November 30, 2014
LINK TO ARTICLE HERE: http://illinoisentertainer.com/2014/11/stage-buzz-live-review-smashing-pumpkins/
November 29, 2014
LINK TO INFOWARS ARTICLE HERE: http://www.infowars.com/billy-corgan-responds-to-anderson-cia-cooper-hit-piece/
November 25, 2014
In amongst all this practicing I've managed to come in early and generate a whole host of new song ideas. A necessity given my frustration with DAY FOR NIGHT'S progress; or lack thereof. Verdict: we need more guitars and less everything else. Ok, well, that's a bit overstated, but some would get the point.
SP=guitars. 4-evv...
And as I said today to a journalist, things seem to jell-o a bit more where there's some fuzz and stuff. So from here (Nov 24th) till then (Jan 4th) I'll just have to wait to fire up those jets once more. But…
The good news is The Shredder and I are in full rock and roll shape now thanks to Messieurs Mark and Brad, who are bringing the R-Powa anew. Our set being punchy, effective, and too the point: a rarity not seen since SP circa '95. Oh, but lest you lament or sentimentalize, there's little of that here. 'Cause if the kids want to r-o-c in the U-S-S-A they'll have it; OR: 'Who am I to argue?'
SPOILER ALERT: Thanks to all who blew out our entire stock of Christmas vinyl. If you want us to order more from label, let Zuzu's know.
So yeah: CHICAGO, BERLIN, LONDON, PARIS, NYC, and then westward…and the 'ol hometown warmed my heart when the THALIA tix went in 1 minute! (A tip of the hat then to those who did doubt)…
Back to the album then, since I can't spill tour secrets (yet). Here's some titles: PATHE, SELLULOID, RAMONA, MAJESTIC, THE OTHER NIGHT. The woodchopper pile having grown back to about 15 potentiates.
Did I mention Howard ran away? He'll be back…but he did visit my Father with the new album. Bill Sr. gives a thumbs up.
Want some more wrestling news? I know: no one cares…
But remember, I won't give it up so easy. New partnerships are there and waiting, and we'll live to make folly another day. And unlike many in music, those who are involved in those professional ranks live and eat the biz; that's part of what makes it a hall of mirrors. Just be careful, though, who's holding said mirror!
As LL Cool J says…
And here's a bit more on PRETTY PERSEPHONE; the mini-musical I've undertook with my dear friend Jessica Redish of Highland Park's The Musical Theatre. Firstly, project's like these are supposed to be fun. And not presented as I've seen as the moral equivalent to 'BC trades wrestling for musical theatre.' Unbeknownst to many I've met with some of the top producers in the musical theatre world to discuss collaborations; although that went nowhere (so far). Even turned down a well-known (you'd know the name) 'title' because I thought it wasn't right for me. And if you'll look up the resume of Miss Redish you'll see she has pedigree. So for us to work together on this is a blast; and now work-work in the traditional sense.
So take that how you will. But I believe context is everything, and like the hyperbole seen around SIDDHARTHA the world et al has yet to figure out what it means when a pop person does art (see Warhol, Andy). I think everything I do is fab (in some capacity) but that doesn't mean I'm trying to reach everyone (see diva, pop for that) with everything I do.
MONUMENTS TO AN ELEGY=REACH ALL
PRETTY PERSEPHONE=REACH SOME
Simple math. Yet many, too many are dumb (see Cooper, Anderson) and have staffs that don't even know how to use a search engine.
PRETTY P is based on the myth, her myth, with a twist, and will be presented in 4 small scenes/acts (theatre-speak anyone?) So yes, 4 'songs' if you will, of an imaged Elusinian mystery-play. Good f-u-n. Good a-r-t. Not p-o-p, though all is pop. Even GOD.
Oh, and once the production is run I'll release an album of the songs, possibly with friends cuttings the lead parts. Through Zuzu's as usual. SIDDHARTHA is up next, probably by spring.
And expect another Music Machine show in January; if only to spoil the cold. A spoken-word deal with my friend Joseph.
W.P.C.
