Smashing Pumpkins Won't Make Any More Records ... Unless They Will
Record sales are in the shitter. Kids like the singles, albums lose money, etc. ... so, nothing about Spinner's recent interview with Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin seemed particularly out of place or controversial. On what he and Billy had in store for their future studio efforts, Chamberlin said:
"But I don't think we will make records again," the drummer explains, pointing out that the band's contractual commitment to Reprise Records is finished. "I look at it like the old business model is dead and the music business doesn't know how to move forward. We want to keep things vital and keep things viable and get our music across while remaining relevant. Music has in many ways just become an advertisement for your tour.
"I think what we'll do is start releasing songs," Chamberlin continues. "The record or CD format places too many limitations on your piece of art. People just don't buy records anymore. Anyone under the age of 24 just buys songs. It's just in our best interest to release blocks of songs. And I think what we'll do - not to let the cat out of the bag too much - is to create the framework where we can release a number of songs and maybe create a title. We can gather three or four songs, but it will all flow up to a larger body of work. But to call it record in the traditional sense would be anachronistic."
Fair enough! Zeitgeist might've hit harder if it was 10 songs shorter. But when we checked in with the link for this post, we found the interview was removed. Maybe Spinner's interviewer made the whole thing up? Alas his name is John D. Luerssen, not Scott Templeton. Maybe Reprise (or the Pumpkins attorneys) thought better of floating the info. In this day and age of screengrabs and message boards, though, nothing's ever really deleted. You can find the original article here.
Regardless, the Pumpkins won't be making any more records, unless they will. More bits for Smashing fans from the disappeared interview include a note that the "recently released stripped-down EP American Gothic 'is not an indication of the direction [of the band's future material]... That was more of an experiment that Billy and I wanted to do. We wanted to see what it would sound like if we gave ourselves four days to record a song, like in the old days.'" Also Jimmy (possibly) notes that the band is in fact going in a grander direction, with future stage shows featuring 8-10 people instead of just five! Which of course means Billy better start stocking up on the shower curtain vinyl for all those extra costumes like now.
Posted at 12:13 PM
Tags: The Smashing Pumpkins
I could have told you that songs are just advertisement for concerts. That's how it's been for the latter part of this decade... that's the music scene that i've grown up in.
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Haha!!! I love The Wire Templeton reference. You guys keep coming up with creative ways to plug the best show ever.
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im under 24 and i buy albums. anyone else?
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take off the stupid costumes and start writing songs like siva and mayonnaise again, and then maybe I'll listen.
you can't blame your failure on a business/format changes. you can to self righteous/self pitying stupid songs.
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Well I'm 19 and I've bought CD's since I was 13. I hate the idea that young people only listen to songs.
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Well I'm 19 and I've bought CDs since I was 13. I hate the idea that young people only listen to songs.
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this is a little accusatory, no?
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i'm 21, but i stil buy albums. Around 50% of my income goes on cds and LPs.
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Umm... You mean 50% of your *disposable* income, right?
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I cant stand The Smashing Pumpkins
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Well I'm 38 and I buy albums, individual songs, download songs from blogs & torrent albums (does this make me bad person if I later buy the album?). So does that help blow pre-conceived notions about music buyers?
I would buy more albums but Amoeba needs to know a buck or 2 of new releases (I love Amoeba but they're a little more $$$ than they need to be).
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I still buy records! Bought the following on Tuesday:
-Gnarles Barkley: The Odd Couple
-Bowerbirds: Hymns for a Dark Horse
-Beach House: Devotion
-Destroyer: Trouble in Dreams
Here's a hint, people buy records when you make ones that don't suck. I'll bet if you continue to release songs that suck, people will also avoid buying them as well.
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I love The Wire.
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I dont uderstand what they mean
and i could really give a fuck
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I think he misused the words "vital" and "anachronistic". Snap.
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hahahahah templeton.
well played.
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Spinner updates, absurdly:
Editor's Note: Due to a miscommunication between the writer and the artists' representatives, this story was temporarily disabled by the writer. No facts have been changed.
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They will still keep selling records. Billy Corgan already made the statement on Ethel that the band was committed to staying together because fans felt disappointed that there was an end to the band at one point.
If you like the Pumpkins then you bought the album. It's never going to be like "Gish" or "Siamese Dream" because music has changed, fans have changed and the band has changed. People said they were disappointed with "Mellon Collie" because it wasn't another "Siamese Dream" yet the album has some of their best songs on there to date.
I heard a lot of criticism about the Pumpkins since I first heard them but I'm still into them. If anything, "Zeitgeist" renewed my love for Corgan. A lot of the new songs are damn good and I give Corgan and Chamberlain credit for sticking with this despite any bad criticism.
But it's all for good and as long as they stick around and promise more albums and more concerts in the future, we're all fine with that.
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shower curtain reference #241! zing!
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I just turned18, Smashing Pumpkins is my favorite band, and I buy way too many albums. Yesterday I bought:
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Heroes Soundtrack
Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
Crystal Castles - s/t
But I'm in the minority. This blows.
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The industry is clearly changing; i commend them for at least trying to formulate a new approach. This is what music needs, established bands (radiohead, NiN, Smashing Pumpkins) to start using their leverage to make a change, whether it goes the way of the BetaMax and the HD-DVD is for the future to tell, but at least it was innovation towards a needed change. (well maybe not so much the BetaMax… no one needed that, the HD-DVD reference still applies I suppose)
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3 or 4 songs? that's called an EP you schmucks.
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