so many fans have said the same thing to me[that fans were excited and rejuvenated by this particular lineup]. thank you ; )

This other interview, she speaks about it...
Over email, Fiorentino confirmed that she was let go by Corgan but that “the circumstances look very different from my perspective than from Billy’s.”

“I know my heart was in it 150% ‘til the end,” she wrote, “and no one can tell me differently. It was my whole life.”

Fiorentino speculates that Corgan believed her other band, The Cold and Lovely, was becoming a distraction from her role in The Pumpkins. “That was the general vibe that I inferred,” she wrote. “But the thing is, I never focused on The Cold and Lovely unless I was on break from [The Pumpkins]. It never once conflicted.”

“And I always had such a great relationship with SP fans and felt like I had more of a presence online than anyone else in the band, constantly promoting just by being in touch with the fan base,” she wrote. “I don’t know how much more one can be committed to a band.” She says she’s no longer in touch with Corgan, but bears no ill will toward the head Pumpkin.

Plus she had other posts where you could tell there was some bad blood.

[neorev]

@valiantsteed

From Lisa Germano...

Interviewer: You played with Smashing Pumpkins for a few weeks about ten years ago.
What happened there?

Lisa: That was just a bunch of young kids being powerful and not being respectful of anything. They asked me to join the tour. I quit my job here in Los Angeles. I moved my cats to Indiana. The tour was supposed to be four
months long. I had to sublet my apartment. We went through rehearsals. Billy Corgan, D’Arcy, and James Iha didn’t talk to each other. So for one, it was a fucked situation. They wouldn’t talk to each other. Billy would say “D’Arcy, would you sing backup on this?” And if she didn’t say anything, Billy would say “Lisa. Why don’t you sing backup on this?” So I was doing stuff that
nobody would do. Billy would tell James Iha to play mandolin on a song. And James would say “I am playing guitar on this man.” So I would play the
mandolin. I was playing on a shitload of stuff. So they were fighting at that time. What then happened was the weekend before our first show, they wanted me
to sign a contract out of the blue. The contract listed all this stuff I couldn’t do while I was on tour with them. They knew I wouldn’t sign that. They knew I had a record coming out. The contract said I couldn’t release
anything while I was in Smashing Pumpkins. So I didn’t sign it. They sent me home without discussing it.

Interviewer: What were some of the other conditions on the contract?

Lisa: That I couldn’t talk about Smashing Pumpkins during those four months. I couldn’t talk about them in interviews. I touched Billy on the knee. I
said “You can’t do this! It’s not fair. You put all this money into me being here. It’s silly sending me home.” He said: “Don’t worry. We’ll work it out.” And that night I was sent home. He’s such a lame ass. He wouldn’t talk
to me. He wouldn’t explain anything. I wrote him letters. I wanted to sue them for two weeks, because they didn’t pay me. They were complete assholes and
it fucked me up. They were irresponsible. Billy is very egocentric. His karma will come back to him.

[neorev]

And another interview with Lisa...

PB: In the late 1990s, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins invited you to tour, but then sent you home with no explanation.

LG: That WAS just rock star bullshit. They asked me to join the tour -- I had a record coming out and I thought that nothing was going to happen for five months so it would be awesome to tour with these guys. They seemed to want me. And maybe on the off days I could do interviews, prepare my record and this and that. We did all of these rehearsals in Chicago and they spent a lot of money on it. I left my home, leased my apartment and moved my cats to Indiana. I was on for the whole thing.

We got to Europe and there was a lot of fighting between the band. Darcy (Wretzky, bass guitar-Ed)) wouldn’t talk to anyone. Most of the time in the rehearsals, Billy would go, “Lisa, would you just play Darcy’s part here?” I became kind of a scapegoat. I started doing a lot of what Darcy would have done so there was a tension there.

Literally, four days before the first show, we got this huge contract. It said, you can not do this, you can not do that, you can not do any interviews. You can’t do anything. You can’t talk about the Smashing Pumpkins; you can’t work on your own records. I instantly sent it to my managers, who said, “Whoa, we have to look at this because you have a record coming out,” but it was on a weekend.

