Billy Corgan talks about Butch Vig in the studio, funny stories, and his relationship with The Smashing Pumpkins. To donate to the channel go here: rickbeato.com/pages/donate
Nobody in the history of mankind has listened to Teen Spirit and gone... ohh that sounds like the Smashing Pumpkins. Even the 3 people who knew of the Pumpkins before Nirvana didnt think that.
Unbelievable Butch vig studied microphone diagrams and sound waves for 15 years and Billie waltzes in “that’s my sound I taught him that- TAD, L7, Nirvana, sonic youth, soul asylum.. yep that’s my sound. I even showed him how to layer the guitar for killdozer recordings” like wtf billie
@@ShinyFlakesShinyFlakes DUDE- First of all do you even know what “the wall of sound” is in audio engineering??? Anyway I think Billie is quite full of himself here. I’m not saying that a producer/engineer can’t learn from an artist but to say that he learned how to “layer guitars that way” I just don’t buy it.. layering guitars is the very FIRST thing you do when you’re an engineer.. like what audio engineer doesn’t layer things? Maybe Butch was subtly influenced to add more layers but idk I hate the way corgan takes credit and tries to minimize “teen spirit” to being a Boston rip off (which isnt true in my opinion- we can start naming 4 chord pumpkins songs, Today! cough cough that sound like other songs too) regarded as probably the most influential rock song of the 1990s .. idk, he’s clearly very jealous. And I want YOU to tell me what the “wall of sound” is without googling it before I think you’re qualifying to be speaking on this subject for real. Sorry I hope I wasn’t too harsh. I’m not a mean person I swear! I just, you know, don’t see it the same way- that’s all. 🙂 That being said I do love the smash pumpkins I also think they did a lot for alt rock music but maybe Billie could be a little more humble. Who taught Scott litt and Andy Wallace how to layer guitars then? And why do their mixes also have that guitar sound??
@@dmvconartists6657I mostly read honesty not so much jealousy in the “More Than A Feeling” comment. I think Corgan is more just recounting how he felt *at the time* here. Though I agree that he played up too much that the guitar sound was “his”. I also think he’s just being honest about the true song craft behind “Teen Spirit”. And the Boston riff *is* an influence on the riff-even Nirvana itself did mock cover of the opening of “More Than A Feeling”. He’s recounted the story of Kurt playing it for him multiple times and he seems pretty jovial about it.
Have you seen the 2 1/2 hr one with Joe Rogan? Billy's had some really, truly deep and revealing interviews. He is beyond brilliant and has written the most beautiful music I've ever listened to in my life. His story is so fascinating.
Same way man. Loving all these bands before the world discovered them was amazing, hearing this obscure band named Nirvana and their album Bleach for the first time in my buddies car (on cassette) as we headed to a bar is a moment I will never forget. Or seeing smacking pumpkins play a small bar near our college just months before Gish was released. I hope my kids have moments like that but the musical scene seems so different today.
@@galetinm To be fair He wasnt specifically talking about tone but the way it was captured. It's a good sound that has been copied many times over since then so I don't really feel like it's that big of a deal that he said that. Especially with the close relationship he had with both Nirvana and Butch Vig.
He has always been incredibly intelligent and articulate. I met him back in 1988 around the time the Pumpkins were getting going and always enjoyed talking with him. Great guy to talk baseball with as well.
Great producer, great band. Met Mr Corgan in August 2000 in Vancouver. We chatted briefly about My Bloody Valentine and how they achieved their guitar sounds. Very approachable, very down to Earth. A very positive experience. Happy New Years Billy! 🎶
@@puppetbreak9086 duh. But Gish and nevermind are both recorded in 91 and so was L7 and Tad- all that stuff sounds similar so how can you say it’s billie’s sound when there’s Killdozer and die Krusen and tad records that all come before may of 91 or during the same April -sept 91 period and have that sound. It’s clearly Butch mixing and mixing techniques that really make the sound although maybe he did something during the pumpkins sessions that he decided to continue doing that being said you can’t just take credit for NIRVANA, L7, TAD, SonicYouth and those bands guitar sounds.
