The Smashing Pumpkins frontman sat down with Blunt as he tours the east coast as part of the Good Things Festival, where he’s performing as a solo artist and headlining with the likes of Korn and Electric Callboy.
In an uncut chat, he spoke about how he feels the industry has changed dramatically since the heyday of the late 80s and early 90s when he and the Smashing Pumpkins were navigating their path.
“We’re dealing in 2024 in everything with AI to young artists not being paid by streaming services if they don’t get enough spins or clicks or whatever… the use of social media to try to market but because everybody’s doing it, it seems like a big yelling din,” he said.
“A lot of great artists are being pointed in one direction, and of course it works for certain artists, but artists like outselves, we would’ve never fit in American Idol. Social media would have been very strange, we grew up in a generation where it was about being yourself and doing music.
“Now people pretend to be themselves to get attention. If you look at a lot of interviews of a lot of the grunge era bands, including korn who are playing here today, we all crawled out of sweres and stuff, we were not groomed for pop/Disney stardom.”
Corgan said he gets hit up by young artists asking for tips and advice, and had just finished emailing one before his chat with Blunt. He said the key for artists these days was to maintain their authenticity and carve their own path.
“I really feel for these young artists because they’re going to get all the wrong advice. Most the advice you’re going to get as a young artist really only takes you about halfway up the mountain. and the thing that got you halfway up the moutnain is the reason you can’t go to the top of the mountain.
Watch the full interview with Billy Corgan below:
MORE IN Music