My manager said, “Just don’t do anything, but let them know that you’re considering this.” So I wouldn’t sign it. The next night I got a slip under my door that said, “Where do you want to fly to, LA or Indiana, because we know you moved your cats to Indiana?”

I said, “What?” It was just out of the blue. Billy was not available. I called him a million times. I left a note under his door. It was, “You’re flying today. Tell us where you want to go.” “You’re out of here.” “Where do I go?” It was awful.

I wanted to get two weeks pay just to deal with all of this. They wouldn’t even do that. They’re assholes. There are a lot of assholes in the music business and in the world.


And another interview...

It was the night before the first show after a month of rehearsals. I got a call at three in the morning being told I was gonna fly home. Where did I wanna go, LA or Indiana? Cause I had flown the cats to Indiana, I had to sublet my apartment. I had no place to go, and I wasn't given a reason. It was total rock star bullshit. There must have been a reason. I was happy in my life. I had a record coming out. But then Billy called me at the bookstore - I work part-time at a bookstore - and he was really nice and he said 'You gotta try. I love your records.' So that got me. I said 'really?' and the he goes 'Yeah, I love your voice, I think your voice would really mix with mine. So you could play violin, sing, I want you to play some guitar.' It sounded like he really wanted ME. So I went to the audition or whatever, we all got along so I went home and had to get my life in order for a five-month tour in three days. Finish the record with Tchad... Anyway, we then had four weeks of rehearsal and then to not have Billy tell me why... They were miserable people so I kinda was glad! But that reminded me why I hate that kind of music.

[Shadaloo]

Billy Corgan will be releasing his long-awaited eight-hour synth interpretation of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, in a limited edition 500-copy 5XLP set through MadameZuzus!


Also his cat died. And next week he'll be doing cover song solo shows. 24th-26th.













BILLY










CORGAN

























(I am currently sitting in a corner, crying, wondering why)

[GulDukat]

Ugh, for a moment I thought it was going to be about the Machina reissue.

[Shadaloo]

Yeah, the post was designed to instill the same sense of brief futile momentary false hope I feel every time he announces something. I've edited it so as not to come across as a dick.

It would, naturally, be an announcement about something absolutely nobody asked for.

[TheyCallMeDrug]

aeroplane flies high is always my go to. believe, set the ray to jerry, god, and ugly are too fucking good.

[Mantra]

I honestly cannot even imagine listening to an eight hour piece of music. It sounds like torture.

[seasonsinthesky]

Fuck B0lly and his Siddhartha improv bullshit. Hilarious that he's releasing 8 hours on vinyl, the format least able to handle lengthy programs.

aeroplane flies high is always my go to. believe, set the ray to jerry, god, and ugly are too fucking good.

Incredible set, definitely. If I were that band and I had this set of songs when I was making MCIS, I dunno how I'd ever pare it down to the album he chose. I guess you could approach it from the other direction, though, and say that he could do no wrong as long as the record included the songs that would very obviously be hits.

[TheyCallMeDrug]

the MCIS cut session must have been brutal. so many amazing tracks so little time.

[neorev]

The amount of material between the MCIS and Aeroplane super deluxe boxsets is insane... plus there's so much more left out. I wish every jam from the Pistachio Medley got its individual track, even if it ends up being short. I'd love to have each one complete as they are. Definitely their strongest period.

I have a ton of demos from SP going back to the 80s. I'm sure a certain ETS member here can vouch for me on that one... wink wink.

[allegro]

That's the second cat he's had that died fairly young in the last year, wth, he should stick to dogs.

I like how you can hear the baby in the background of that video.

[seasonsinthesky]

The amount of material between the MCIS and Aeroplane super deluxe boxsets is insane... plus there's so much more left out. I wish every jam from the Pistachio Medley got its individual track, even if it ends up being short. I'd love to have each one complete as they are. Definitely their strongest period.

Sorry to pick on you, but it's called "Pastichio." It's making fun of the word "pistachio" and the fact that it's a bunch of demo bits pasted together. Plus "pastichio" sounds like an Italian term you'd find in use on classical music manuscripts or whatever.

