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Without further ado, here is the transcript of the live chat with Billy and James on the 14th of July, 1999, starting at 6:00 pm CT:
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Billy we will commence in 2 mins. the band has arrived!!!!!
Billy is everybody ready??????
Billy ok, one question at a time please...
Bquestion erinbryan hi i just want to say that i love you and seeing you at the 930 club was incredible. i went thru hell to get tix and i ended up paying $60 each but i got pished up front near james and it was incredible!!!!! i love you!!! why did you choose to do la dolly vita? and do you listen to Gish much because Billy forgot the words to Siva at the show and started to sing "who do you love?"
Billy we played la dolly vita to get back to the good old days of rocking and singing sweet songs...but i'm old now and i often forget the words
Bquestion Beefman Why wasn't La Dolly Vita included on Gish?
James DayDream WHat would you say to someone who wants to start a band with a sound that no one has ever heard of before, something new, something different with no labels attached, but can't find anybody who wants and feels the same way and care as much about music and the band?
Billy we decided to not put la dolly vita on gish because we didn't feel we could top the sub pop version...and we wanted only new things...
Bquestion aussie 'I Am One was the first kind of 'pumpkins song', how did you make the transition of making songs like that other than songs like 'Not Worth Asking'?
James Good Luck. I'm Just kidding, I think it's great if you have a unique sound and a unique idea about music, it just takes a lot of patience to get recognized.
Billy we actually had many more "rock" songs before i am one, but it was probably the first definitive pumpkin rock song...that transition happened when we started to have confidence in our own sound
Bquestion Dawn2Dusk i have heard many of the outtakes from the Gish period like Jennifer Ever, East++ Why werent any of these great songs released??
Billy i suppose those songs will be released someday, but at the time they seemed very passe...now they seem fresh again
Bquestion setraytojerry if there's one thing you could do with the recording of Gish over again, what would it be?
James SMASHINGPUMPKIN What do you think you would be doing if none of you ever met?
Billy believe it or not, i wouldn't change much...i wished maybe i could have written a few more new songs at that time...
Bquestion virginia Were any of the songs on Gish "chemically" enhanced?
Billy yes, we often scrubbed the tapes with draino
James I suppose I would be in college still, writing many papers and reading many books about botany, psychology, and rock mythology. Maybe I would still be living at home with my parents, who happen to be very nice people.
Bquestion Krishna For Billy: There was a period when you wrote songs with amazing dynamic, stylistic, and structural changes throughout that helped push up the level on your music. I've noticed from the Arising tour songs and Adore that this is no longer something you try to do. Why is that?
James virginia Were any of the songs on Gish "chemically" enhanced?
Billy people often question why we bothered to change, but i think that a question like this almost answers itself...we were as great as we could be at those types of songs, and we bored with them and moved on...it's called progress, but people often see progression as regression, but i feel we have always moved forward...
James At the time, I was drinking a lot of diet pepsi, now don't go judging me too quickly, I had a lot of stress, music, and college papers to finish. If I can be candid, I also had a few latte's down at the local cafe.
Jquestion Wea re only 7 minutes into it.
Bquestion thereitgoes Will the only Gish outtake, Jesus Loves His Babies, ever be released?
Billy i lied...there are more...
James Suffer27 Hey Bolly, what is that heart or symbol on the back of Gish????
James Who the hell is Bolly?
Bquestion Rocketnino What is your favorite Gish-era song to perform live?
James Rocketnino What is your favorite Gish-era song to perform live?
Billy i would have to say that siva was probably the best live song from that era...and it seems in my addled mind that we played many different versions of that song
James On the last tour we did, we really enjoyed playing "I am One". It was surprisingly fresh and fun to play.
Bquestion ComeToNewZealand Pre-Gish, was their a key event that got the band noticed?
James g60girl what kind of cars do you guys drive?
James I have a Volvo.
James lunatriste Whats the new album going to be called?
James I have a Volvo.
Billy i think what changed everything for the band before pre-gish was recording our own demos in this guy's basement...we spent all our money to record 19 songs, and that is when everything changed for us
Bquestion lorenaluna Why 'i'm going crazy' was added at the end of daydream?
