Onstage, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan cuts an imposing figure.
His towering, bald-headed frame shrouded in floor-length coats and a distinctive voice that meshes a bellow with a whine are forever linked with the alt-grunge-goth-rock that thundered through the ‘90s.
In conversation, Corban is soft-spoken and thoughtful as he chats from his historic 1920’s home just north of his native Chicago.
He’s readying his new solo project, Billy Corgan and The Machines of God, which also includes recently recruited Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Kiki Wong, drummer Jake Hayden and bassist Kid Tigrrr (aka Jenna Fournie).
The quartet will hit the road June 7 in Baltimore for the monthlong A Return to Zero tour, where they will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Pumpkins’ seminal “Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness” album. Along with the many hits spawned from the diamond-certified release (“1979,” “Tonight, Tonight” and “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” among them), The Machines of God will also tackle songs from the double album “Machina/The Machines of God” and “Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music” – both being remixed and rereleased this summer – as well as 2024’s “Aghori Mhori Mei.”