Also, I'd like to use your post specifically to call out the amazingness of the Live Inside the Dark Globe disc that comes with the Aeroplane reissue box. Hands down the best thing that came out of this whole campaign, imo. Every performance smokes! Definitive performances of soooo many songs - "Jellybelly" and "Porcelina" in particular. Plus, it's one of the best mixes I've ever heard in rock. Not at home so I can't look up who mixed it and thus bow down to them in this post.

[Kodiak33]

The Live from the Double Door tracks are awesome too...especially "Hello Kitty Kat". The band at that time was just something else.

[tony_crisp]

Not to mention all the fantastic underground music that was coming out at the same time, from bands like Jawbreaker, Lifetime, Shelter, CIV, etc.

Unrelated but oh man I loved that CIV record. First album I owned that had lots of cuss words on it. I remember, after the initial listening, telling my dad about the amount of cuss words and he just looked at me like "...".

I just turned 13 and grew up listening to Weird Al.

[tony_crisp]

Sorry to pick on you, but it's called "Pastichio." It's making fun of the word "pistachio" and the fact that it's a bunch of demo bits pasted together. Plus "pastichio" sounds like an Italian term you'd find in use on classical music manuscripts or whatever.

To further elaborate, you neglect to mention the word "pastiche".

2 a : a musical, literary, or artistic composition made up of selections from different works : potpourri b : hodgepodge.

[neorev]

You got a spare $375 lying around to spend on a 5 LP set recording of Billy Corgan's Siddhartha performance a.k.a. noodling with his modular synthesizer while an audiobook of Siddhartha plays?

Well, you're in luck!
http://www.madamezuzus.com/siddartha...-vinyl-package

P.S. You get a Stylophone (which you could probably just buy one on its own for $30) as well as a truckers hat with WPC on it (because we all want Billy's initials on our head). Oh, and don't forget, if you add some tea with your order you are entered into a chance to win a crappy cheap turntable scribbled on by Billy... whoops, I mean William.

Merry Christmas Pumpkins fans!

I think Spin nailed it...

Billy Corgan Releases Eight-Hour Siddhartha Synth Jam in Unpurchasable $375 Box Set
Billy Corgan’s 2014 improvisational musical interpretation of Herman Hesse’s novel Siddhartha (with recitations) was eight hours, and staged, of all ridiculous places, in Corgan’s tea shop in front of a live audience. Corgan also livestreamed it, unintentionally giving birth to one of the purest delights of the Music Internet that year: a Oneohtrix Point Never live-tweet session (“chillass corgan groove,” the electronic composer quipped early on).

You might have thought Corgan’s stunt would quickly pass into the realm of obscurity–just another of the many batshit, self-indulgent stunts the Smashing Pumpkins frontman has pulled over the years. Nope, Corgan, as usual, was looking to monetize. This power play is, indeed, on a smaller scale than selling different versions of the album in Target, Best Buy, and on iTunes, and then “reissuing” it a little over four months later, but it’s still pretty damn silly. As Pitchfork reports, he’s selling 500 copies of a box set with five signed and Corgan-“hand-numbered” (does anyone alive give a fuck?) vinyl records, along with a mini-synth and a trucker hat with Corgan’s initials on it. Sales are going through the tea shop, of course.

And you can bet that price tag is no joke: $375. In another absurd detail, those who purchase the set will be automatically entered to win a record player, advertised as a cool Corgan-y holiday giveaway. Merry Christmas (and he does specify Christmas) from Billy. If you do intend on purchasing this thing, please contact SPIN; we’d be curious to know your life story.
http://www.spin.com/2016/12/billy-co...e-375-box-set/








I have no problem with Billy branching out and trying new things... but this really just sounds like we are listening to Billy learn how to patch his modular synth while an audiobook of Siddhartha plays. Plus, it's not even a recording of Billy reading the damn book. He just sounds like a novice compared to other modular synth folks out there. It doesn't really sound like a complete, finishes piece, just some guy fucking with his modular synthesizer. This would be better as a YouTube tutorial for beginners than a $400 vinyl set.



I mean, I can go right now and record myself noodling with my synths for a few hours and pretend it's art. But who would give a shit, right? I guess since it's Billy Corgan, we have to treat it like it's more than what it really is... Billy learning modular synthesis in his tea shop. I just think he needs to work on and perfect his craft a bit more before he tries to sell it for $400. All I can say is that the set looks pretty. But is that enough for the price tag? It hasn't sold out, which usually his vinyl stuff sells out quickly. I think people learned from the disappointing Aegea vinyl.

