Smashing Pumpkins is all about keeping up with change

By Mike Doyle
Correspondent

From his hotel room in Grand Rapids, Mich., Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan pondered his newly plotted course for the band.

The 1990s top-selling group is on a 22-date club tour across America, with a stop in Norfolk tonight at The NorVa. Corgan's long-term goals reflect his insights on the evolution of the music business.

"I think you have to be constantly present. You need to be constantly releasing new music and trying to look into new and interesting ways to use technology to stay connected to people.

"It used to be that if a band came to town, everyone knew about it, even if you didn't want to go. Now, because of the way people get information, they don't even know you've come to town. You can really tour in a vacuum these days. You can go out and tour constantly to make money, but I don't think it necessarily builds fans the way it used to. I think while you're out there playing a particular city, you're kinda leaving the rest of the world off the radar, and you can't afford to do that anymore."

Corgan wondered if the old method of building a fan base through touring might be a thing of the past.

"We might be better served to play three concerts over three days, all web-cast, and all for free. By doing something like that, you might reach more people in those three days than you would in three months of being on tour. Maybe that's time better served?"

Corgan has released his newest music, a 44-song collection called "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope," by posting a song a week to the band's website, where fans can download it for free.

"The whole thing about who sets the price of music is interesting because the consumers are just not interested in that price," he said. "They're not getting anything more than a digital file, and everyone knows that. If the difference between people hearing what I'm doing right now is between zero and 33 cents, I'm willing to take a risk on zero."

That's a risk a record executive might not be willing to take. The Smashing Pumpkins no longer have a major-label record deal, and Corgan relishes the freedom.

"I got really sick of the 'singular moment' mentality when it came to putting out a record. Like, if it doesn't happen in the first moment, usually centered around the first single, 'That's it - your record's done, we're moving on.' To put that kind of investment, possibly a year or a year and a half of work on a record, and then have somebody in an office somewhere decide they're not interested in you because they have another priority that week or something - that was really hard to deal with.... It's more about content and staying current. It's an oblique strategy since no one knows what success is, so all you can do is feel it along and see what feels good."

The next few years will bring more change to the music business, and Corgan plans more change for himself.

"I'm just going to take myself out of that mainline thinking and get myself into a forward, futuristic mind-set - and the economics will work themselves out over time."

With brand new Pumpkins music spreading through the band's massive fan base, Corgan has found balance between his past and present for concerts.

"I don't think you have to play the older songs or hits. It's more of a contract you have with your audience, that you're gonna try to meet them in the middle between what they would like to see and experience from you, and where you're at today. The way I look at it is, I take the new material and figure out what I'm going to play, and then I'll build around that the songs that would make the most sense for the show - to keep the show exciting and relevant - and, at the same time, honor my whole musical history with the Pumpkins.

"I like to touch on different eras because it brings different energies, feels and grooves to the show. I've found a nice balance between past, present and future. I don't feel any sense of compromise, I can tell you that."