James Marek I've heard that Billy started playing guitar because his father was a jazz guitarist.... James, what got you started on guitar?
Billy because we really were going and have gone crazy
Bquestion bidazzled where did the name tristessa come from?
Billy a jack kerouac book of the same name
Bquestion AnkhRaid the sacred heart that appears in the back of Gish says "Souvenir de Ste-Anne de Beaupré". did you ever go there?
Billy i went there once in a dream... a woman spoke to me...her name was lillian...she said you shall play the rock, and it will make many cry not so real tears...then many years later you will ask...what happened?
Bquestion BABYJESUSES why was the bass so pronounced on Gish as opposed to your other albums?
James Friends of mine, all had guitars and I just thought it would be "cool" to play, and then I realized it was really hard to play, so it sat in my closet for a year (the guitar, that is) and then one day my friends came over to "jam", so I was forced to "jam" and it was pretty exciting, and from being forced to play, I learned how to play guitar. This dates back to pre-school.
Billy that was before we realized we wanted the guitars really loud all the time
Bquestion disarmed for billy and james: looking back over 10 years time, what do you think Gish stood for and offered for audiences and for you as a band then, and what artistic or personal insights does it offer you as a band at present looking back upon those early days?
Billy i felt at the time that gish was ahead of it's time...of course nobody in 1991 thought so except us, but time was on our side and i'm proud it has become such an influential and respected album
Bquestion Jennipher hey Billy,what was that bell thingy around your neck in the jacket to Gish?
James justsaymaybe what was it like to have gish released along with other albums like nevermind by nirvana and ten by pearl jam
Billy i think i've answered this before, but i wore those bells for two years to remind me, over and over again, to remember
Bquestion virginia Many people have the opinion that the guitar solo on Tristessa is one of the best ever. Do you agree?
Billy no i do not...i'd have to lean towards the aeroplane flies high or cherub rock
Bquestion Bryan Will I get to see you guys at Woodstock next week????
Billy no, because they offered jewel more money
James There was a lot of really good music during the early 90s and Nirvana and Pearl Jam certainly had great records. It was very exciting to play with bands of their caliber during that time, although it was never a competition between any of these bands. Basically because none of us sounded the same,
except for the loud guitars.
Bquestion Joe Billy - Can we ever expect to see something like a Gish/Siamese Dream anniversary show? Or maybe even a tour? You have been my favorite band ever since lolla, and I really miss seeing a lot of those songs played live. The last two times I saw you guys in Detroit, it was 95% new
material.. Is that how its going to be from now on?
Billy actually the next tour is going to be a marked reunion
Bquestion silvercrank Is there a meaning behind the word "Gish," or is it just a nonsense word?
Billy the meaning of the word gish is i don't i will i was
James Selidan I want to thank both of you for giving us something to listen to and relate with instead of being stuck with Ricky Martin and Backstreet Boys songs.. and I'm not sure if this question already got through or not, but what
lessons did you learn in the making of gish that contributed to the success of the band?
Bquestion auroraelentari How was Butch Vig patient during the making of gish?
Billy he had one of those electric cattle prods...he used that everytime something was out of tune
James Maybe you can help us out - I heard that the Backstreet Boys and Ricky Martin love Gish. We also heard that "The Boys" covered "I am One".
James Noetic How is bugg?
James Bugg is fantastic. He's a good man. Actually, he's a good dog.
Billy i hate to be redundant...but this is a gish chat...
Bquestion petzold113 what is the song snail about.....what did u write it about?
Billy snail is about this little guy i found on the beach one day, i took him home, and now he plays in that chicago band local h
Bquestion starlazero The lyrical similarities between I Am One and some of the new songs are noticable. Did Billy realize that?
Billy everysong is ripped off from every other song
Bquestion Snailboy During Gish, what was your favorite moment during the whole recording process??
Billy when the album was all done, at 7 a.m., and i went into a corner and fell asleep on my book bag
Bquestion hello Is there any hidden messages in any of the Gish songs?
Billy yes, if you listen to rhinocerous backwards, it says..."listen to adore"
Bquestion frajenstra Do you two miss anything about the gish and pre gish days?
