Billy Corgan

TheFutureEmbrace

[5] With a résumé that includes defining
alt-rock (Smashing Pumpkins) exploring electronica for soundtracks, weaving
together country and indie sensibilities (Zwan), and authoring poetry books,
Billy Corgan has turned to embracing electronics, guitar textures and rudimentary
machine rhythms for his latest project, in the process capturing the essence
of all that excited him about music in the first place. Tracks like “I’m
Ready” and “Sorrows (in blue)” soar with chiming harmonics,
invoking everyone from U2’s the Edge to My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin
Shields, while lyrically, Corgan bares more of himself than ever to his audience.
To older listeners, TheFutureEmbrace should sound familiar, but not nostalgic;
merely by virtue of being in a confident headspace, Corgan is creating some
of the most engaging music of his career. The low-key closer, “Strayz,”
summarizes the work thusly: “You know I’m true/Wasn’t born
to follow.” (WARNER BROS.)

IN-STORE SESSION With Billy Corgan.

It’s 1989, and we’re standing in the old
Wax Trax! record store in Chicago. I’m giving you $100-what are
you going to buy?

Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Depeche Mode, New Order, the Cure. Singles by Bauhaus
and Siouxsie And The Banshees-the Banshees always had really great B-sides.

I ask this because the whole vibe of the new album is
based on these heightened guitar atmospheres, and much of it has a definite
Anglophile feel to it.

I operated in two basic realms in the past 20 years. One is the atmospheric
thing that the Cure and many other bands have done. The other is the ’60s
stuff, like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. This was the influence on the Pumpkins
and my first band, and it swung toward rock as time went on. The earlier influence
got sublimated, but it would show up on something like “1979” as
an atmosphere behind a certain song. This album is just the counter vibe to
the rock vibe. And, although I’ve played this kind of music, I never really
had gone into it as far as I did ’70s rock. And then, playing with the
New Order guys, there’s a heaviness in the way they play that I was trying
to understand for myself. How, in my eyes, did Joy Division sound heavier than
a lot of heavy metal? This is my way of exploring that essence.

In your bio, you said that Zwan was a reaction to the
Pumpkins. Is TheFutureEmbrace a reaction toward the acoustic nature of Zwan?

I honestly feel this record is the first non-reactionary record I’ve ever
made-which, for me, is a big triumph. Everything I’ve ever done,
on some level, was a reaction against what was going on at the time. The Pumpkins’
early heavy metal was all to do with giving the finger to all those Replacements-sounding
bands. We loved the Replacements, but all those bands who followed that routine
of wearing flannel and drinking beer onstage five years later drove us insane.
For every great band like Eleventh Dream Day, there were seven others just scratching
their nuts on the weekends. And we just wanted to stomp their heads in. Then
Gish sold well, and then it was like, “Well, it’s not Nevermind.”
And Siamese Dream was my way of saying, “Okay, you guys do your grunge
thing; we’re going to do Boston and Queen.” It was the wounded-animal
syndrome: You’re in a corner and you’re fighting your way out. If
there was nobody to fight me, I’d bring people into the corner. [Laughs.]
Sadly, it was just a way of fueling creativity. Anytime you fuel creativity
with negativity, it’s going to burn you out. It doesn’t last.

So, then, does life imitate art, or does life intimidate
art?

After Zwan, I thought, “I’m not going to play this game anymore,”
with people or the music business. I’m just going to be me. On one hand,
I’ve been blessed with a lot of talent, and on the other, I’ve been
blessed with oodles of insecurity. I got tired of fighting both sides. It’s
all about surrendering to who you are-you’re okay with yourself.
I told the guys in the studio that I just wanted to make a beautiful record-not
arty for art’s sake, or to be desperate to remind people of my past.

How do you think this record will be received by the
guy in the faded black “ZERO” T-shirt?

I was bracing for the worst, because the reaction to Adore was so negative,
particularly by the fans. Surprisingly, the reaction I’ve gotten from
the internet is 90 percent positive. It’s really been surprising.

Yeah, but there was that girl who posted to your MySpace
page, “You don’t know how much control you have over me.”
You should have fans killing in your name in no time.

[Laughs.] I was joking with a friend of mine that I wanted to turn her into
a killing robot. Anytime anybody wrote anything nasty about me, I’d send
her over to kill them. –Jason Pettigrew