"Butch once drank a glass of water, just after I invented water, and every time I drink a glass of water I'm reminded of Butch and how he drank water that I invented" - Billy Corgan
Love this segment. Corgan is a solid raconteur. He goes beyond the average trip down memory lane by giving the audience a little juicy inside baseball and being candid about his competitiveness.
I'm a HUGE Nirvana fan and a huge Smashing Pumpkins album and I really don't think Siamese Dream gets nearly the credit it deserves. Nevermind is a PERFECT album, every song is amazing but Siamese Dream is ALSO a perfect album. Like I love Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam also, probably overall more than the Pumpkins but neither of those bands made a 'perfect' album ever but Pumpkins did. I think Siamese Dream really was the only of the 90s rock albums to match the level Nevermind reached in terms of songwriting, originality and production quality.
Fuckign hell , I had no idea that billy corgan was responsible for the entire sound of the late 80’s and early 90’s. Why isn’t he already in the hall, statues erected, monuments in DC. 😮🙄
Just awesome. Real stories from the dude that lived it. Nuff said. Btw I witnessed both bands for the 1st time on radio when they were brand new. I remember what I was doing and where I was for both of them. I knew I just witnessed and listened to legends. Now that I am 55 that has been confirmed finally and my wife believes me after 33 years. I win!
We lived in Fontana on Lake Geneva when we were kids. We left Wisconsin for Florida in 1978. I wonder if Smashing Pumpkins ever played clubs there in Walworth County. I DO know of people who saw Cheap Trick play there before they made it big. I think it was a club on the lake called The Beachcombers?
As much as i appreciate billy corgan, to suggest that layering guitars is “his sound” is fucking ridiculous. almost every fucking band uses guitar layering, and butch vig likely knew to layer guitars beforehand. It’s common practice. Also there were 2 hard-panned guitar tracks in smells like teen spirit (besides 2 buried tracks in the chorus) so its not like it’s some unique layering of sort. Also, Nevermind’s guitar tone (and nirvana’s tone in general) sounds nothing like smashing pumpkins tones.
totally, and even IF that sound was a magically Pumkin recepe for success, Kurt ended up not liking the production of Nevermind. The writing excels here: Smells Like Teen, would have been a hit with a fuzz, a Metal zone, a Marshall, a Vox, mono, low fi, you name it, THE SONG is a truck. the voice, drums, the power and yes the song.
I think the fact that they continued to work with Butch Vig signals that “you stole my guitar sound motherfucker” was much more playful than accusatory. The way you bust your buddy’s balls.
I appreciate Billy’s honesty. And he just in a strange way described why Nirvana went with Steve Albini for In Utero. They could be themselves. Google Albini’s letter to Nirvana about their “recording contract”
Lol “it’s just more than a feeling.. and that’s my guitar sound.. and I’m reason Nirvana, L7, tad, sonic youth and soul asylum sound like that with layered guitars” 😩😫😫
@@HollowWaterso I appreciate the pumpkins, but Billy is such a conceded ass 😆, he's always had an in, with Courtney, and sometimes I think he knows a little more about what happened to Kurt than he says, just my opinion
Don't get me wrong, Nevermind is a masterwork. Love that album along with In Utero. But, Siamese Dream was my "go to" album for the mid to late 90's. I still listen to the entire album to this day. Great interview.
While Nirvana and the Pumpkins were great, I look back on the 90s and have warmer feelings about Alice in Chains, specifically Dirt. Siamese Dream was a masterpiece though and definitely one of the best records to come out of that era.
"Butch Vig made sure Pumpkins would get across the line and not turn us into Nirvana..." Billy has ego the size of Jupiter. No one but Kurt Cobain could turn Nirvana into Nirvana. Let it go already, Billy.
@@JohnDoe-tm9wz Kurt was true to his identity too. He liked both the Beatles and punk rock. And Nevermind sounds exactly like a crossover between these two. So.