Billy i miss when it was simpler to just get in a van and drive to a show...to play new music and not have people wonder what does it mean in context with the old...the simplicity is what i miss
Bquestion Lily4142 what do you think is the most powerful track on Gish?
Billy i would have to say snail
Bquestion PiscesDream Billy, on the cover of Gish, your hat looks like it has a little Star Of David on it. I can't make it out clearly, so I could be wrong, but is that what it is? What is that suppossed to symbolize?
Billy don't you know...i'm jewish
James ZERO how did you feel playing with Jane's Addiction when you were just a "new band"?
Bquestion RYANSWAIN Billy, what was it like opening for THE RHCP back during the GISH era?
James It was the first time we played with a real heavy band, and they were awesome. It really opened our eyes in using a heavier sound to get the music across.
Billy it was great...they treated us with so much respect, and so many of the shows from all three bands were great
Bquestion 365 Are there studio recordings of songs you played live like What You Wanted and I Am My End?
Billy no unfortunately, there are not
Bquestion paranoid how much and how long did it take to make gish?
Billy the album cost about 30, 000 dollars and took 46 days from start to finish
James Pumpkinxyu The million dollar question: What does James say before "Bury Me", if it is James at all?
Bquestion Snailboy WHen you recorded Gish, Did you have any problems????
James "Unchain, unchain..."
Billy yeah, we were totally broke and i lived with a smelly hippie
Bquestion somagrl did the band get along during the recording of gish?
James shaunkardinal who's toes are those in the picture of bugg, in gish?
James I believe those are my toes.
Billy yes, we got along great...and as a matter of fact we've always gotten along great...all the rest is media hype
Bquestion Luminus Billy: When are those meanings to the lyrics going to be done? :)
Billy what lyrics???
James BillyLoon How is Bugg doing? Does he still hang out with the band?
James Bugg still has his "paw" in executive managing the band.
Bquestion Brett How long did it take you all to play old songs again with Jimmy back in the band?
Billy believe it or not, everybody remembered all the old songs on the first try
Bquestion Dahlia To Billy- how does it feel hearing the Gish songs after so many years?
James mrglynis When you were recording Gish and touring , what did most of your meals consist of? Considering money was tight, I would assume lots and lots of twinkies.
Billy when i listen to gish...it makes me think of us rehearsing with no heat, getting lost in the van, eating shitty pizza because that was the free food the club had promised us...we spent alot of time together, and that's what i hear when i see gish
Bquestion evanaaron Billy, I hate Gish
James We got 20 dollars per day to eat when we were on tour, so we ate a lot of junk. I imagine there were some twinkies involved.
Billy before gish, i would say we have about 50 songs...many that have never been bootlegged
Bquestion farr1604 Can we change the subject to the new album>?
Billy what new album???
Bquestion PUMPKINHEADZERO what band influenced you the most to create the "gish sound"
Billy black sabbath
Bquestion amiran What Gish song took the most time to record and why?
Billy probably rhinocerous...i think it took 38 days
Bquestion Jellybely have you ever noticed that the Collective Soul song "Heaven let your light shine down" sounds JUST like the into to Snail
Billy yeah, it's ironic that he had the same inspiration at the same moment as me
Bquestion Bert For billy and james: At the beginning of bury me, there's someone saying something like "Boys, let's do it" right before the bass kicks in, who is that, and what the hell does he/she say?
Billy it benjamin disraeli, former prime minister of great britain, saying not now edith
Bquestion philbaena Billy, what was ur last job before you went into recording gish?
Billy i was working at a used record shop that sold show tunes
James omar1 James what is the one most thing you enjoy out of life?
Bquestion Dagger79 what is the impression you would like people get you listening Gish from beginning till the end?
James I enjoy being completely domestic, grocery shopping, walking Bugg, and Rocking the world. I guess that's 3 things.
Billy i would hope that they would be taken on a mystikal journey of digital warlocks and analog martyrs
Bquestion petzold113 why does everyone look so strung out on the gish cover?
Billy cheap drugs
Bquestion Naomi Where is the red van?????
Billy i sold it to my dad, and he still has it
Bquestion QuietSiege WHAT SIZE BRA DOES DARCY WEAR?
