Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan talked about artists performing concerts with fan pleasing setlists, and similar banter between songs in a recent Joe Rogan interview. Corgan said it’s something he simply cannot do. Rogan mentioned everyone shitting on Nickelback.
Corgan surprising shot back with praise for Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, “He’s an incredible songwriter.”
He later said, “I don’t know enough about their world, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong if that’s who you want to be. Pop is predicated on satisfying. I’ve said many times pop is porn. It’s porn, they want to get you off. It’s just how they’re going to get you off. I’m not that concerned with getting you off, I’m just not.”
Corgan discussed his solo Ogilala tour in a recent OC Weekly interview.
“On paper, it doesn’t sound that different,” Corgan says of his current solo shows. “You just get a guy up there to sing and play guitar who’s playing some songs you know and some you don’t know, but it somehow does feel different. I think I’ve made a commitment to playing this style. I’ve been working for two months to prepare for the tour and really get into the deeper space of what it means to perform alone with no help. I think it’s more about the song and the singing and less about the razzle dazzle.
“It’s a totally different commitment level mentally,” Corgan continues. “It’s probably 10 times more pressure than playing even acoustic with an ensemble. There’s nothing compared to playing alone. I play two sets — and the whole show is cumulatively over two hours — so that level of commitment is pretty interesting. It’s like a different level of meditation or something. You have to go really deep into the song, and it really helps me understand the people I respect like Neil Young and Bob Dylan because it takes a level of commitment to just stand there and play those songs. I’ve always liked that as a fan, but going there on the artist side has been kind of eye-opening. At this point in my life, not much surprises me, but it was a surprising level of commitment.”