I was cycling across the United States in the summer of 1994. 14 years old. In Branson, Missouri my friend told me he had two CDs that he’d bought for the trip and had yet to listen to them. They were Siamese Dream and Nevermind. One magical summer.
hey rick. you should do an interview with the POLVO guys. they had crazy gear, crazy tunings, and crazy songs. you once mentioned in another video how much you loved them, so that would be an epic interview. i mean, i love that you're doing these interviews with MAJOR LEAGUE 90s dudes--butch vig, billy corgan--but the deep dive stuff like the interview with adam franklin is what many more will remember, because no one else is doing that. others could include 90s chicago heroes tortoise, steve albini, & wilco (who are, admittedly, huge), and of course polvo who were/are fantastic. (incidentally, i saw swervedriver open for smashing pumpkins... nice confluence.) anyway, peace. thanks for the great vids.
I've lived in WI my whole life, 40 years, Cambridge wi is where I grew up, home of Matt Kenseth Nascar driver, Madison is only 13 miles from Cambridge, it's fun to hear these stories about being on the lake 4 th of July in Madison, smart studios, the whole nirvana butch smart studios history is such a cool story. I know where smart studios used to be and it makes me wonder what ever happened to the gear that was used for these sessions.
For my money, Corgan was the best guitarist of his generation. Kurt, Cornell, Vedder, all were better singers though, obviously. But Soma, Mayonnaise, Drown... Corgan wrote some of the most interesting guitar riffs, abd easily had the best solos.
I disagree about Eddie Vedder. That guy is the worst singer to ever make a dollar…. If you can go find a video of him, singing with Glen Hansard live.. Eddie can’t even begin to hit any of the notes so he turns his face about 100° away from the microphone so that people can’t hear how is destroying the song Glenn is singing. The song has won Tony awards and Eddie Vedder destroys this song completely. It’s incredibly sad but hysterical at the same time for anyone that thinks Eddie Vedder is a good singer.! Eddie Vedder is probably as bad of a singer as Jimi Hendrix or Bob Dylan
Siamese Dream was absolutely epochal for me. I actually liked the Pumpkins more than any other band (eg: Nirvana, Soundgarden, et al- whom I also loved) back then (except for my bloody valentine).
I like Billy. He's incredibly smart and honest about his feelings,..sometimes to a fault. Great perspective on the era and his contribution to it. Great stuff.
The tone of Kurt and Billy’s guitars, on the solos, sounds quite different to me. As far as layering the rhythm parts- how many ways are there to ‘layer’ a guitar? If Kurt used anything of Billy’s production techniques Im guessing he did do at the direction of Butch.
Billy is so well spoken, You could easily pass off his words as cocky or Arrogant, but I don't doubt his recollection on Vig and Nirvana for a minute, Everyday teachers learn something from students and vice versa. Further more, Cobain always complained about how he didn't like the Sound of NEVERMIND and had Andy Wallace remix the entire Album. Maybe that was the reason
There were a lot of good producers and people that worked on great records durning the "grunge" era. I'd say Butch had chops and a vision, and was in the right place at the right time.
If you listen carefully to the whole story, that's not what he says. You listened and reported like a journalist. Seeking sensation. Are you journalist?
Nevermind and BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIC were released on the same day. It was so great growing up in that time. To me, BSSM is the much better album. Still, they both are amazing records from my teen years.
Kurt Cobain didn't die, he has lived rent-free in a 10,000 square foot warehouse at the forefront of Billy Corgan's mind since September, 1991. How many classic, black and white-covered composition books has Billy filled every square inch of with doodles, screeds, madman-ramblings and stick-person drawings of him pooping on stick-person Kurt Cobain's? Lol. Jesus, Billy. Give it up, mate. He's dead, you're alive, stop bitching about ninety-ninety fucking one. 14 seconds in and zero questions asked, already Billy Corgan is talking about Kurt Cobain, again. Billy, nobody stole anything from you, you make it so fucking hard to like your music and I absolutely love your music.
This is what you worry about? Give it a break, dude. Apparently Billy lives in YOUR mind rent-free. Let me guess... You're either a Smiths or Cure fan and hate the opposite side still, since the 80s.
