MTV 1996 Video Music Awards Interview with the Smashing Pumpkins

MTV: How are you going to divide 7 statuettes up among 3 people exactly?

D'Arcy: We're going to have to cut those things up, those awards.

Billy: We'll give the flags to the families.

D'Arcy: Cut the heads off, cut the legs off.

Billy: No disrespect to MTV though.

MTV: Oh, God no. Does this mean anything to you? Do you take it seriously, or is just a nice thing?

Billy: Umm, we've never been nominated for much of anything, so we have that kind of like cynical awards show thing..

D'Arcy: It's like, oh we're not gonna win, who cares? And then when you do, it's like, wow that's really cool!

Billy: You're like, that's the best thing that's ever happened to me. No, it's nice because we're at a point like we're still trying to convince people who normally buy alternative music, or our kind of music, to listen to us, and things like this do get people to go, you know maybe I will listen to it so..

James: We're done with that, we're done with that.

Billy: Totally done with that.

MTV: (to James and D'Arcy) Now you guys are starting Scratchie Records and are signing new bands that don't sound...

Billy: Wait! I've gotta say I can't believe all the press this label is getting. I'm stunned. Being an observer..

D'Arcy: We have good bands. We rock. They rock.

James: Scratchie is uhh, it's uhh..

MTV: You don't sign bands that we hear everyday on the radio I would assume, right? Are there a lot of those bands out there?

James: No, not necessarily. They're really good. We've signed a couple of rock bands, but they're not very run-of-the-mill alternative rock bands, and one of them being the Frogs', who's drummer/singer is now our keyboard player and um, they're definitely not your average alternative rock band. They sing about interesting subjects.

MTV: What could you possibly mean by that?

Billy: As it said recently in a Rolling Stone, the controversial band the Frogs'. Woah

James: And naturally, Billy might produce their next album.

Billy: What? No.

MTV: No, well perhaps.

Billy: Move on.

MTV: Well the possibly opens up now..

James: Right.

MTV: Now you'll at some point have new musicians in the band. Will the music change?

Billy: We were planning on doing that anyway. I mean, anyone who's been paying attention over the course of our 3 records, even though its basically been rock, we've been evolving into grander and grander schemes. And we've reached a point where the guitar thing really can't serve the depth of the music, so we're getting more into technology. We're going do dance house, techno..

James: Rock music is so passé.