Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan said he is no longer competing with Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder in the music scene in 2022.
He told Guardian, “I’m not competing against Kurt and Eddie. I’m competing against the biggest pop stars in the world with like 14 publicists and 30 writers.”
Corgan said the fact that he is onstage with James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin after 35 years carries a certain power he isn’t sure if fans always appreciate at concerts.
“I won’t play games: I believe we’re one of the great bands, and it starts with the conviction that we have something unique to say.I felt that when we were playing to 50 people in 1988, and I don’t fucking know why. It was just something that the band had, and it’s endured. The sense, at this point, is not one of sort of chest-thumping victory. It’s just like: ‘No, this is the arc we should have stayed on.’ We were the ones who walked away from it; nobody took us off our game. And now we’re back to doing what we’re good at.”
Teh b0lly!!1 commented about the interview on the Netphoria.org forums, “I dunno how anyone can read this and not feel empathy for the guy. As much as I hate the current music I just want to give the man a hug.
Imagine being an abused child, go #1, then have a whole internet community perpetually talking mad shit about you for 20 years.
So it’s understandable why this whole interview is basically getting down on his knees for validation and recognition. But he’s got his jaws so totally deadlocked on these ideas of having to achieve whatever trope for ‘success’ there is.”