November 24, 2014
November 20, 2014
STAY TUNED FOR THE NEW SP TRACK TOMORROW!
November 20, 2014
MARK STOERMER (THE KILLERS) AND BRAD WILK (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE) HAVE JOINED THE PUMPKINS LINEUP FOR THE INTIMATE TOUR DATES
MONUMENTS TO AN ELEGY AVAILABLE DECEMBER 9
November 20, 2014; New York, NY – The Smashing Pumpkins will add an additional date in San Francisco, CA to their already sold out tour (see below for full list of dates). Tickets for The Warfield Theatre show on December 11 in San Francisco will go on sale tomorrow (Friday) at 10am via AXS.com.
Earlier this week, the band had their initially announced dates in London, New York and Paris sell out instantly. The band is touring in support of their new albumMonuments to an Elegy, available December 9. The band also informed fans to look for additional dates to be added soon in other select markets.
Joining The Smashing Pumpkins on this special tour are Mark Stoermer (The Killers) on bass and Brad Wilk (Rage Against The Machine) on drums. Stoemer and Wilk will also join The Smashing Pumpkins playing a special outdoor stage performance on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday December 10th.
The Smashing Pumpkins were also recently announced as headliners for South American Lollapalooza Festival dates which include March 14/15 in Santiago, Chile, March 21/22 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and March 28/29 in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Anticipation and praise already surround the December 9th release of Monuments to an Elegy, with Huffington Post calling it “the band’s super-album.” Yesterday, Vice.com premiered the new track, “Tiberius” which they called “intimate” and “expansive” while Noisey.com declared the track “sounds like a return to form—a nod to the beloved Pumpkins sound of old with a modern twist.” Monuments To An Elegy features Tommy Lee (Motley Cruë) on drums and was recorded in Chicago. The album is produced by Howard Willing, along with Corgan and Schroeder. Monuments to an Elegy is “an album within an album,” part of their ongoing work-in-progress Teargarden By Kaleidyscope (with Day For Night as the project’s last work).
The Smashing Pumpkins announced tour dates:
November 30 Berlin, Germany Kesselhaus
December 5 London, UK Koko’s
December 6 Paris, France Le Trabendo
December 8 New York, NY Webster Hall
December 11 San Francisco, CA The Warfield
November 20, 2014
Dateline: Rock and Roll, Stairway to Heaven…
So in practice, as we have been for the past 4 days, one wonders at the marvel that is alternative rock whence played with power; or as a band I knew once spelled it: 'powa'. And there's powa abounding with Mr. Will on drums, and filigreed finesse in thrown slabs with Herr Stoermer. To say I'm excited undercuts what's obvious; which is we're blessed they're both here. Simple as that.
Other news indicates they'll soon be more shows added to. Some possibly sooner than you'd think. 'Not so simple', says I, for there are lyrics to learn/re-learn.
And for those that troll this website a) I haven't RETIRED from anything; and that includes professional wrestling and b) I've been pursuing work with musicals FOR YEARS. Shock, a'int it, that a songwriter such as I would write music? So let's move on that…
Howard, having departed for sunnier climbs, left just as I was dusting up the essential materials for PRETTY PERSEPHONE; which will debut in December at The Music Theatre Company of Highland Park. I expect that will to be done tomorrow. And of course there's been all these demos which I've neglected to write about for reasons such as: business, boredom (my own), struggles (repeat), and an uncertain sense of where DAY FOR NIGHT might go.
But that destination is clear now. Album sessions to resume in January.
Wrestling. Resistance Pro. Let's start here: I was asked the other day, 'do you worry about what people will think because you are involved with BLANK? (Blank being pro wrestling, synthesizer music, or CHARITY animal shelter magazines).
Answer: NO. Because if those things make someone dislike my musical life/output then they are marks FOR THEMSELVES.
Answer: I am not here to serve anyone but G-O-D. (Happiness being but one way by which 'to serve')
Love abounds, always. So let me say for those of you that don't know those in my life, I love them all. And if you don't know Jacques and Gabriel Baron, you should. Family men. Love their kith and kin. Beautiful children. And my brothers through and through.
