Billy Corgan has a new solo album coming out next month titled Ogilala, so naturally, as he makes the press rounds to promote the first record he’s ever released under his own name — William Patrick Corgan — everyone is asking about the status of a potential reunion of the original lineup to Smashing Pumpkins. Fortunately, the singer-guitarist knows the game, and has been only too happy to talk about the way things sit now, and the updates are all pretty positive.
Talking to Rolling Stone, Corgan said that the very reason he released a solo album in the first place was because, “My interest in working on just the name Smashing Pumpkins is not as interesting to me without original people involved. It doesn’t seem to have the same resonant energy for me. I like to think that if I do any work in the future it would be with them, if possible.”
It doesn’t seem just like smoke either. Guitarist James Iha contributed parts to two different songs on Ogilala, Corgan has been jamming with drummer Jimmy Chamberlain for years now, and as for bassist D’arcy Wretzky? “I talk to D’arcy all the time,” he said. “I’m really happy to have her back in my life.”
“I would try to explain to people that the issues were more familial than they were musical,” he explained. “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.”
Tour plans have been talked through, but so far, their individual schedules have precluded them from solidifying anything. “There’s certainly gears that turn and things get waved around, but until it’s inked, I’m in the dark as much as anybody.”
You can read his entire interview over at Rolling Stone.
