Not only is Billy Corgan the founder, frontman, and songwriter for the iconic alt-rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. He also stands out as a solo artist, poet, wrestling promoter, cafe owner, and now, podcast host.
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At our Q&A Workshop for American Songwriter Membership, Billy Corgan shared his vision for his latest endeavor as the host of his new podcast “The Magnificent Others.”
AS: Tell us about your new podcast and what you’re excited about.
BC: I really want to celebrate people in our culture who are often overlooked, who I think are fantastic. And, I want to show the audience why I think they’re fantastic, from my perspective.
Like Gene Simmons. Not only do I know Gene a little bit. But I’ve listened to KISS since I was 10 years old. That’s not uncommon. But I’m also a musician. And I understand the game in a way that most people wouldn’t understand it.
So I would like to think that my interview with Gene, which is 90 minutes, is gonna be a far different interview than any interview you’d see with Gene.
It’s a different take on it. More so from the artist’s perspective out. Kind of like what we’re doing here today. Yes it’s a bit more insidery. But it has a depth about it because it’s ultimately, in my opinion, what artists are more focused on.
And as somebody who’s been interviewed 1,000 times, it shocks me, and I hope this will make you laugh, sometimes when I do an interview they’ll say to me, “Is there something that you want to talk about that we haven’t talked about?”
And I’ll say, “Yeah, the songs.” Because with me they want to talk about all this other stuff, including my brother Bill Burr, you know. But they don’t talk about the thing that got you through the door, which to me is the songs and the beautiful work to put them together.
So far it’s a lot of musicians because it’s easy for me to make a list of musicians I admire. But the goal is to branch further out into other disciplines as well.
I talked to Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo about their almost 50-year partnership. Neil is an incredibly skilled musician, and they formed this partnership even before they were married. And she says in the interview, she kind of turned over the aesthetic vision of her musical life to him because she knew he would know what to do because she just wanted to focus on being a singer.
And you can see what incredible fruit that bore. There’s almost nobody, even today, that compares to Pat’s voice and how she fit into the culture and the walls she kicked down with her talent.
So trying to talk to someone like Pat and Neil, who have accomplished great success plus love in their life, from the perspective of what actually makes this thing work, as opposed to “tell me that same story for the 15th time.”
And Sam Moore of the great Sam & Dave. I might’ve had his last interview. And he seemed in perfect health when I talked to him, which is such a shame. What an incredible artist he is. Or was. Sad to say.
I interviewed Corey Feldman who’s taken a lot of stick but is absolutely, positively committed to music in a very, very unique way. So it’s interesting to talk to Corey from his perspective as a musician out rather than the constant version of celebrity in.
Yeah so the show really celebrates those in culture that I think are overlooked or if they’re not overlooked maybe the perspective on them, in my opinion, is slightly off because what people are focused on is the wrong end of the telescope.
The Dream Guests
AS: Let’s put all living people aside and say throughout history, who would have been a dream guest to talk to who is no longer with us?
BC: For me, No. 1 would be [composer Johann Sebastian] Bach. I mean, the supreme musician. To me he’s just unbelievable. And, you know, they think probably 20+% of his work is lost.
So imagine what’s out there and think of what’s … it’s almost impossible. So when people tell me I work a lot, I think I didn’t work as much as Bach did.
So, Bach would be one, [author Charles] Dickens would be another. I would be fascinated to talk to Dickens.
I feel sad that I didn’t talk to [author] William Burroughs while he was alive. I did have the opportunity and I was always too shy to do it.
I think it would be amazing to sit with a mind that, you know, has changed the world. In Bach’s case he never knew that he changed the world.
Watch “The Magnificent Others” with Billy Corgan on YouTube or listen wherever you stream podcasts.
Q&A Workshops are a monthly series for American Songwriter Membership. To watch the full episode with Billy Corgan, become a member and get exclusive content including access to the songwriters behind hit songs by Ed Sheeran, Bonnie Raitt, Morgan Wallen, Guns N Roses, and more. Plus giveaways, tips, and a community of songwriters and music lovers.
Photo by Jason Renaud
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