The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins biography

The Smashing Pumpkins is an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, lead guitar) and James Iha (rhythm guitar), the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), Melissa Auf der Maur (bass guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass guitar), and currently includes Mike Byrne (drums), Nicole Fiorentino (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Jeff Schroeder (rhythm guitar) among its membership.

Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, the Pumpkins have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, grunge, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazer style production, and, in later recordings, electronica. Frontman Billy Corgan is the group's primary songwriter-his grand musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".

The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. With 18.75 million albums sold in the United States, The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.

In 2006, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. The band toured with a rotating lineup of between five and nine musicians through much of 2007 and 2008 with new member Jeff Schroeder before Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. New drummer Mike Byrne and bassist Nicole Fiorentino solidified a new lineup with Corgan and Schroeder, toured through much of 2010 and 2011, and are currently recording the album Teargarden by Kaleidyscope and the album-within-an-album Oceania.

History

Early years: 1988-1991

thumb After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and hatched the idea of a new band that would be called "The Smashing Pumpkins". While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by The Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on 9 July 1988 at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan and Iha with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup and the now-trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum machine with a live drummer.

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