Its been a rather strange week or two in the BillCo department, even by his standards. Billy spontaneously announced to the press that he no longer considers himself “Billy” Corgan, but instead William. After years of tearing apart his former bandmates in the original Smashing Pumpkins lineup, Corgan suddenly seems to be having a change of heart and has been doing nothing but singing praises about them. He’s even going as far as borderline criticizing the current lineup, consisting of Jeff Schroeder on guitar, Nicole Florentino on bass, and Mike Byrne on drums, hinting that the band’s current incarnation may be coming to an end.
Here’s just a sample of his musings over the past few weeks:
“I’ve been morphing for awhile, I’m going to go William now.”
“I don’t really know what makes sense any more. I think you have to come to a place where you say, if you continue you continue with a particular vision, not keep rolling with the tide. Because the tide as it is I don’t think it’s that great. I’m not saying that the audience isn’t great, or that the band isn’t great. Something about it all feels a little too nicey nice. I’m not in a rock and roll band to be nicey nice, it’s just not my thing.”
“I think it’s a shame that James and I, by the time we got to Mellon Collie, our relationship had deteriorated to the point where we weren’t working that way any more because I think that contribution with us together would have made Mellon Collie and other albums after that better albums. In a way that if you put Jimmy Chamberlin and me in a room, good things happen. To this day I miss D’arcy’s sense of integrity, but it’s not like the integrity of the indie world, she had a certain kind of musical taste, I think is the best way to put it, that I still respect.”
The  46 year old Pumpkins frontman has obviously come to some sort of a junction point in his life. Maybe its a sudden realization that he will be hitting the big 50 soon. The subtle change from “Billy” to “William” is representative of his evolution, the somewhat childish connotation of the nickname Billy being replaced with the somewhat more regal and mature sounding William. He’s reevaluating the importance of those in his life, perhaps realizing he took the supposedly “terrible” years with the original SP lineup for granted.
Some have interpreted his statements as being about his retirement from the music industry, but I think he’s rebuilding bridges to prepare for the eventual reunion of the classic Smashing Pumpkins lineup. He’s obviously on the apology circuit, and is quick to compliment his former bandmates at any chance. Last year, before the release of Oceania, BillCo was quick to call James Iha the “worst human being he’s ever met”, and now he’s trying to make it seem as if their fractured relationship is something he regrets.
I’m guessing many will probably call Billy out on being selfish for getting rid of his current young bandmates in the process, but I believe it would be for the best. The new band members are very talented in their own right, and I don’t think they should waste their potential by living on the coattails of another person’s success. Nicole Fiorentino already has her first major project outside The Smashing Pumpkins, The Cold and Lovely, releasing their first record in a few weeks. Mike Byrne is only 23 and is probably one of the most awesome rock music success stories of recent years, being picked by Billy to drum for the band at the age of 19 while he was working at McDonald’s. Guitarist Jeff Schroeder played in a few obscure bands prior to joining the SP.
So, in a sense, Billy has effectively cultivated the careers of three young musicians who will be free to do whatever they want if they are let go, whether it be doing their own projects or even staying as a unit and recruiting a new lead singer and renaming the band. In a sense, it would be a hypothetical win-win scenario: we get the classic Smashing Pumpkins lineup and we get a talented young rock band, which is desperately needed nowadays.
Of course, this is all speculation. For all we know, the classic lineup will tell Billy to fuck off, though I doubt they’d pass up the money associated with a reunion tour and album. But I have a feeling something big in the BillCo department will be happening in the near future…

Tomorrow! R PRO, Saint Laurence HS. I will be there! Bell time 7:30 X-Pac, Ego, D'arcy D

Started work on a pair of  albums today