EXCLUSIVE: Billy Corgan Talks About Smashing Pumpkins Gish & Siamese Dream Reissues
November 23, 2011
The Smashing Pumpkins' first two releases, Gish & Siamese Dream, are getting the fully remastered treatment, with EMIMusic releasing both reissues on November 29 in North America and December 5 internationally. Both albums, each with bonus content and special features that were curated from the band’s archives by founding member Billy Corgan, have been painstakingly remastered for the first time from the original master tapes by Bob Ludwig.
Corgan recently sat down with Matt Pinfield to record an exclusive, extensive interview for FMQB Productions, delving into the history of Gish and Siamese Dream. Their conversation can be heard below:
Here's a quick synopsis of what can be found in each segment:
Segment 1 - This portion contains a wide-range of topics including (1) the reason for the reissues (2) working with Bob Ludwig (3) Billy's relationship with the rest of the band (4) putting the Gish-era in perspective (5) "Drown" and the Singles soundtrack
Segment 2 - This portion includes (1) working with Butch Vig (2) picking out songs for the bonus discs (3) the song "Honeyspider" and the influence of shoegazer music (4) putting the Siamese Dream-era in perspective (5) the internal relationships between band members during Siamese Dream (6) James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky's influence on the band's musical direction
Segment 3 - This portion discusses (1) the song "Siamese Dream" (2) the true meaning of the band's name (3) the packaging of the reissues (4) the accompanying DVD performances from The Metro in Chicago (5) the influence of the Alt Rock movement on Billy (6) what the Billy of today would tell the Billy of the early '90s (7) bonus track differences from Pisces Iscariot
Segment 4 - This features Billy discussing select tracks from Gish, including "I Am One," "Rhinoceros," "Siva," "Bury Me," and "Tristessa"
Segment 5 - This features Billy discussing select tracks from Siamese Dream, including "Cherub Rock," "Today," "Disarm," "Rocket," "Geek U.S.A.," "Quiet," "Mayonaise," and "Spaceboy."The discussion gets particularly intimate with Billy discussing the relationship with his father and being an abused child.
Segment 6 - Looking to the future, Billy discusses the new Smashing Pumpkins release, Oceania, coming out in 2012 and its roots in progressive rock.
The deluxe versions of Gish and Siamese Dream will each include a bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased audio content, plus a never-before-released live show from the Metro in Chicago on DVD. The 10-song live show in the Gish package is from 8/25/90; the 17-song live show in the Siamese Dream package is from 8/14/93. The Gish bonus disc will include brand new Butch Vig mixes of the original Sub Pop single tracks "Tristessa" and "La Dolly Vita." Housed in special lift-top box packaging, the deluxe versions feature liner notes and track by track commentary from Corgan, never-before-seen collages and photos, postcards and more.