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The Smashing Pumpkins was never meant to be a small band. It was going to either be a big band, or a no band.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
People just expect you to show up, be a cartoon character of yourself, take your money and go home. But don't screw up to the point where you're gonna be out of the picture.
Jimmy Chamberlin The Smashing Pumpkins
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And they kind of left to find a guitar player at the very end, so you know, I don't really take it as any slight that I wasn't able to play on the record. It's flattering just to play with them period.
James Iha The Smashing Pumpkins -
For a 6-foot-3 guy with no hair and a whiny voice, I've done all right.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
When you move artistically, the natural inclination is to denounce everything that's gone before.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
I always wanted to be in this role, as a songwriter. In the Pumpkins, it was always impossible because Corgan would wake up and write five songs. He was so prolific, there wasn't a lot of room for anyone else.
Jimmy Chamberlin The Smashing Pumpkins -
My mother came to a Smashing Pumpkins gig once, and I was wearing a dress. She was very upset. She said, 'Everyone's gonna think you're a fag.' I said,'Well, they already think I'm an asshole.'
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
I think if you're able to make the music you want and you can do it in the right kind of context, you don't have to be a circus ringleader to be successful.
James Iha The Smashing Pumpkins
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I want to be 'Jimmy Chamberlin, the drummer, the musician who's done many things,' not just 'that guy from the Smashing Pumpkins.'
Jimmy Chamberlin The Smashing Pumpkins -
This is not a reaction against a negative world. It's a response to a negative world.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love...I love...I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on.
D'arcy Wretzky The Smashing Pumpkins -
Actually, I was having dinner with Michael (Stipe, of R.E.M.) when our second album went platinum, which up until that point was the highest success we'd ever had. And he turned to me during dinner and said, 'Welcome to the deep waters, kid.' I'll never forget that.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
I was known for throwing knives.
D'arcy Wretzky The Smashing Pumpkins -
People always called The Cure gloomy, but listening to The Cure made me happy. There was something about the gloominess that gave me comfort, and I think we're the same way.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins
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Legacy above finances; artistry above fame.
Jimmy Chamberlin The Smashing Pumpkins -
To me, music was about being accepted and escaping from this crummy existence.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
I don't necessarily believe that the sting of failure is a bad thing. It gives you a certain amount of freedom to just say fuck it!
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
I think the original, 'They're the next Jane's Addiction' things that people said about us in the beginning have been pretty much wiped out.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
I think that the jazzy approach that I have is based on the way that I hear music and in the way I play a supporting role to the other people in the band.
Jimmy Chamberlin The Smashing Pumpkins -
At some point, I had to make a decision: I could practice more and become a really great guitar player or I could work on writing better songs. There are only so many hours in the day, and I found writing songs more fulfilling than working on becoming this virtuoso guitar player.
James Iha The Smashing Pumpkins
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People act like Nirvana invented grunge; they just took it and personified it.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
Music is 99% of my life. But I know I need a break. Besides, if you give people too much, they start to not want it. We need to restrain ourselves.
Billy Corgan The Smashing Pumpkins -
I started a recording studio. I started producing people and doing remixes.
James Iha The Smashing Pumpkins -
All he wants to do is practice and that's all he does, all day long. That's what it takes if you want to change the face of music. You've gotta be committed to it.
Jimmy Chamberlin The Smashing Pumpkins