Public or at least semi-public job advertisements from famous bands are not uncommon. The doctors advertised for a new bass player in 1992 (and found ex-Rainbirds musician Rodrigo Gonzalez), and Metallica even continued their search for Jason Newsted’s successor on bass in a 2003 film that featured some semi-famous string men, including Marilyn -Manson musician Twiggy Ramirez, showed in failure. Ultimately, Metallica found the lesser-known Robert Trujillo and employs him to this day.
So now the Smashing Pumpkins. “SP is looking for a new guitarist (not bass)” – “Smashing Pumpkins are looking for a new guitarist (not bass),” they write on their social media. It wasn’t until December 2023 that Jeff Schroeder – alongside founding member Billy Corgan, the band’s longest continuously active musician – announced his departure (guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin were on/off members, even though they co-founded the Pumpkins in 1989).
The new photo shows a trio of Billy Corgan, Iha and Chamberlin. Jack Bates, son of ex-New Order legend Peter Hook, is currently playing bass, but is not an official Pumpkin.
“The application process is open to anyone who is interested.” You should submit an “application” and “appropriate material”. Sounds formal. However, one should not underestimate the willingness behind choosing unknown musicians if necessary. The extraordinarily challenging successor to drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who had already left in 2008, was also taken over by a nobody: Mike Byrne, just 19 years old when he started work; Corgan was already 42 at the time. A meeting of generations.
In any case, the Smashing Pumpkins should hurry up now. In the summer, the Chaicago indie rock band is going on a European tour, including Germany, on their “The World Is A Vampire” concert tour. The decision to definitely look for a new guitarist is certainly interesting. This search is not technically necessary. The Pumpkins started as a quartet with just two guitarists, instead of three guitarists since James Iha’s return in 2018 – Corgan welcomed his old companion, but also stuck with Jeff Schroeder.