Billy Corgan has revealed that he’s planning to release 60 tracks of never-before-heard Zwan material – two new albums worth, he reckons.
Zwan? Who? You’d be forgiven for forgetting about Corgan’s short-lived supergroup. After the Smashing Pumpkins initial breakup in 2001, Corgan joined up with the Slint guitarist David Pajo, bassist Paz Lenchantin, and his old colleague Jimmy Chamberlin to form a new group.
Zwan only released one album – 2003’s Mary Star Of The Sea. Only a few months after its release, Corgan announced the group’s breakup. A couple of years later, the Pumpkins duly reformed.
Anyway, in a new interview with Stereogum, Corgan has revealed that there’s a lot more lurking in the Zwan cupboard than just that one album. “There will be, like, maybe two more LPs of unreleased tracks,” he said. “Because there’s so much Zwan stuff, I’m gonna put it out in different sets, otherwise the box set would be, like, 20 records long, and it’s just too much to ask fans to take on.”
“(There are] 60-plus unreleased Zwan songs that have never been released. Not just versions, like other songs. There was a lot of writing in that band.”
As for the Smashing Pumpkins, they are set to co-headline (with Chris Stapleton) a bipartisan America 250 show on July 4 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The event, titled ‘America’s Block Party,’ is to be hosted by Queen Latifah, with more performers set to be confirmed soon.
“Playing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 4 for America’s 250th is a rare kind of moment,” Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has said of the group’s participation.
“We’ve always believed in the power of music to be a unifying principle. It brings people together and allows them to express themselves in a forum that has a common destination – and it allows all of us the opportunity to participate in a celebration that has meaning, history, and impact.”
