When we heard the Smashing Pumpkins were breaking up, we were sad. When we heard they were getting back together, we were happy. And at both of these antipodes, we had lots of questions.
Foremost was: “Why?”
The more cynical amongst us said money, record sales, the need for attention.
But the real answer is deeper than any of those, on an artistic and spiritual level.
To understand this it is necessary to understand that despite those important intangibles that the other band
members have provided, the band’s existence has been largely pushed and shaped by the passions and needs of
Billy Corgan, particularly the question of Identity and the need for Connection.
Even from the first record, Gish, with its vague dreamy cryptic lyrics and swirling hypnotic psychedelic sounds, the
underlying force of Billy’s personality was undeniable. There was in his voice, both human and musical, a
“presence” trying to be heard. Billy has said that he has in the past tried to be invisible while wanting nothing more
than to be seen. Of course, the desire to be seen has come with a caveat: he must be seen wholly and honestly for
who he is AND accepted and understood, if not embraced.
At the same time, he has also tried to embrace all of the various factions of his audience, despite a fair amount of
confusing and frustrating behavior on Billy’s part from the vantage of the fans. Over the years he has conducted a
sort of dance with us - “come closer...come closer... not so close!” - opening himself and his music up, only to
suddenly and inexplicably retreat and close himself off again. But his music has created a strong emotional
response, and so the audience remains devoted.
Over the years, despite the wide range of styles and themes presented in the Pumpkins work, there was the unfortunate tendency of the general public to limit both Billy and the band by projecting on them the Generation X labels attributed to those coming up in the 90s: whiny, depressed, nihilistic, self-pitying.
And so what does he do?
He creates an alter ego, a character who is both a caricature of himself and still on a small hopeful level the Mercury messenger he wishes to be, a way to both carry his message and safely separate himself from it. He creates an elaborate complex mythology around this character and his band to mirror the history and impending doom of them all.
He pushes it until it breaks, and then he is left only with himself.
When his solo record comes out, Billy presents himself naked both literally and figuratively, in the album artwork
and music, blog posts and interviews, small arranged gatherings with fans, trying to connect. He says he wore
masks to survive, and now he wants to drop them.
In an interview given on Sound Opinions on the eve of the release of his solo record, Billy recounts when he and
Jimmy were listening to the Pumpkins catalog for preparation for release on iTunes, that as soon as the music started coming over the speakers, the atmosphere of the room had changed and you could feel “that guy” coming over him again.
He says “I don’t want to celebrate those shadowy things anymore”. He has achieved some peace, spiritually and
personally, and he puts out messages of love and hope. He reveals that Billy Corgan is a persona he has created, for
good or ill, and that now he, the architect behind this construct, wants to reveal himself, to ask you to pay attention to the man behind the curtain.
But how can he completely deny his shadow self? What about That Guy?
Well, That Guy is still there. And left to the shadows, he will fester. So the trick now is to integrate him and
transform him, to invite him along with the other “shadow people” to “come into the light to be seen”, to “bring the
light”, to become whole, to connect all his various artistic identities along with all the fans and the world at large in form akin to a spider web, to pull them all into the sticky connected center, to invite them all along for the ride, to change the world with the collective force of their love.
And to share some damned good music while we’re at it.



© Melanie Wilson

-good summary nice insight

(and did happen to live a year in OP '05)

THANKS!!!

Billy ate like 5 hot dogs or maybe it was four? I was surprised that he admitted to it as he is usually so private about himself. Cool opportunity for the fans-truly memorable!!How are You?Any news?