@@alukuhito Well you sort of deflate a bit of the 'ol, "he's in your head!!" stuff when you also comment on my comment, as then I could come back with the juvenile observation that actually, perhaps I am in YOUR head, too! Lol. I'm just messing around, man...with all of it, including the Billy Corgan cracks. That said, I do find it endlessly frustrating listening to him whine and snivel about things being unfair and about how people pick on him, though he usually replaces his own thoughts and feelings with pronouns such as "we," or instead uses language like, "the Pumpkins felt like..." when actually talking only about what he feels like. Billy is the consummate victim, he always is bitching about what someone called him in the press, the press shortchanging him and his band, someone ripping him off or copying him, and on, and on, and on. He's insufferable a lot of the time, completely tone-deaf, always self-congratulatory, never self-efacing or playful, always righteous and full of persecutory delusions. He's an annoying, sniveling shithole, and he's a liar, too. He also appears to be somewhat of an unbelievably vindictive, vengeful person, constantly harboring grudges over trifling little offenses and accusing others of things they obviously did not do, such as Butch Vig "stealing his guitar sound for Nevermind." Give me a fucking break, man. That is nothing more than his own narcissistic personality and jealousy over the success of someone else. He sits there acting like layering guitars was something innovative and different lol. Brother, they have been layering guitars and dubbing guitars using different guitars and amps since the 1960s, Butch Vig was doing that on The Fluid's records and Kill dozer's records and Urge Overkill's records years before he recorded "Gish." He recorded Nevermind demos before a lot of "Gish," and oh, look at that, it's full of layered guitars and guitars dubbing. Bitch Vig was 20 albums deep by the time Gish was recorded!! If Vig wasn't layering guitars by Gish, he'd have been mopping the floors at Smart Studios, not hosting major label talent. Again, they've been dubbing and layering guitars almost since rock & roll began. Corgan claiming Vig stole his guitar sounds is total bullshit, he's a sniveling liar trying to take any possible shred of credit for the success of Nirvana and Nevermind, he was insanely jealous and obviously he still is. To your other comments, I don't know a single song by either group lol, which is a bit embarrassing I guess. My favorite band is Screaming Trees, probably tied with Alice in Chains, and I absolutely love the Smashing Pumpkins, they're probably #3 or #4 for me, especially some of the weirder stuff like "Adore!" Obviously Gish is fucking amazing, same with all their obvious stuff. It's a bummer Corgan is such a fucker, but hey, I can look past it when it comes to appreciation of his work, he's absolutely brilliant. Sometimes brilliant people are "bad" people, it's not uncommon. Billy Corgan, based on his diva behavior, narcissistic personality and apparent lack of humility, self awareness and the fact that he used his fame and status for decades to get chicks (re: his Courtney Love story), idk, he seems like piece of shit to me. However, a very talented one.
Eh, by the end of the video he’s practically being humble and magnanimous (in Billy terms 😂). I agree generally that hearing Billy talk is the biggest impediment to enjoying the Pumpkins (and I, also, love the Pumpkins). I guess it takes an insecure nerd to soundtrack the adolescences of a bunch of insecure nerds tho, so I can’t really complain.
“Kurt was easily the most talented person in our class” Billy might be salty over nirvana’s success, or over Courtney leaving for Kurt. Regardless, he respects and admires Kurt Cobain. I’ve heard him compliment and praise Kurt more than once. Y’all need to chill.
Siamese Dream might be the best alt rock album of all time. It was the 90s' nostalgia perfected. Corgans' musical ear and knowledge is masterful. He knows exactly what he is looking for.
i heard that statement that smells like teen spirit is a rip off of more than a feeling since early 90s, but personally i never saw it. 2 different songs with totally different vibe and semi similar riff.
@@anthonywandowicz8084 they did it to mock the critics that were accusing them of plagiaterims. they played those 2 riffs side by side to show how different they are
Don’t get me wrong love, smashing pumpkins, loved them all the way up to adore. But I’ve never seen SP inside the grunge circle, they always seemed to be slightly different, not bad, not good just SP.
If you want to get technical, Gish had quiet verse, loud chorus dynamics too and came out before Nevermind. Not agreeing that Billy came up with that but just saying.
