Billy Quotes - '93
Q : "What's Today about?"
Billy : "Suicide, suicidal tendencies."
Q : "Do you still have them?"
Billy : "Not at the moment, no."
'The Great Pumpkin That Never Arrived', Jun '93
Q : "What about Spaceboy?"
Billy : "That's about my little brother. He's an interesting character. It's kind of about how he's different. He has physical handicap, it's hard to explain. He has a rare chromosomal disorder, it gives him a some what different genetic make up. He has different physical and mental problems and yet somehow by all accounts, I'm physically and mentally OK. But I feel our lives are the similar."
'The Great Pumpkin That Never Arrived', Jun '93
Billy : "If I was objective, I'd say that Disarm is the most amazing thing on the record. It doesn't sound like anything else on there, it sounds so brutally honest."
'The Great Pumpkin That Never Arrived', Jun '93
Billy : "Well the basic story is that the great pumpkin is suppose to come on Halloween and make everybody's Halloween great. So all the kids go outside to the pumpkin patch and wait for the great pumpkin, and it never arrives, and everybody is disappointed. We're going to be 'The Great Pumpkin That Never Arrived.' "
'The Great Pumpkin That Never Arrived', Jun '93
Billy : "Now that I feel a little more comfortable about my ability to write a song, I feel a lot more daring in terms of what I can do sonically. Songwriting goes beyond trends. A good song is eternal."
Guitar World, Sep '93
Billy : "It's (Soma) about the girlfriend who left me last year. I tried to put all my anger in those words, even though i'm just as much to blame for the break- up. Soma is based on the idea that a love relation is almost the same as opium (drugs): it slowly puts you to sleep, it soothes you, and gives you the illusion of sureness and security. Very deceivable."
The Netherlands, Jun 10 '93
Billy : "When we formed as a band. We weren't a jammie type band. We wrote songs, and then brought them to the band. We weren't the kind of band who wrote the songs as a jammie band. So, to open it up like we have is kind of like a new thing for us. What aspect it brings out of us is kind funny, because it just depends on night to night. Because if your angry it sorta has more of an edge. If your feeling alittle more lovey, then it tends to be a little softer in places. The best thing about it is it is an honest interperation of your feelings, filtered through the meaning of songs. And doing that personally it's made my life a lot easier, because I don't have to get up and pertend to be something I'm not. If i'm angry I get up play my songs angry. It lends a depth to songs that maybe wouldn't be there if I din't have those emotions. Conversly no one is seeing me up there with a propt up smile, aching to put on rock moves that I don't really believe in ya know?"
'On The Edge', Oct 3 '93
Billy : "We weren't blessed with amazing, God-given talent, so we have to work really hard. But also, we didn't come to make people laugh. We come to kick their butts. It's like a mini paramilitary unit."
The Netherlands, Dec 11 '93
Billy : "I feel like we are the square peg trying to be stuck into the round hole. We're not a hit song kind of a band. Our songs aren't three-minute pop hits. We're being taken as if we're part of this rat race: the "next big band" rat race, the "next Nirvana" rat race."
The Netherlands, Dec 11 '93
Billy : "We accept the inherent limitations of our music in terms of mass culture. Mass culture is not necessarily gonna embrace the Smashing Pumpkins."
Chicago Tribune Arts Section, Jul 25 '93
The Netherlands, Dec 11 '93
Billy : "When Siamese Dream was finished, the people of the record company immediately wanted to talk about the first-single choice. I wanted Cherub Rock as first single, they wanted Today. I mean, I created a monstrous emotional piece of art of an hour and the only thing people wanted to talk about was a song I wrote in 10 minutes."
The Netherlands, Dec 11 '93
Billy : "When I was working on the songs for Siamese Dream, I heard that little voice in my head plenty of times: just write that one f***ing world hit ! But I thought it was foolish; I tried it for a little while, but I gave it up quick enough. I just didn't care anymore, not even if every song would last 7 minutes. Because then it would at least come from the source, not from a commercial point of view."
The Netherlands, Dec 11 '93
Billy : "I did it from since I was a kid, and the kid in me is still alive... Deep inside there's still that hotheaded little guy that's smarter then is good for him and who refuses to grow up. But I don't know if I should worry about that. Scholars once said that you are not grown up until you have found peace with the inner child. Well, obviously I haven't found that peace. They also said that grown-ups are nothing more then cars driven by kids. If that's true, the kids who drive me totally lost control of the steering wheel."
The Netherlands, Dec 11 '93
Billy : "To me, playing a song live is a vehicle for emotional expression. They are not vehicles to show what a great guitar player you are. That's worthless. I reall think that a 15-year-old comes to a show to feel energy and to transcend. I think what's great about us; we're willing to fall on our faces. We're willing to stretch ourselves out and break in half."
Impact Magazine, Sep '93
Billy : "I read one of those self-help therapy books, and the phrase that kept jumping out at me was, leap and the net will appear. And that's the best way to be as an artist. Go where you're afraid, go where you think you're gonna fall. And as a band, we've always pushed ourselves beyond our proficiency."
Impact Magazine, Sep '93
Billy : "And then D'arcy, I met her outside a club. I'd seen this band and I thought they were awful, and I went outside and heard this woman say, 'Wasn't that band great?' I turned around and said 'You're f***ing out of your mind.'
So we got into this argument. And at some point, she said something like 'What makes you think you know so much about music?' And as we were talking I found out she played bass. She was in a band and was living with them in a house and had to sneak out to practice."
Impact Magazine, Sep '93
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