March 26, 2008, 4:43 pm Billy Talks About Playing in Chicago and Release of Rarities
Source: Billboard
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has spoken exclusively to Billboard about the lawsuit the band filed this week against Virgin Records for using the Pumpkins in a promotional campaign with Amazon.com and Pepsi. "I'm sure they indicated to Pepsi that they had a right to do this, full well knowing they do not have the right," he said by phone from Australia, where the band is touring.
The suit says Virgin breached its contract with the band by using the Pumpkins in a "Pepsi Stuff" promotion without its permission. Corgan insists the group has veto power over such deals and has turned them down several times in the past. A Virgin spokesperson said the company does not comment on pending litigation.
Corgan says he has been feuding for years with Virgin over the handling of the Pumpkins' back catalog, but that the Pepsi/Amazon.com promotion "crosses the Rubicon. You're going to see more of this playing fast and loose with the rules, hoping they don't get caught. At face value, it's not a huge deal. But in terms of precedent, it is, because there will be much more of this coming."
In the suit, the Pumpkins claim Virgin has "irreparably harmed the group, their reputation and goodwill with their fans," dovetailing with what Corgan perceives as a lack of respect for the body of work the band has created.
The problem is that according to the contract the Pumpkins renegotiated with Virgin in the late '90s, both parties are partners where the catalog is concerned. Cor…
Smashing Pumpkins are suing their former record label, Virgin Records, claiming that the label used the band name in promotional activities when it had no right to do so.
According to Billy Corgan and co, Virgin used their Smashing Pumpkins band name in a promotion tie-in called Pepsi Stuff, despite not being legally allowed to use it for promotional activities.
The lawsuit filed by the band claims the label had the rights to sell digital downloads of the band’s music, but not to use their name for promotional activities. They claimed that Virgin’s actions compromised their "artistic integrity", reports AP.
Smashing Pumpkins left the label when they disbanded in 2000, and have been with Reprise Records, a division of Warners, since they rebanded in 2005.
As the tour winds down I would just like to say what a pleasure and an honor it was to play for so many of you. I try to never forget that my job is a sacred privilege. Music, the thing that binds you to me and all of us to the Universe is my light.
Let me also say that this band, The Smashing Pumpkins, will continue to write, record, release, and perform AS LONG AS WE ARE ABLE!
Some of you may have read bits of an interview that was done in confidence by yours truly in which I say that the Pumpkins probably won't record cd's anymore. What I meant by this is this: Although we may not use the "album" or "full length cd" as a format anymore, WE WILL WRITE AND RECORD MUSIC UNTIL WE ARE DEAD!!!!!!!! WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY!!!!!!!!
I could go on about how I was stolen from, violated, lied to by some ignoble journalist, but what's the point?
The Smashing Pumpkins will begin recording new material later this spring, according to drummer Jimmy Chamberlain, but fans looking for a proper follow-up album to last year's 'Zeitgeist' may be out of luck.
"It's something we're going to get to on May 1st," Chamberlain tells Spinner. "We just bought a building, and my wife and I are in the process of moving back to Chicago. Billy [Corgan] and I are going to start working every day like we used to.
"But I don't think we will make records again," the drummer explains, pointing out that the band's contractual commitment to Reprise Records is finished. "I look at it like the old business model is dead and the music business doesn't know how to move forward. We want to keep things vital and keep things viable and get our music across while remaining relevant. Music has in many ways just become an advertisement for your tour.
"I think what we'll do is start releasing songs," Chamberlain continues. "The record or CD format places too many limitations on your piece of art. People just don't buy records anymore. Anyone under the age of 24 just buys songs. It's just in our best interest to release blocks of songs. And I think what we'll do – not to let the cat out of the bag too much – is to create the framework where we can release a number of songs and maybe create a title. We can gather three or four songs, but it will all flow up to a larger body of work. But to call it record in the traditional sense would be anachr…
March 6, 2008, 6:47 pm Gibson interviews Jeff Schroeder
(Thanks to PistolPete for pointing this one out)
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, Siamese Dream. The group built their audience with extensive touring and their follow-up, 1995's double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at No. 1 on the American Billboard charts.
With approximately 20 million albums sold in the United States alone, The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s.
In April 2006, the band officially announced that it was reuniting and recording a new album. Returning members Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin were joined by Jeff Schroeder and Ginger Reyes in 2007 to tour in support of their new release, Zeitgeist.
Gibson.com met up with Smashing Pumpkins guitar player Jeff Schroeder before the bands show in Berlin, Germany, to talk about his past, the new Smashing Pumkins and, yes, the Scorpions.
Gibson.com: Jeff, how did you get into playing guitar?
I think I have a story that hundreds of thousands of Americans share. It´s my brothers fault. He was a huge Kiss fan, we shared a room, Kiss posters everywhere. From that time on, I wanted to have a guitar, Ace was always my favourite. Guitar driven music was always around when I grew up.
Gibson.com: When did you get your first guitar?
I got my first acoustic guitar when I was probably nine or ten years old, and just kinda made some noise with it. When I was 12…
Guitar Center met up with Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin at a hole-in-the-wall Chinese food joint in North Hollywood to talk about Smashing Pumpkins, Fresh Cuts Vol. 2, studio chops and how to make it big as a fresh, young band.
GC: You guys have seen some pretty dramatic shifts in the music business. What’s good and what’s bad about Smashing Pumpkins and the music business today?
Corgan: Well, I’d say the best thing is that we’re out of a label deal – totally free agents. We we’re just talking about how we’re going to start addressing our artistic relationships with the world in a different manner because we don’t have to go through some parental structure of “we don’t like it and it’s not going to sell” – you know? We’re excited about the prospects of sort of being our own business people in terms of how it interrelates business.
GC: Basically, you’re cutting out the middleman.
Corgan: And that’s the best part. I think in this world you don’t even need distribution. I mean, look, what’s great is, if you want to put out your shit for free on MySpace, you can. You don’t need anybody. You don’t need anybody inputting. And if it’s not MySpace, it would be somebody else, so.
GC: What insight can you offer a young act that needs to establish themselves without having the label marketing support, or having the knowledge of someone like yourself?
Corgan: Great music is still the best marketing. Word of mouth – I don…
February 17, 2008, 2:20 pm Smashing Pumpkins Featured on Grammy Rock CD
Bullet with Butterfly Wings is featured on the new Grammy Rock Collection CD.
Here is the entire tracklisting:
1. Cult Of Personality - Living Colour
2. Ain't It Heavy - Melissa Etheridge
3. Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
4. Plush - Stone Temple Pilots
5. Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
6. Run-Around - Blues Traveler
7. Give Me One Reason - Tracy Chapman
8. Bullet With Butterfly Wings - The Smashing Pumpkins
9. Block Rockin' Beats - The Chemical Brothers
10. Criminal - Fiona Apple
11. Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz
12. In My Place - Coldplay
13. Gravedigger - Dave Matthews
14. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
15. Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
16. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams - Green Day
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