Bquestion LucidLies a friend of mine told me that he saw you guys in iowa in a small club during gish era, and that you smashed pumpkins all over the place and the manager got pissed and made you clean it up..is this true or is he a fucking liar?
Bquestion clubconnectcherub where does the song "jackie blue" fit into the gish era equation? was it to get your name out or to make some money?
Bquestion Cobbe Did you tour with Gish in Europe?
Billy yes, we toured for about six weeks during the early part/winter of 92, and i still say it was the best the band ever played
Bquestion Mercury A lot of these qiestions could be easily answered by the interview posted on this site. Doesn't this piss you off?
Bquestion FaerieScab During the recording of Gish, was it like a close knit family working together towards a common goal, or did you guy fight a lot, pulled each other's hair, and called each other names??
James zero33 how do you feel about computer?
Bquestion DragonMaster
Bquestion UhDayNuh What do you think of the new trend of the boy bands?
Bquestion gishyfish do you believe in fate?
Bquestion Galla WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THESES STUPID QUESTIONS YOU`RE GETTING ASKED?????
James It is your friend, and your enemy. I have a computer at home, but my roomate uses it. One day I will understand the Internet and the world of computers but for the moment I still use pen and paper for writing songs, organization, and letter writing. Also I don't type very well. My friend Adam is typing for me.
Bquestion KMan Do you guys like pro wrestling? If so who is your favorite wrestler?
Billy my fave is mankind/wwf...greatest wrestler of all time
Bquestion Anya do you say "hose" after "she knows" in rhinoceros? and why?
Bquestion SadPeterPan i heard saying that you like "Placebo" ..... are they an influence for you?
James somagrl when you did gish, did you seem to get a lot of calls from highschool friends?
Bquestion William If you were on a deserted island, who would you like to be with, Britney Spears or Jennifer Lopez?
Bquestion billysgurl do you love me???
Billy yes i love you very much
Bquestion metaljay what exactly does "the world is a vampire " mean to you guys?
Bquestion hailrobot Billy, before you became one, how did you envision yourself looking as a future rock star
James Over the years, and especially during Gish and Siamese, a lot of high school people I knew came out of the woodwork. There was one concert where the "Bully" of our school called me out of the blue asking for tickets, and I was told after the concert that he called and I wondered why are you calling when you used to hate me. Well, he didn't just hate me, he hated everyone.
Bquestion Jeannot do you think you're a "grunge" band, again ?
James Ophelia Billy and James: what are your favorite bands at this point in time? And are you into all of the new death pop stuff?
James What is "new death pop stuff"? That sounds wild. I think we will name the new album that. Thank you.
Bquestion petzold113 does david letterman like gish?
Bquestion GhostChild These questions suck.. James.. Billy.. will u guys marry me?
Bquestion dross which Saturday morning cartoon influenced Gish the most, if any?
James MarySH5 Who played the woodblock on crush?
Bquestion William Billy if you trapped in a box with three other people, who would they be?
Billy james...d'arcy...and jimmy of course
Bquestion mastercolin what are the odds of actually getting a question answered?
Billy 999,999,999,999,999,999,765,778,665 to 1
Bquestion petzold113 are all these stupid questions pissing you off?
James melalocka dronaish. He is a mystical figure in the Wisconsin musical scene, Butch Vig is his cousin. It sounds easy, but the woodblock is incredibly hard to play.
Bquestion CorganLover I don't think anyone's getting that cymbal today, are they?
Bquestion Beefman you guys like Metallica???
Jquestion James is sifting through thousands of questions, so he has picked out many of the older questions.
James RYANSWAIN Did you realize how blessed you were to have Jimmy as a drummer when he first joined??
Billy i think we're going to go now...
Billy i mean i love you and stuff...but
James I realized how blessed we were when he failed to show up for the next practice.
Bquestion mastercolin Billy: do you like gay people?
James somagrl what does the song "i am one " mean?
Bquestion LadyKarma Are you listed in the phone book?
James Got me, I've been playing the damn song for 10 years, still don't know what the hell it's about. Good riff though.
Billy by the way, i was born in chicago...james is from elk grove
Bquestion Tebor On I&I with muchmusic you talked a little about aliens. Are you a believer?