[neorev]

Funniest thing is reading people in the Facebook comments asking for a tracklisting and what the songs sound like. You know some clueless, unlucky bastard bought it thinking they're getting some new, traditional guitar/piano music from Billy. Boy, will they be in for a surprise.

[GulDukat]

If it was a five CD set, for 40 bucks, I'd probably buy it.

[implanted_microchip]

Funniest thing is reading people in the Facebook comments asking for a tracklisting and what the songs sound like. You know some clueless, unlucky bastard bought it thinking they're getting some new, traditional guitar/piano music from Billy. Boy, will they be in for a surprise.

I'd kill to see raw footage of that guy as he experiences it for the first time.

This release and the scribbled-on Crosley raffle might be funnier to me than all of Tool's blankets combined.

[valiantsteed]

I'd kill to see raw footage of that guy as he experiences it for the first time.

This release and the scribbled-on Crosley raffle might be funnier to me than all of Tool's blankets combined.

While that would be absolutely delightful, I think I'd kill even more for the raw footage of the person (Monte?) who falls in love with this album and gives it full spins on a regular basis and just rocks out to it. Some sort of youtube time lapse footage would suffice, complete with passage reenactment lip syncing and some poorly choreographed dancing like something out of those old fanboy lightsaber fights.

[Shadaloo]

I had thought about posting about that here, and decided it wasn't worth even that much attention. Love the tone of that Spin article.

While that would be absolutely delightful, I think I'd kill even more for the raw footage of the person (Monte?) who falls in love with this album and gives it full spins on a regular basis and just rocks out to it. Some sort of youtube time lapse footage would suffice, complete with passage reenactment lip syncing and some poorly choreographed dancing like something out of those old fanboy lightsaber fights.

He'd totally do it in a gorilla suit.

[Kodiak33]

I love his gut.

[allegro]

some day this guy is gonna start selling his kid's crappy framed diapers at the tea shop.

and you'll be able to get a $10 cup of tea made from the poo, too.

[seasonsinthesky]

BC (excuse me... WPC) is so good at destroying his own legacy that he'll outdo the shambles of the Coil legacy in another couple of years. I frequently feel like I am watching WPC standing atop the stern, elevated high above the ocean and ranting about his height and clarity, not knowing the ruptured hull is slowly plunging further into the water.

[Shadaloo]

From Facebook:

-Billy will wander around America for 30 days like he did last year and actually film a documentary this time, for real, with new musical pieces for a project called "30 Days"
-Wants to pick fifty of his favorite songs with outside input to re-record to commemorate his 50th birthday for a project called "Fifty by Fifty"
-Rick Rubin-produced album will be out in "April or May"
-Wants to put together "an album of 10-12 cover songs"
-Something about a new album he wants to write but maybe not necessarily share the music yet (???)
-"Not The Actual Events" could also be a title for a compilation of BC's announced and abandoned projects

[Shadaloo]

Billy has been talking to James about playing together again. If they reunite it will be a temporary thing.

The article makes it seem like Billy's saying to expect a full-blown reunion soon but comes off as a bit misleading.

Still, puts a smile on my face.

[GulDukat]

Still no word on that damn Machina reissue!

[Piko]

If this is at all true, it will not be a temporary thing, for the sheer notion that the moment he announces a classic lineup reunion, nobody will ever give a shit about his tea party vinyl sets, midlife crisis Americana wanderings or any other projects he alludes to. It will be the Classic 4 or bust, and he'll never hear the end of it.

I know he wants to think he's the Smashing Pumpkins, but he's not, no matter how much of the heavy lifting he's done over the past 30 years

Maybe it's temporary because James and D'arcy don't want to do it full time? Just how active is James? Tours with apc (few and far between). D'arcy hasn't been active at all. Maybe doing it full time is too much for them. Or, maybe they want to do it for the sake of closure. Leave it on a good note compared to the way they left it in 2000.

[Lerxto]

Still no word on that damn Machina reissue!

That fucking reissue every remaining fans were waiting for.