Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Smashing Pumpkins Studio Update

Sept 14th/2011

I'm happy to report that the Oceania album is less than a week away from being fully completed. This has been a very long journey, arduous yet pleasant, and I'm very pleased with where we ended up on all fronts; musically, spiritually, personally. Making this record has been a real team effort, with not just the band putting in heavy contributions but also participation and advice from Kerry Brown, Kevin Dippold, Bjorn Thorsrud and many other people here that keep the old machines up and running. Some of these song ideas date back to those first demos from 2009 in California with Mark Tulin, but the bulk of this album was written in Sedona in the first few months of 2011. Sedona is a special place, particularly for self-reflection and healing, and is recommended for anyone who might be seeking a little bit more perspective on what matters most in life. 

Rock and roll, despite my many protestations, is very important to me. Music has given me a wonderful opportunity in life, and I've tried to repay that debt in gratitude by working hard to honor what I see as a magical vocation. I'm blessed to be in this band right now with Nicole, Mike, and Jeff. When you hear the finished record you'll hear the love we put into this. Carrying on the legacy of The Smashing Pumpkins is not always an enviable task for all involved, but it is a grand, monstrous idea- a crazy 'why?' that I helped to foster and still battle with when I get lost. The current band members have helped me, through their patience and love of what The Smashing Pumpkins mean to them personally, and their friendship and loyalty to me, to find a deeper appreciation for what is still possibly under the old moniker. We are determined to have a future, or have nothing at all. As it should be. 

Glad to see the launch of the Smashing Pumpkins Record Club (SPRC) finally come to fruition. It is a labor of love to try to organize all of these tapes, digging to find lost performances. There is mostly good news; for example we were finally able to locate the master mixes of Drown after months of seeking, being told repeatedly they could not be found. Thankfully, a person from the old label at EMI took it upon themselves to look one more time in their archives and found it, on a single DAT tape. 6 mixes of all, the 6th being an alternative ending to the song with a completely different guitar solo. 

On the confusing side, it appears that the original tape that had a vocal demo version of both 'today' and 'tulips' might be lost forever. These versions are floating around, so it's frustrating to think either the tape is falsely labeled, lost, or misplaced. Thankfully we have other sources. 

This is an exciting time for the world of SP: a new album, preparations for an American tour and a European tour, and the release this year of a newly mastered Gish and Siamese Dream from the original tapes with a disc of extras for each, as well as a dvd of live concert footage. I think over the next 3 years there will be approximately 17-20 albums worth of music released and re-issued, and that is if you don't count additional side releases we want to do of say a board tape of the band from 1992. Those types of items would be more limited edition offerings I'm guessing, which is why you want to be a member of the SPRC, because all members will be given an opportunity to say they want a limited edition piece before we decide the final number. 

There is a lot more free music to come as well. We are happy to share stuff with you that provides little windows into the work process, so that like us you can catch those little moments of sunshine that added up to some pretty good music. 

Lastly, I'm about 2/3rds of the way through my first draft of my spiritual memoir, 'God is Everywhere From Here to There'. I hope to finish the book by the spring of 2012, and it should come out by the end of next year. It is a lot more in depth than I would have originally guessed when I started, particularly about my musical life. Who knew their was so much drama to be rediscovered and uncovered? 


Blessings, WPC

17 comments:

Steve said...

Outstanding, heartwarming news. I know a lot of people are very eager to hear what you've all been slaving away on. Thanks for the update.

Manuel Panizo Vanbossel said...

Thanks Billy. I can't wait to hear all this stuff, especially Oceania (yeah, I guess SP fans always prefer old music, except when you give it to us, then we want new music!).

Linda said...

WPC I hope you know how much you are appreciated. I don't think I've ever know of a group of artists working as hard as you all do, with as much meaning and purpose as you do. Getting to know you through your work has been humbling, mindblowing, and enlightening all at once. I would have never guessed 3 years ago that I would still feel this passionate about what I had discovered here. Thank you for forever changing my life, and I am so looking forward to all the things the future brings!

Mr. Heathen said...

Metro DVD or no future at all

noone said...

Okay, all you need now is new music that doesn't suck.

Logan McCoy said...

sweet oceania SPRC stuff life has goten good thank ypu god and of course Billy corgan WPCJ Hopefully oceania comes out in october instead of november oh well its better than next year

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing. Love & support

Guillermo Bustos said...

its so nice to rear from you Billy with all that hope and comfort. I guess you feel really joyful doing what you do, and that is very inspiring. Im off to blow away the dust of my guitar and one song will be to you, my good, unknown and very distant friend.

chaotix said...

Video for tulips WITH vocals : http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=BR#/watch?v=aYfLLqrAHIw

drlani said...

Profound appreciation and gratitude for all you create and all you are. I know Mark is smiling at all your hard work with the bass beats pounding in his soul.

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Stasha said...

I just completed this cover of ava adore: http://youtu.be/JdpqktzwkhI ive been working on my own album & would love to join the new label! in la & can help with sprc too! holla!
stasha
xo

Stasha said...

blessings, wpc
xo

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Unknown said...

Thank you Billy. I can't wait to hear all these things, especially Oceania (yes, I guess SP fans always prefer old music, unless you give it to us, and we hope the new music! .



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