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Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan talks new solo album, his 'faith in music'

Though Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has worked on a number of different projects aside from the band that made him famous, “Ogilala” technically marks only his second proper solo album.

The first from Corgan, who grew up in Glendale Heights, was 2005's “TheFutureEmbrace,” which favored electronic elements years before they became the sound du jour. Unlike that album, the just-released “Ogilala” is a decidedly unadorned affair, featuring 11 songs that rely primarily on the backing of vocals by only piano and/or acoustic guitar.

It's also the first album released under his full name: William Patrick Corgan.

Corgan will play songs from that album, as well as his career with the Smashing Pumpkins, at shows Oct. 24 and 25 at Chicago's Athenaeum Theatre.

To create “Ogilala,” Corgan worked with famed producer Rick Rubin, known for his laid-back, stripped-down approach.

“He has a way of figuring out sort of the heart of the artist that he works with: What is it they're trying to say, he helps them say in a way that seems to be more definitive somehow,” said Corgan.

Another person who looms large over “Ogilala” is David Bowie. Corgan got to know the vastly influential artist over the years and, during the last few Smashing Pumpkins tours, put his own spin on “Space Oddity.”

Opening “Ogilala,” “Zowie” acts as his latest tribute.

“David just was a touchstone for so many artists on so many levels: esthetically, romantically, his androgyny, his image, his staging and then of course his musical innovation,” Corgan said.

“(He) ended up making some really good records towards the end of his life. Really important work. A lot of artists aren't able to pull it together past 50 and make really strong records that touch people,” Corgan explained. “And what's amazing about even his last record is it touched a lot of young people. That's pretty fantastic.”

Corgan turned 50 in March, and his decision to release Ogilala under the name William Patrick Corgan, as opposed to Billy, is symbolic of the maturity that comes with hitting that age, establishing in the process sort of a new artistic identity.

“If you would've told me 30 years ago, 'Yeah, when you're 50, you'll still be putting out albums,' (I would've thought), 'Oh, I must've done something right,'” Corgan said. “But the path I took to get here, the mistakes I've made - the good things, the bad things - that whole journey is so strange. It's almost hard to put into any kind of words. And the only way that you can kind of define it seems to be by still picking up a guitar and singing a new song.”

Since that first solo album, Corgan has gotten married and had a child (who graces the “Ogilala” cover) and the songs on the new record reflect that personal growth. And, as he moves past 50, Corgan is aware the music matters as much as it ever has.

Billy Corgan's latest solo album, released under the name William Patrick Corgan, features a photo of his son on the cover.

“Somehow, my faith in music is why I bothered. I certainly didn't bother for all the other stuff … I didn't care enough about the process of fame to curate it in the way you're supposed to,” Corgan said. “I said a lot of things you're not supposed to say. And I did a lot of things you're not supposed to do. Because I just didn't think it was that important. The fact that I'm still willing to pick up a guitar and write another song means I still have faith in that process above all others.”

Only one other artist besides Corgan performs on the “Ogilala” album: former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist, and one-time Elk Grove Village resident, James Iha. Iha performed with the band until their initial 2000 breakup but didn't perform alongside Corgan again until a series of Smashing Pumpkins concerts last year.

“'(In the beginning) it was literally just me and him in the bedroom talking about records and listening to the latest thing we got from Wax Trax! and kind of dreaming,” said Corgan of his formative suburban experiences alongside Iha prior to finding fame in Smashing Pumpkins. “When you can kind of come full circle, and go back to that and go back to, 'Hey, I've got these songs I think you would add something to. Do you want to play on them?' That reestablishment of our relationship was really powerful to me.”

Today, despite an often tenuous relationship with the Chicago area - Corgan graduated from Glenbard North High School in 1985 and claims he's never been invited back - Corgan is raising a family and running a business (Madame Zuzu's teahouse) in Highland Park. His relationship to the area, he admits, is “fractious” and includes a dispute dating back to 1998, when the city turned down the Pumpkins' request to hold a free fundraising concert at the Taste of Chicago.

“I do wrestle with the notion of still being related to Chicago and, by extension, related to the Chicago suburbs,” Corgan said.

“I think after everything that happened in the '90s - it was obviously so explosive and crazy. And I certainly made a lot of mistakes and said a lot of silly things ... But I'm still here. I still love my city and I still care about our community.”

William Patrick Corgan

<b>When:</b> 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 24-25

<b>Where:</b> Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, (773) 935-6875, athenaeumtheatre.com

<b>Tickets:</b> $65-$75

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