Billy Corgan says the Smashing Pumpkins fanbase is gone

[willywonka666]

Smashing Pumpkins founder and frontman Billy Corgan says that his iconic band no longer has a fanbase.

“Honestly I think the fanbase is gone,” Corgan told the Wall Street Journal. “I know it’s a prickly way to put it, but I don’t think there are fans anymore”.

Corgan described his definition of a fan to WSJ’s John Jurgensen saying, “I would define a fan as someone who explores the depth of the artist’s work, and allows the artist to show you something. It’s not up to the artist to walk you by the hand. I don’t think there are that many of those people who exist. I’d say they’re in the low thousands”.

Corgan says Smashing Pumpkins are a misunderstood entity today. “For whatever reason–cultural shifts or my own need to shift my public personalities–I have not gotten the cultural review worthy of my position,” he told Jurgenson.

However he does see himself as someone who survived in the business. “When you look at my generation, I come out on the leaner side of the conversation about people who actually survived, and prospered and continued on. My position as an artist has basically not changed in a world where even Pavement started doing reunion tours. All the people who walked around puffing out their chests about the word integrity? A lot of those people are long f***ing gone”.

Like him or not, this is an interesting statement and could be applied to a lot of other artists really, when you think of an artist that are way beyond their glory days-what do you think?

[Digital Witness]

I see his point in a way, but its hard for me to not ignore it and just write him off as being the colossal douche that he usually is.

[mizerable]

I'm still here. But they need to put out a quality album for me to care.

[Lupin the Third]

Bullshit! I still love their classic stuff.

[Dave the Dave]

Their "main" fanbase grew up.It happens. Many bands of his day are doing "nostalgia" tours with each other.


It is hard to capture that next generation and maintain the same relevance. Very few bands do it. I actually think it is easier to do the less "important" you are. A band like New Found Glory that had very little radio play, keeps winning over teens because they don't know them as that "old radio band".

My 2 cents at least.

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

Billy's a musical genius but he makes it really hard to forget what a colossal tool he is sometimes.

[Wolf Hawkfield no1 NZ poster]

Gotta give him credit for as that statement was nowhere near as wankerish as I was expecting.

[Deleted]

This sounds like a reversed version of "No True Scotsman", as in "A True Fan would...", create a very narrow definition of a fan, and wonder why there are very few fans of anything.

By that logic, only those that are permanent Network subscribers AND also attend every live show within a 100 KM radius AND own at least one WWEShop product are really WWE fans. That would probably be about 20,000 people or so?

[Kevin Hamilton]

For whatever reason–cultural shifts or my own need to shift my public personalities–I have not gotten the cultural review worthy of my position,

Well that's certainly pretentious.

[Digital Witness]

Dec 9, 2014 21:53:46 GMT -5 Lupin the Third said:

Bullshit! I still love their classic stuff.

Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie/Infinite Sadness will always be near the top of my favorite's list.

I think that's the main problem Billy has. He doesn't want to be a "nostalgia" act. He wants people to dig the new stuff, despite the fact that a large chunk of the new stuff is hot garbage (and not in a Shirley Manson sort of way.)

[Capt Lunatic]

Billy: There are no fans left.

Fan: I'm a fan. I have all your Smashing Pumkins albums.

Billy: But do you ingest and exhale my genius? Do you excavate the depths of my work and find the true meaning? I'm not gonna hold your hand while you discover my appropriate cultural review. Do you cleft the veil of mediocrity and soar with the unsung pioneer? Do you do that?

Fan: Not really.

Billy: No fans left I tell you.

[Deleted]

"Fan" is short for fanatic after all...so I see what he means kinda.

[Deleted]

I agree to an extent. I do think it's awful weird how a band like the Pumpkins can seemingly fall so far out of the social consciousness when Corgan is responsible for some timeless, legendary music. It can tend to irk me the way we completely disregard artists because their new stuff might not hold up to past works. I mean I get it somewhat in Corgan's case because he's a pretty polarizing guy, but start a conversation about a band like Metallica and just watch the vitriol that comes out, when all they're doing is putting out music that leaves older fans outraged because (big shocker) now that they're millionaires they struggle to put together music that matches the attitude and anger of their earlier stuff.

To me, I totally respect any band that have put their time in, made their names and still don't let themselves become complacent with that. People might not dig the Pumpkins as much these days but I respect the hell out of the fact that Billy Corgan still creates, and stands by his new music. I love the fact that he played Oceania from top to bottom on his last tour. Some people do behave like a misstep in ones' discography suddenly negates their entire life's work and it's a bit over the top to me.

[Lancers]

I think Corgan is the primary reason that fanbase dwindled down next to nothing. Alice in Chains was at their commercial peak at the same time the Pumpkins were and those guys have put together a bunch of #1 songs on the rock charts for the last few years since they got back together.

[Deleted]

Dec 9, 2014 23:58:20 GMT -5 Kevin Hamilton said:

For whatever reason–cultural shifts or my own need to shift my public personalities–I have not gotten the cultural review worthy of my position,

Well that's certainly pretentious.

I also came to say that's one of the most conceited sentences I've ever read.

[Eunös ✈]

Still stick on Siamese Dream and Melon Collie from Time to Time

Heck Machina is an underrated album.

Sorry if thats not enough to be considered a fan.

[Dr. T is an alien]

Dec 10, 2014 0:14:07 GMT -5 Digital Witness said:

Dec 9, 2014 21:53:46 GMT -5 Lupin the Third said:

Bullshit! I still love their classic stuff.

Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie/Infinite Sadness will always be near the top of my favorite's list.

I think that's the main problem Billy has. He doesn't want to be a "nostalgia" act. He wants people to dig the new stuff, despite the fact that a large chunk of the new stuff is hot garbage (and not in a Shirley Manson sort of way.)

[drooling]Shirley Manson...........[/drooling]

[celticjobber]

Well, the world is a vampire after all. What did Billy expect?

[SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman]

Seriously comes off as him basically saying "people are being such dicks by not loving me and praising my intellect enough, mostly because they just don't get how clever I am".

I really dislike this kind of attitude. "No, you see, it's not that as an artist, I failed to create a work that connects with the crowd and gets my message across, it's that people are too dumb to get it".

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

Dec 10, 2014 3:45:26 GMT -5 SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman said:

Seriously comes off as him basically saying "people are being such dicks by not loving me and praising my intellect enough, mostly because they just don't get how clever I am".

I really dislike this kind of attitude. "No, you see, it's not that as an artist, I failed to create a work that connects with the crowd and gets my message across, it's that people are too dumb to get it".

pretty much. it's no different than how Lars Ulrich acted when people didn't like Lulu.