Smashing Pumpkins Auditioning New Drummers on April 10th

Like Billy Corgan? Want to be in Smashing Pumpkins? No, these aren't trick questions. The band — essentially just Corgan at this point — will be holding an open call for drummers on April 10th in Los Angeles. Interested parties should send background info (presumably a brief bio), photographs (presumably of themselves) and performance links via e-mail to pumpkinsdrummer@gmail.com.

The Pumpkins announced the departure of longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin in a late-afternoon press release on Friday, March 20th while much of the music press was either in Austin at South By Southwest or hitting the bars for happy hour. On the 24th, Chamberlin blogged about the split, writing, "I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess. I won't pretend I'm into something I'm not. I won't do it to myself, you the fan, or my former partner. I can't just, 'Cash the check' so to speak.' " Chamberlin was Corgan's longest-running musical partner, playing on all Pumpkins albums except Adore; he even performed on Zwan's Mary Star of the Sea.

Corgan has yet to make a personal statement about the state of the Pumpkins. His last public appearance came in Washington, DC in mid-March, when he testified before a Senate committee regarding artists receiving royalties when their songs are played on the radio. According to the press release announcing Chamberlin's ousting, Corgan will hit the studio this Spring to start work on the next Pumpkins album.

Related Stories:

• Corgan's Fury: Exclusive Q&A
• Jimmy Chamberlin Explains Smashing Pumpkins Split, Says He Can't "Cash The Check"

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Song Stories

“Let My Love Open the Door”

Pete Townshend | 1980

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."

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