In a new Instagram post, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan said he will no longer answer questions about other artists during his lengthy Instagram story Q&A’s. Most of the questions about other artists have been about his contemporaries from the Grunge era/90’s alternative rock, and we’ve reported on his high praise for bands like Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, and Radiohead.
“As a follow-up to my last post about parenting (or by extension nurturing your own inner child), I’d just like to say I’m a bit fried at this moment of the tour to say anything with clarity. And heartened as I am by the amount of encouraging feedback, I also acknowledge that the seriousness of the subject asks that I bring more to the table than just some anecdotal observations.
On a personal note, my son rejoins the tour tomorrow, and I’m very much looking forward to spending some time with him as he loves being around the band and the people we work with. Augustus’ new favorite thing being able to travel and sleep on the bus. Unlike his Father, who is no fan of the travel and the murky nights without real sleep.
A side note on my q + a sessions here on IG (their new ‘feature’). I do enjoy interacting with those interested, and I don’t mind shedding light on those darkened corners of SP world that doesn’t make it into the media meta-narrative of dysfunction and impending doom that has served as the band’s mythos so well thru the years. Hence my willingness to tackle questions about a guitar effect here or a nomenclature there. It is my pleasure to serve as the source. But, and it’s a gentle admonition, one can only be asked about other artist’s careers or perceived status so many times before it just seems like a sneaky form of trolling. So from now on those questions are out. As in, never again.
I’ll say this once more, too. I don’t care what outside forces think of SP at 30. The feat of us being on stage, harmoniously, speaks for itself. And if that doesn’t, nothing else will. 3 hours, 31 songs. This is reality, night in, night out: for beautiful, wonderful, supportive audiences. There is no other qualifier in that statement. We are grateful. I do not read press, nor am I concerned if this Titanic (our ship) is headed towards an iceberg, or is instead sitting under a digitally created rainbow. In the here and now, things are great. We have the love of our families, which we share into the greater SP family. Like I like to say, you can have the past, and someday I’ll finish that book. But for now, this here and now, we have each other. And that’s all I need.”
