MusicRadar

Billy Corgan says the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins disc Oceania will "lead to new chapters" for the band. © RD/ Kabik/Retna Ltd./Corbis

"This is the craziest time for The Smashing Pumpkins since the mid-'90s," says Billy Corgan over a cup of tea in his dressing room at New York's Terminal 5. "We just finished Oceania, but we don't know when it's coming out. We don't have management, and we don't have a record label. We don't know what we're doing or when we're doing it."

Hearing his own words, Corgan chuckles as stray noises of pre-soundcheck activity filter in through the closed door. It might be a crazy time for the Pumpkins (which also includes guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Nicole Fiorentino and drummer Mike Byrne), but it's a good time, too, and they're still capable of whipping up fan frenzy. Terminal 5 is ridiculously sold-out, and in just a few hours the band will play a healthy portion of Oceania's 13 cuts before an intimate, rapturous crowd of 3,000, many of whom are already lining the streets outside.

Corgan has his main stage guitar, one of his signature Fender Stratocasters, on his lap. He plucks at it occasionally, demonstrating one of the forthcoming album's riffs as he sings softly, his voice full of purpose and tender emotion.

"This tour has been very interesting and gratifying," he says, sipping his tea. "What's especially nice is that we're playing to an audience that's actually realizing that they like The Smashing Pumpkins' new music a whole lot. The excitement level is through the roof and the expectation is incredible. People are looking at me and going, 'Oh yeah, he can still…blank.' Whatever 'blank' is that people might like. 'Hey, we want to see you blank some more."

Over the past few years, MusicRadar has conducted several extensive interviews with Billy Corgan, who has always proved to be refreshingly candid and self-critical. Our following conversation is no less frank. Even with the frenetic pace of touring dictating the order of the day, the main man of the Pumpkins gets to the heart of the matter. (Plus, check out our video of Billy Corgan showing off his two main stage guitars.)

You talk about the band not having management or a label. Surely, these shouldn't be problems for you to sort out.

"Well, the good news is that the response to the new music is overwhelmingly positive. Suddenly, I'm being chased again. [laughs] It's been a while since I've been in that situation. I have to laugh, because basically I've been sitting around for 10 years waiting to be chased. It's a good feeling. The band is on fire, and we're headed in the right direction."

Originally, Oceania was coming out this year, but now it's been moved to 2012…

"It's definitely coming out in 2012. It's a long, complicated story. The funny thing is, the response to it has been so great that we said, 'OK, we have to figure this out.' Because if we were to just put it out and it wasn't set up properly, we'd really be missing an opportunity. It's the most positive response to a record that I've had since the mid-'90s.

"It's kind of weird, though, because I got used to people saying, 'Yeah, it's good, but…' There was always a 'but' there. [laughs] This is the first record I've had in 15 years where there's no 'but.' Now it's just 'Wow! Amazing…epic…wow!' There's a lot of 'wow!'"

The last time we spoke, you were a quarter of the way into recording the album. Now that it's done, how do you feel about it? Presumably, you feel good.

"This might sound disingenuous, but I'm more focused on the future. What I mean by that is, we've turned a corner where the band is in real-time in their connection to the music, and the music is connected to where we are as people. It's not like we're in a hurry to get past what we've just done, but now the highway is open and there's so much more we can do. I think it's the first chapter in a whole series of chapters."

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