 |
Adieu
Pumpkins.
Jen takes a look back at the band's beginnings. |
Words
by Jen Kriesel
Bonanzaradio.com
January, 2001
|
Originally published in The Daily Illini
Newspaper of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
May 2, 1990
Band Set To Smash More Than Squash
No, they're not mean, and they don't go around
on Halloween ruining kids' jack-o'-lanterns. No, they're not a
violent thrash band (unless they're in the mood to be). No, they
don't have strange habits involving members of the squash family.
They're a band from Chicago - influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Cream
and Led Zeppelin - that has been compared to other bands with
these same influences (The Mission, The Cult and Sonic Youth).
And they're playing at Mabel's Sunday night.
Smashing Pumpkins are four musicians with about 34 years' combined
instrumental experience that have been performing together for
only a year and a half, but have managed to make a name for themselves
very quickly.
Billy Corgan (guitarist and vocalist) says starting out in Chicago
represents an automatic handicap for most bands, since it has
(until last year's Midwest Music Conference) a "loser-type
image" attached to it. Many of the record company executives
who visited the conference admitted to Corgan that "they
would never have come to Chicago to see anybody on their own...because
of the image that Chicago has."
Since the conference, executives' eyes have widened from New York
and Los Angeles to the Windy City scene. The Pumpkins were featured
in a small club showcase on the first night of the conference,
and were therefore overlooked by the major labels. In spite of
this, they are releasing a single next week on Limited Potential
Records.
Later this year, the Pumpkins will also release an album that
will carry a title of sentimental importance to Corgan. The album
("Gish") is named after Lillian Gish, as well as a story
Corgan's grandmother told him.
"The band doesn't understand. My grandmother used to tell
me about how when she was young, like in the early 1900's, movie
stars (because there wasn't television) used to come through town
on trains. She remembered seeing Lillian Gish...and it made such
a big impression on her mind. And her name is Lillian too, so
Lillian Gish was always one of her favorite movie stars."
"Gish" will be available in Chicago and around Illinois
sometime around July, and will be released nationally in the Fall.
The Smashing Pumpkins' songs are mostly inspirations of Corgan's.
He writes a majority of the works, receiving later input from
fellow band members Jimmy Chamberlain (percussion), D'arcy (bass),
and James (guitar) - these last two members choose to remain last-nameless.
Many of the topics stem from Corgan's interest in metaphysics.
"The main thrust of a lot of metaphysics is controlling one's
own destiny. To control your own destiny you have to be strong...by
making yourself a strong individual, a better person, you're a
better member of the community than trying to follow the community.
You can only take care of yourself, ultimately. You cannot really
change the way people think. A lot of the songs (on "Gish")
are kind of on the same theme."
Hopefully, Smashing Pumpkins will build up enough personal strength
to establish a long and successful career, as Corgan expects them
to. He feels the trend toward music videos is "as necessary
to a band's success as having a record in a record store"
these days. While not against the idea of MTV, Corgan hopes any
videos the Pumpkins may someday create will be better than what
is seen today.
"I think that the video thing is really poorly done. I don't
even think that it's a matter of glitzy production or a lot of
expense. I just think that people don't put a lot of thought into
it.... From my point of view, I would do something semi-ambiguous,
because I think it ruins a song when you just see a story. But
I think it's getting better slowly." Like the video industry,
Smashing Pumpkins' recognition is getting better slowly. The Mabel's
show on Sunday and the release of their single and their
upcoming album should help make this band's name a household word.
Post script:
"Gish" was eventually released, on Caroline Records,
in May 1991, which was not the original plan for the album. Both
the record label and the timing for the album changed between
the time I interviewed Billy and the day of their show at Mabel's.
When I introduced myself to Billy at the show, he apologized profusely
for having caused me to print information that ended up not being
accurate (the claim that their album would be available locally
in July, and nationally in the Fall of 1990). He was very concerned
that he had "made a liar out of me," since this was
one of the first print articles to have appeared on the band,
and to make amends for his perceived error, he gave me two copies
of the Limited Potential 7-inch single they'd just completed ("I
Am One"/"Tristessa").
|
