Earlier this week, former Smashing Pumpkins bassist D'Arcy Wretzky accused her former bandmate Billy Corgan of rescinding an invite to reunite the band's original lineup. After the band then released a statement saying it was in fact Wretzky who turned down the reunion, she has now opened up about the situation in a rare interview.
Speaking with Alternative Nation, the bassist called Corgan extending invites to have her rejoin the group "a complete lie," adding that "he's never invited me to anything."
She also mentioned inquiring about Corgan's recent solo tour in support of his Ogilala LP, only to have him avoid giving her any details. Wretzky told the site that Corgan "thinks it's a privilege for anyone to be in his presence, so therefore he shouldn't have to tell me, and I shouldn't have to be invited."
She also had this zinger about modern-day Corgan, saying: "Everyone said he changed since he had a kid, and he can be very charming, and fun. He's fun to talk to; I enjoy mental sparring with him. I just was so out of that world for the longest time, I wasn't aware of a lot of the crazy stuff, like he supports Trump. What? The shapeshifting thing, I honestly think he may have a brain tumour. He's always been insufferable."
Wretzky claims that she and Corgan were "never friends," recalling their arguments during her time in the band.
"He just would throw tantrums and I would laugh at him," she recalled. "[Guitarist James Iha] would say, 'Don't laugh at Billy!' Why not? Who died and made him God? We would be writing a song, and he would say, 'That's not the right bassline!' 'Oh, you're telling me it's written already?'"
She also described studio time with the band as "a fucking nightmare," revealing that she had a miscarriage because of the stress during sessions for the group's early albums.
"There's so much ugliness," Wretzky said. "Billy loved to humiliate people and shame people in front of other people. It was incredibly abusive, and I was the only one who would fight back. I think he and Jimmy got in a couple fights, and he and James maybe five, but with he and I it was screaming matches all the time. I just got to the point where I couldn't fight anymore, and I needed to leave."
Speaking of working with Corgan, she added, "There were a couple of fans, somebody told Billy that I wanted to talk to him, and gave him my phone number. He called me and left me a message. It was kind of like a Parent Trap, we got Parent Trapped. He called me, and I was thinking he wanted to talk to me, and he was thought I wanted to talk to him. It was kind of funny."
All this being said Wretzky doesn't sound entirely bitter, adding: "It took me a long time to not care, and not hate him. Now I don't hate him, I'm back to where I was at the beginning. I laugh at his antics, and I'm going to go about my own life, but I don't feel sorry for him. I do think he needs to get an MRI, though."
Yesterday (February 13), Wretzky shared text messages that were allegedly between Corgan and herself, contradicting the band's statement about her involvement in the reunion. Today, the band took to social media to hint at live dates in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles ahead of their countdown clock stopping tomorrow (February 15).
The lengthy interview also finds Wretzky recalling her departure from the group, her struggles with mental illness, her alleged drug use and what she's been up to in the years since leaving the band.
You can read her complete conversation with Alternative Nation here.
Smashing Pumpkins' early catalogue is available on vinyl through MusicVaultz, including deluxe reissues of Gish, Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariot and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
Speaking with Alternative Nation, the bassist called Corgan extending invites to have her rejoin the group "a complete lie," adding that "he's never invited me to anything."
She also mentioned inquiring about Corgan's recent solo tour in support of his Ogilala LP, only to have him avoid giving her any details. Wretzky told the site that Corgan "thinks it's a privilege for anyone to be in his presence, so therefore he shouldn't have to tell me, and I shouldn't have to be invited."
She also had this zinger about modern-day Corgan, saying: "Everyone said he changed since he had a kid, and he can be very charming, and fun. He's fun to talk to; I enjoy mental sparring with him. I just was so out of that world for the longest time, I wasn't aware of a lot of the crazy stuff, like he supports Trump. What? The shapeshifting thing, I honestly think he may have a brain tumour. He's always been insufferable."
Wretzky claims that she and Corgan were "never friends," recalling their arguments during her time in the band.
"He just would throw tantrums and I would laugh at him," she recalled. "[Guitarist James Iha] would say, 'Don't laugh at Billy!' Why not? Who died and made him God? We would be writing a song, and he would say, 'That's not the right bassline!' 'Oh, you're telling me it's written already?'"
She also described studio time with the band as "a fucking nightmare," revealing that she had a miscarriage because of the stress during sessions for the group's early albums.
"There's so much ugliness," Wretzky said. "Billy loved to humiliate people and shame people in front of other people. It was incredibly abusive, and I was the only one who would fight back. I think he and Jimmy got in a couple fights, and he and James maybe five, but with he and I it was screaming matches all the time. I just got to the point where I couldn't fight anymore, and I needed to leave."
Speaking of working with Corgan, she added, "There were a couple of fans, somebody told Billy that I wanted to talk to him, and gave him my phone number. He called me and left me a message. It was kind of like a Parent Trap, we got Parent Trapped. He called me, and I was thinking he wanted to talk to me, and he was thought I wanted to talk to him. It was kind of funny."
All this being said Wretzky doesn't sound entirely bitter, adding: "It took me a long time to not care, and not hate him. Now I don't hate him, I'm back to where I was at the beginning. I laugh at his antics, and I'm going to go about my own life, but I don't feel sorry for him. I do think he needs to get an MRI, though."
Yesterday (February 13), Wretzky shared text messages that were allegedly between Corgan and herself, contradicting the band's statement about her involvement in the reunion. Today, the band took to social media to hint at live dates in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles ahead of their countdown clock stopping tomorrow (February 15).
The lengthy interview also finds Wretzky recalling her departure from the group, her struggles with mental illness, her alleged drug use and what she's been up to in the years since leaving the band.
You can read her complete conversation with Alternative Nation here.
Smashing Pumpkins' early catalogue is available on vinyl through MusicVaultz, including deluxe reissues of Gish, Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariot and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
