In a new NME interview, Billy Corgan was asked if Melissa auf der Maur was ever considered for The Smashing Pumpkins reunion.
“It’s not even worth getting into that history,” replies Corgan. “I don’t have any ill will towards Melissa, but she never considered herself to be part of the unit and made it very clear that she didn’t ever want to be considered part of the unit posthumously. It was kind of like, ‘I’ll do this for this window’.”
James Iha said about the Pumpkins’ past, “There was drama with us all in the past, but it feels like a movie I watched a long time ago.”
Melissa auf der Maur discussed not even knowing the Pumpkins were on tour celebrating their 30th anniversary in a September 2018 Stereogum interview.
“I didn’t realize it was their 30th, I just all the sudden saw they were playing Madison Square Garden. I was like, ‘Oh, whoa, how did that happen? And James is part of it!?’ Especially because I don’t read news online. I read local newspapers. I didn’t know it was happening until recently. I mean, yeah, full-circle in terms of that band. That’s a band that changed my life. It was in 1991. So their 30 years, what’re they saying is their 30 years?”
Corgan discussed Smashing Pumpkins touring bassist Jack Bates, the son of Peter Hook, with NME as well.
“You know, the thing about Jack is that his dad was so influential in the way that I play,” says Corgan. “And so the weird thing about Jack is because he’s had to study under his father, he plays with that cool kind of aggression. It’s not like punk, but it’s kind of got a vibe to it. So because he’s learned to play that way because of his father, it’s almost like Jack plays the way I play, because I ripped off his dad. We both learned from the same mentor.”
“Jack never makes mistakes, he’s just a supreme musician and super solid person behind the scenes.”
