Billy Corgan says he is back on talking terms with all the original Smashing Pumpkins members as he ponders a possible reunion.
The Pumpkins frontman has recently rekindled his relationship with original bassist D’Arcy Wretzky after not speaking to her in 17 years. And he is also in contact with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and guitarist James Iha, although he insists they won’t rush into a reunion of that lineup.
In a video posted on Facebook, Corgan says: “We’re back in contact again, the band. I’ve been in communication with D’Arcy for the first time in 16 or 17 years. It’s awesome to have my friend back.
“So we’re all in communication, which as I said not too long ago, my primary interest in the old band was us having good relationships again.
“When you get to the point where you’re in communication, and the relationships are good again, and it’s a good vibe, you yourself, and people around you who know what’s going on, start saying: ‘Is the band going to get back together?’
“We’re not at that point, and I think that’s a good thing. We’re not rushing to something. We have to repair some things between us, and see what’s out there for us.
“We’re not interested, nor have we ever been interested, in just going out to play because there’s a big stack of money there.
“Of course, the business is part of what goes on, but the band was never about that, and if the band should ever be again in that form, in some iteration, obviously because there’s other people involved, because it would be about the music. So speculate away, because that’s from me, not an anonymous source.”
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He continues: “There’s excitement there that surrounds the idea that maybe there’s the possibility that we will get back together, but until you hear it coming from my mouth that the band is getting back together and we will play dates, my primary concern is the family relationships of the band that are ultimately so much more important.
“I can tell you without a doubt that if that band ever gets back onstage, it will be about music, it will be about playing music that fans love, and that we love.”
Wretzky left the Pumpkins in 1999 with Iha following a year later. Chamberlin has been in and out of the group over the years, most recently rejoining in 2015.
The Pumpkins released ninth album Monuments To An Elegy in 2014.
In January, Corgan said he’d never reunite the original Pumpkins lineup as such reunions rarely deliver on their promise.