Around Resistance Pro Wrestling Jacques would always say to the roster, 'we are family'; and I believed that. Still do.
But there's a time where you might split too from the family home because you disagree with what's going on. Just as I did when I was kid from my own. And you don't always have to know 'why' or even define what it is that's bugging you out. You just know something's amiss.
It's hard leaving, I'll admit. For I put more into the company than I should have, so strong was my belief. And perhaps that blinded me. But I am forever grateful for the opportunity to lead, to share, to execute a vision which it would be easy to argue was not successful where it mattered most: at the gate. Yet my focus was to build a futuristic promotion that could run on every level in the 21st century. And that got us as far as a contract with the vaunted AMC Network.
All things come with a cost, and the cost of that commitment was watching a decently balanced company with a dream devolve into something I considered beneath my place in the world. For it isn't wise to make someone like me the foil when the upside is so unseen, and small, and counter-intuitive to that future as planned. And it wasn't like this disintegration wash't transparent, for there were cameras everywhere.
So when the show was cast into purgatory by AMC's decision to cut the majority of their unscripted (nice word for reality) programming, many (and I heard this) felt relief, while others celebrated as if it was any other day in the life of a circus; our greatest opportunity possibly squandered with the stroke of a pen.
Personally, I didn't see much accountability on the part of those who'd fallen off the company mantra, and I found this puzzling. And so began an investigation as to those 'whys and wherefores.'
Some suggested that there were other intentions afoot, which may or may not have involved my being used, or worked, or manipulated to create short-sighted opportunities for the company even should those efforts harm me in a number of ways; with the biggest victim, beside my 'name' being so readily used and abused, a diminishing enthusiasm. But still, this made no sense; for why would anyone want me out of the company when all I'd ever been told was how welcome I was? Or even the simple idea that my presence opened doors that wouldn't have been otherwise opened?
Make no mistake, I've committed a tremendous amount of time to R Pro and the advancement of the roster in particular. For we had a lot of talent under the roof; all of which deserve a call and more open explanation from me than I'd offer here. So don't let anyone tell you I wasn't in all the way.
And the additive of what I heard, saw, learned was that my partners didn't have my back in the way I thought they should; and by extension, were working against what I saw as their once-in-a lifetime lottery ticket for success in television. BUT: not everyone wants to win the lottery.
What's this really mean? That the company will soldier on without me. Perhaps they'll thrive, or survive? I hope they do. And the best thing I hope for is that The Baron's as a family get out of their promotion what they think is best. It's clear to me now that's probably what they wanted all along.
Remember, I was never an owner in any capacity. This was by my suggestion. Even though under various circumstances and guises it was offered. I simply headed up the creative focus in story-lines and in some cases developed characters.
But wait, there's a swerve! The tv show is still being shopped, with 4 shows in the can. AMC having given their assistance with the possibility that what's there can be picked up by an interested network. And I for one believe that the show AS CONCEIVED would draw fantastic ratings. Should that happen, I'd deal with how to pick up from where it all left off: by telling the story of these various implosions from those who lived it, and who'd carry on as well. And that, my friends, IS wrestling….
As an executive producer, would I include R Pro management in that? That'd depend. But the trust where it's needed (in business) is long gone.
How about anyone from the roster? Absolutely. Whether or not it's this as-yet-unfinished tv show, or a new version of it, or the new promotion I'd start forthwith, I believe-believe-believe in the talent of that roster. And as anybody who is in wrestling knows, there are some incredible souls out there who deserve a different kind of shot, and I aim to be one of those people building to something different for that exact purpose.
For as with someone like me, the business often overlooks talent in seeking the obvious. See every pop-singer-blah blah show for evidence of that.
So, to be clear: I left because Resistance Pro was no longer the company I thought I'd helped build from the ground up. And maybe, one might say, it never was...
The shows, the fans, the wrestling injuries, the heartaches, those I know were all real. The rest, I couldn't say. Time will tell who's friend or foe, and who thought me another easy touch.
Last thing: don't let anyone tell you wrestling's fake. The world is no more real.
W.P.C.
