Almost Acoustic Christmas 2024: The Smashing Pumpkins

KROQ-FM / KROQ

This years headliner and all around amazing rock band, The Smashing Pumpkins, joined us backstage before taking the stage later tonight at this years Almost Acoustic Christmas!

Transcript

00:00Ladies and gentlemen, we are joined by the Smashing Pumpkins.

00:12I gotta ask, it's been so long, you still, when you hear that kind of, mind you, we're

00:16in a small room, but when you get the love thrown back at you, does it still feel the

00:20way it's always felt?

00:21Or more so, I would say, after so long.

00:25Very nice.

00:26It's better.

00:27Very nice.

00:28It's better why?

00:29Because we believe it a little more than we used to.

00:32Okay, that's fair.

00:33The last time I spoke to, well, I've never had the privilege of speaking to the both

00:37of you, but Billy and I, this is my third time speaking to Billy, and it was on the

00:40eve, or the week before, Agoramori May.

00:43Oh, that's right.

00:44Yeah, we were Zooming, and we had talked about how, what I loved about Agoramori May is that

00:50you were, and correct me if I'm wrong, revisiting the blueprints of the first record, but as

00:56the people and the musicians that you are now.

00:59And I want to know how the journey with Agoramori May has been, and what you've learned from

01:02that record.

01:05You know, it's curious, because we kind of abandoned the way we worked, sort of mid-90s,

01:11so to try to go back to the old way we worked was a curious thought.

01:17But I think it worked out pretty well.

01:18It feels good, and I don't know.

01:22You got any?

01:23It seems, for me, I think it's really, just at least from an internal ideology standpoint,

01:29it's reignited kind of the rock focus of the band.

01:33So I think when we play now, we're kind of more on the balls of our feet, like rocking,

01:40as opposed to tentative, kind of calculus, now we're just trying to rock again.

01:46Yeah, we're definitely back to the rock.

01:48Rock feels good, yes.

01:49What do you think about the state of rock these days, because people love to say that

01:52rock is dead, and I mean, if you look at, let's say, streams and things like that, it's

01:55definitely not what's driving people to the bigger festivals or whatever, but what do

01:59you think of the state of rock these days, because I honestly don't think it could ever

02:02die.

02:04I think rock is about to have an explosive comeback.

02:09First of all, we've erased the gatekeepers that told everybody, you know, the hipster

02:15stuff in the basement was where music was going.

02:18Well, if you look at who goes to see rock, who goes to see concerts in large numbers,

02:24you know, look at the tour we just did with Green Day, the tour sold over 800,000 tickets.

02:30People want to hear music played by bands, young or old, and rock is always at the foundational

02:37spirit of that.

02:38And of course, there's rock in every other genre, but rock is very specific to a specific

02:43audience for a specific set of reasons, and we've had it here for 20, 25 years, a bunch

02:48of hipsters tell everyone that what rock was is not as meaningful as what somebody is doing

02:54in their basement.

02:55I'm sorry.

02:56And so now we're back to the point where the business has finally woken up and realized

02:59that the sleeping giant they've been looking for is at K-Rock and is with the great, great

03:04rock bands.

03:05Amen.

03:06I want to take a minute to highlight that tour that you did.

03:08The Pumpkins went on tour with Green Day, Rancid, and the Linda Lindas who played earlier.

03:13They're amazing, by the way.

03:14I just want to recognize those girls.

03:15Amazing young band.

03:16Really amazing young band.

03:17But that's a powerhouse tour, and a lot of times egos get in the way and whatnot, but

03:22you all did it so graciously, and you all went and you owned your time.

03:27What was the highlight of that tour for all of you?

03:30I mean, I think everybody had fun and it was just very positive and there was no drama

03:37and it was just like Ray playing like huge baseball stadiums and a lot of different kinds

03:44of people saw.

03:45So it was great.

03:46It was really good.

03:47It was probably the nicest, funnest tour we've ever been on.

03:52And thanks to Green Day, the three boys in Green Day, they treated everybody like gold.

03:57Their world was fantastic and it was an honor to share the stage with them.

04:01How do you all keep your mental health grounded these days as the world turns in chaos sometimes?

04:06What do you do to make sure that your head's on straight?

04:08Well, I write depressing records, so let's get that out of the way.

04:12How about you?

04:14I've started following different kinds of sports.

04:17Sports?

04:18I've been following the NBA now more lately.

04:21Okay.

04:22Was that not like you?

04:24NHL.

04:25Well, I like baseball a lot, but now I'm just getting into all sports.

04:29I'm just going to stop looking at the news.

04:31It's a good idea.

04:32It's a great idea, Jimmy.

04:36Jump on my Ducati.

04:37Dude.

04:38Done and done.

04:39You're a motorcycle guy.

04:40I like the plug.

04:41That was a good plug.

04:42Before I let you go, if you could go back and tell the younger versions of yourself

04:45when you first started, just one piece of advice, what would it be?

04:52Just keep doing what you're doing.

04:54Yeah.

04:55Just keep going.

04:56Keep going.

04:57Just a little less of it, though.

04:58Just a little more of it.

04:59I keep on trucking.

05:00Because one day, you'll end up playing K-Rock's 33rd annual Almost Acoustic Christmas, and

05:04thank you so much for it.

05:05Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

05:06Thank you, K-Rock.

05:07The Smashing Pumpkins!

05:08Thank you, K-Rock fans.

05:09Thank you, everybody.

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