Interview by geo folkers In late 1988, early ’89, Mark Ignoffo had an opportunity to work with a young Smashing Pumpkins. Here are a few questions that Mark was kind enough to recently answer: You had an opportunity to work with one of the greatest bands ever. How did you come to meet the Smashing Pumpkins? Well, as with most things it was merely by chance. My family was having a garage sale and I was selling an old Farfisa organ. A young guy stopped by and saw the organ and asked if I played keys and the conversation morphed into my […]
Interview and Article by SPfreaks SPfreaks recently had a chance to catch up with Nicole Fiorentino and Meghan Toohey after their Record Release Party for their newest release, Ellis Bell. Ellis Bell (front cover) The Cold and Lovely recently had a Record Release Party for your new EP, Ellis Bell. How did it feel to showcase those songs for the first time? Meghan – It felt great. Because of some scheduling conflicts with Patty and Mel, we have a new drummer (Erin Tidwell) and keyboard player (Jennifer Goodridge) playing with us now and they are really adding new energy and […]
Article and images by Geo Folkers When Billy Corgan announced a few weeks ago that no official celebration was planned for the 25th Anniversary of Smashing Pumpkins playing live gigs, there was one fan of the band called Matt Sams that felt like ‘this ain’t gonna happen!’. And when Saturday, October 5th, 2013, marked the spot as being the exact date 25 years after the Smashing Pumpkins took the stage as the first four-piece line up at the Metro, Chicago (IL) in 1988, a plan was born in Matt’s head. And when it all came together last weekend, Madame ZuZu’s […]
Interview by Monita Rajpal, CNN SPfreaks is happy to present the full transcript of this interview to you, as provided by CNN Transcripts. Images are screenshots from the interview. TALK ASIA – Interview with Billy Corgan (Aired August 23, 2013 – 05:30:00 ET) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) Monita Rajpal, Anchor, CNN International (voiceover): It was one of the biggest bands of the ’90s. Known for their angst-ridden and dreamy songs, The Smashing Pumpkins are still drawing in crowds by the thousands, some 25 years after their debut. Founded by lead singer-songwriter, Billy Corgan and Guitarist, James Iha, their first album reached gold status. […]
Article by Jeroen Bakker Pictures by Jeroen Savelkouls and Arthur van Pelt (Poster Tilburg 013) Date: July 26th, 2013 Venue: Paradiso Capacity: 1,200-1,500 (sold out) City & Country: Amsterdam, the Netherlands Tour: Shamrocks and Shenanigans 2013 Tour Personnel: Billy Corgan, Jeff Schroeder, Nicole Fiorentino and Mike Byrne Duration: 2h30m Date: July 27th, 2013 Venue: 013 Capacity: 2,000-2,200 (sold out) City & Country: Tilburg, the Netherlands Tour: Shamrocks and Shenanigans 2013 Tour Personnel: Billy Corgan, Jeff Schroeder, Nicole Fiorentino and Mike Byrne Duration: 2h15m ‘She likes surprises,’ Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell sings on their hit album Superunknown. Well, I do […]
Article by Shaharaine P. Abdullah The last former band member of Smashing Pumpkins in this series: James Iha (birthdate: March 26, 1968) James Yoshinobu Iha is an American musician best known as the original guitarist and co-founder of The Smashing Pumpkins. Pre-Pumpkins James was born in Chicago, Illinois in a second-generation Japanese-American family. He and his brothers were raised in a middle-class suburb in Elk Grove Village; James attended Elk Grove High School. “I was born in a suburb of Chicago. You know those John Hughes movies like ‘Sixteen Candles’ and ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ and stuff like that? My […]
Concert Review by Jeroen Savelkouls Date: June 20th, 2013 Venue: Live Music Hall Capacity: 1,200-1,800 City & Country: Cologne, Germany Tour: Shamrocks and Shenanigans 2013 Tour Personnel: Billy Corgan, Jeff Schroeder, Nicole Fiorentino and Mike Byrne Duration: ca. 2h15m No orb, no video projections, and limited lighting showed up for their first show of the European leg of the Shamrocks and Shenanigans tour. The Smashing Pumpkins largely ignored periphery visual distractions and focused on a tight gig and balanced set list; these ingredients were more than enough on Thursday evening to convince the crowd of approximately 2,000 in the extremely hot […]
