More about: The Smashing PumpkinsPink FloydRoger Waters

Billy Corgan has told Gigwise he is open to re-forming the original line-up of Smashing Pumpkins to record new material and go on the road. He’s also revealed that the possibility of a reunion has been inspired after speaking with former Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters.

Speaking exclusively to Gigwise, Corgan – whose second solo album, Ogilala is out this Friday (October 13) – says: “My position is that I’m all for it and I’m happy to do it. And I’m happy to do it in the way that people want me to do it. I’m totally cool if the band gets together.”

The possibility of reunion comes after Corgan buried his differences with former members of Smashing Pumpkins. The line-up of Billy Corgan (vocals/guitars), James Iha (guitars), Darcy Wretzky (bass) and Jimmy Chamberlain (drums) split in 2000 after years of internecine fighting.

Moreover, Corgan says that he’s eager for the band to engage in the creative process.

He continues: “The only qualifiers that I have are firstly, I want it to be fun and happy for everybody involved – and that’s audience and band – and secondly, I want us to be creative again; I want us to creatively engage. The idea of it being one trip around the sun is not attractive to me.”

Though Corgan isn’t interested in playing any of Smashing Pumpkins’ previous albums in their entirety, he credits former Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters for inspiring him in how to bring the re-union into fruition.

“I have to say that Roger Waters, in talking to him personally and seeing him play live, particularly when I saw him do The Wall, has helped me to change my perception that there is an opportunity to re-contextualize my work in a way that imbues your work with a new energy while also satisfying the nostalgic revue,” he says. “There’s a way to do it and Roger, in his sentient intelligence, showed me how he uses visuals, technology and re-contextualizes his work.”

He continues: “If we ever did reform, there are opportunities to revisit the work in ways that would be like a remix of a movie or something. If you take Mellon Collie… and that whole period, we’re not going to play the whole album, but we want to dive back into this period so trust us and come see us and we’re going to take you back into this moment but only in a way that we could and on our terms. That could be very interesting.”

The full interview with Billy Corgan will be published in Gigwise on Thursday (October 12) so be sure to come back then to read about his new album, Ogilala, his thoughts on David Bowie’s passing and so much more.

Ogilala is released on Friday, October 13.

As previously reported on Gigwise, Roger Waters plays Hyde Park on July 6, 2018, and tickets are available here.

More about: The Smashing PumpkinsPink FloydRoger Waters