Billy ok, we will stay on for a couple more minutes...but the questions???
Bquestion Iam1asUR3 Billy: does it bother you when others say you are anal, or a prick?
Billy i wanna say wassup to all the ladies
Bquestion SP33 Billy, can we move back to the "Gish" chat?
Bquestion dirty billy ,all the strippers in sf love you come visit us!
Billy pour some sugar on me
James LostSoul hey james what is it like to be so big now??
Bquestion ILikeMayonaise PLEEEASE JUST SAY HI TO ME
Billy hi...how are you today? i'm fine thanks...the album is moving along, thanks, and i'll be over real soon to eat your mom's cookies
Bquestion YourMomSP are u guys ever going to do an online chat session ever again?
Bquestion channy Billy, this chat fucking sucked, thanks a lot, now I know you don't really give a shit about a lot of things.
James I have to eat quite a bit of food these days, more than when we were just beginning. Kidding aside, I'd like to think we're all basically the same as we used to be, besides the Hummvie stretch limo in the back yard.
Billy i love all our fans the same...if you are tired, i am tired too, if you are cranky, i will be cranky with you
Bquestion phew i wish u guys failed to show up for this chat
Bquestion SlobadonMilosivich DOES IT SCARE YOU THAT I AM GOING TO NUKE USA?
Billy ok, last chance to win that special autographed cymbal, we still don't have a winner
Bquestion kel are the questions really that bad?
Bquestion cesar do you hold grudges
Bquestion sweetsweet
Bquestion Demigod Billy, Did you do college? And if so, did you try out for any teams?
James Czarina James, on Vieuphoria, you talked (joked) about the shoes the other members wore? Do you really feel that way?
James It was just a joke. I think.
Billy maybe we should make the cymbal contest a trivia contest
James gished for James, how is Scratchy records coming along???
James scratchie records 2.0 is coming.
Bquestion GeekUSA Do you beleive in god billy?
Billy hello? is there anyone out there...if you're out there...say hell yeah
Billy hello to all my peeps!!!
Billy cause stone cold says so
Billy hip hop fuckin hooray
James icecreamtruck i thought this was gish chat?
Bquestion meladori will you bear my children?
Bquestion snail what do you expect? i think were all dumdfouned and getty at the prospect of talking to you
James I have to apologize, it's quite hard to remember it all, so I'm trying to pick a few interesting questions.
Billy ok, are you ready for your trivia question???? to win an autographed cymbal!!! here we go!!!!
Billy first one to answer this question will win!!!!
Billy name the venue of the very first smashing pumpkins gig...with just james and billy playing under the name smashing pumpkins???
Billy yes, it was a polish bar...
Billy the name please
James QuietSiege Billy and James, My mom want to know if you like to listen to Bruce Springsteen or especially Bob Dylan?
Billy ok...we have a wiener
Billy of course you are all winners with us
Billy thanks for this lively discussion about a very important time in our life...love you all
Billy oh, and by the way...about the new album...if you're interested????
Billy the name of the new album is......
Bquestion hoser cihcago 21
James I think they're both fine song writers, and I'm sure they both own copies of Gish, our groundbreaking CD that we are currently discussing. My guess is, they probably ripped us off mercilessly through the early 90's. I might be pushing it to say the late 60's and 70's, because we didn't have an album out but I think Rob and the Boss understand this.
Billy hoser is the winner of the cymbal, hoser, what is your e-mail address???
Billy bye bye everybody...the new album will be out soon, and there will be no more crying about the good old rock and roll days...okay? okay...see you on the other side of a marshall stack.........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Billy the answer to the question was chicago 21...located at the corner of belmont and austin avenue in chicago....
James It has been my pleasure answering a handful of Gish Era questions, and just joking around with some others. We appreciate your support, and hope you'll be around for our new album, tentatively titled "The Great Pizza". Love to you all, James. I'm sorry about that last joke I just made. Thanks, Good night.
Billy oh, and by the way...our next chat will be about lawncare, and is scheduled for august 15th at 11:30 malaysian time
*** This session has ended ***
Wed, 14 Jul 1999