The Smashing Pumpkins: The Billy Corgan Interview

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This for me is the best interview I’ve seen from Billy. You let him flow and didn’t have a preconceived plan of questions. He looked nervous at the start, like he was being interviewed for the first time protective of his band and their latest single, slowly releasing the joy and magic that he had at the time of recordings and the eclectic mix of amazing producers, engineers and musicians he has worked with. If you could bottle this, the world would be an awesome place. As it is, this can go down as the most emotive and beautiful capturing of Billy discussing one of the most spectacular bands of all time. ❤❤❤

Watching Rick go from talking about Hackintoshes 5 years ago to interviewing Billy, Joni Mitchell, Tim Henson, all these people... It's amazing. He was a music educator, touring musician, hired cover band guitarist, a producer, back to the internets favorite music educator and now he's the best rock journalist. Rick is a national treasure.

I swear to God, I could listen to Billy Corgan talk about music for hours. It’s almost therapeutic in a way.

This wasn’t a interview. This is a time marker of music history. Thank you Beato.

0:00 Rick’s intro 0:39 Gish and Butch Vig 4:38 Writing uptempo songs 8:01 Writing lyrics, melodies 11:21 Daydream 13:13 My Bloody Valentine 17:45 Producing UK vs USA style 22:09 Siamese Dream 25:15 Tonight, Tonight I 30:12 Pro Tools sounds weird 35:40 1979 39:59 Jellybelly 43:18 Bullet With Butterfly Wings 45:09 Working in the studio 49:10 Butch ‘dad’ Vig 56:30 Disarm 1:01:33 Muzzle 1:13:27 Tonight, Tonight II 1:21:28 Billy on Generation TikTok Note: I love how Billy, in the closeups with the mic stand behind him, looks like a samurai.

The revelation that Billy revealed about Butch after the Nirvana job becoming resolved to make sure The Pumpkins would have a hit record with Siamese Dream is exactly the kind of deep dive answers that Ricks interviews are adding to history that we wouldn’t get any other way. Thank you Rick for that.

Ok. I’ve never been a fan of Smashing Pumpkins and my impression of Billy Corgan was that he was insane. So I came to the first moments of this video watching only because I trusted Rick Beato and if he thought Billy was sufficiently important to interview, I would spare a few minutes to listen. Within the first minutes I was transfixed. I then started bouncing back and forth to Spotify to listen to the songs being discussed, sometimes recognizing them a bit and sometimes hearing them for maybe the first time. I listened to the entire interview, with those song discovery breaks, and was so impressed with Billy Corgan’s depth of knowledge and depth of commitment to his craft and his art. Spectacular interview, and it produced another nascent Pumpkins fan in the making.

When Billy says, "unless you want me to talk over the track". Lol, he is so subtle.

If you are a Smashing Pumpkins fan this is the greatest thing ever. Just a superb interview about their albums, songs, and the recording process. Billy Corgan is one of the most intelligent musicians around. What a talented and articulate guy. Way to go Rick, another homerun!!!

I've never really seen Billy like this before. I think it is a testament to Billy's respect for Rick that allowed him to have a conversation like this. I will be watching this interview many more times.

Rick Beato’s interviews are simply the best. He asks a question & then allows the artists all the time to fully respond that they need. He treats them respectfully. Rick is a gift to music appreciators.

No other interviewer can get musicians to open up about their music and process the way Rick does. The mutual respect blows past the defences these guys erect to get through regular interviews.

I was 10 years old in '95 when Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness came out. Changed my life. I was a depressed kid with an alcoholic father, parents were getting divorced that year, moved to a new neighborhood. But when I got this cd, I wasn't angry or depressed anymore. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. It transported me to a better world. Billy, James, Jimmy and D'Arcy saved my life.

No one is probably going to read this but "Disarm" is one of my all time favourite songs. It's just so hauntingly beautiful.

You know why this is an awesome interview. Because Rick lets Billy tell the full story, no butting in to add distraction to the conversation flow. It's amazing what Billy explains here especially in relation to the other very popular bands of the early 90's without using the N word.

Billy is clearly an unusually intelligent rocker. His ability to communicate very subtle and sophisticated concepts is as impressive as his musicianship. Hats off to this guy.

This is actually the first Billy Corgan interview I watched and I love how he's randomly citing different artists as the interview goes along, dude is literally a true music nerd with the facade of a rockstar.

57:00 The way Billy seems (wants?) to hug himself immediately after that vocal hits. The way the "bells" chime in. It's all so damn good

I've seen several interviews with Billy Corgan over the years and this is easily one of the best. Your ability to connect with artists who have a reputation of being notoriously guarded and then to disarm them with your shared language of music is a joy to watch.