I think that, long ago, the Pumpkins made an artistic descision to be so unflinchingly truthful that it was jarring to the public.
We were a very visceral band, publicly, personally asnd onstage. And we rode that storm until what was pure and from our hearts became like a cartoon. Everybody started to make assumptions about us - about who we were and what we felt. And about 18 months ago, I decided I'd had enough of it. See there's a literal difference between what I am and what I feel, and what I want people to know.
And frankly, I don't want anyone to know anything about me anymore.
Anything on Machina that seems to make an obvious reference to me is just a decoy, a way of confusing people and throwing them off the trail.
I think its safe to say that in Pumpkin World, nothing is ever as it seems.
Q. How have you changed over the past 2 years?
Billy: I think that as an
artist, I drew a line in the sand with Adore. It was my way of saying
that I wasn't gonna become a victim of the record industry and the preconceptions
of what music can be about.
I think sentimentality can
be fatal.
Q: What is Machina about?
The simple answer is 'life.' To expand on that, I can say that, if life were a room, this album would represent me walking in and checking the temperature. I'm kind of like a doctor (laughs). A more complex answer is that I'm looking at relationships and asking if they're based on true impressions or reflections of ourselves.
'We'll do anything, we're total whores', Billy talking about how him and James experimented with unorthodox ways of playing and recording instruments.
What do you think of the current music scene?
Billy: I think there's a lot of good music. I don't think that it's very challenging, and I dont think that the system that supports it and raises it up is providing much of a challenge either.
I judge music strictly on intent plus execution. For example if your intent is to follow in the footsteps of someone else, then it doesn't matter how well you execute your abilities, you will be compared to the person you're following.
Q: How would you like people to view the Pumpkins?
Billy: With complete understanding and complete acceptance. But it's not going to happen. As for any artist who has any sort of egde, it doesn't happen, there are flashes, moments where it seems like it will happen, but it doesn't.
We have the same ethic that
Elvis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard had: when everything gets boring,
destroy it, and when it gets boring again, destroy it again.