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

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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