Billy Corgan Reunites With James Iha on New Solo Album
Next month, Billy Corgan will release his new solo album, Ogilala. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Corgan noted that it will feature an appearance from his former Smashing Pumpkins bandmate James Iha. Corgan revealed that, in addition to Iha’s appearance on the album track “The Processional,” they collaborated on another new song, which he said “will likely be a B-side.” The last time the pair collaborated on record was Smashing Pumpkins’ 2000 album Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, according to RS. Last year, they played together live.
Elsewhere in the interview, Corgan revealed that the record’s opening track “Zowie” is a tribute to David Bowie. “I was really struck by his passing,” he said. “You almost have to take a step back and be like, ‘Okay, that’s the end of a journey. What does it mean? How do we evaluate this artist now that there’s no more?’ It sort of closes the circle.”
Corgan also addressed why he chose to release the album under his full name, as opposed to his more widely known nickname (and Twitter handle). “At some point, ‘Billy’ just gets kind of weird,” he said. “First of all, I’m 50 years old.... I was obviously Billy in the band, but now I feel like that is somebody else. It’s hard to explain other than it’s like sometimes you just want to change up the wallpaper.” Read the full story here.
Ogilala was produced by Rick Rubin. It’s due out October 13 via BMG. The release will also be accompanied by Pillbox, a short film written and co-directed by Corgan. Watch the trailer below.
