ThePumpkins.net

Eye wrote:
Oh, I disagree wholeheartedly. But I guess it depends on your interpretation of "good" and "bad" music.

Outside of mainstream alternative acts (Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Chili Peppers) it was damn near impossible for an indie band to do well on the Billboard charts or the radio. Now, amazing albums like the Juno soundtrack or Arcade Fire are landing in the No. 1 and 2 spots. Sure, we had to wade through the much of Creed for a while, and it escapes me how Nickelback is still popular, but when my Los Angeles-area stations are switching their formats from adult contemporary pop to accomodate such up and comers as MIA, MGMT and Matisyahu, there's a positive change in the wind.

And I now realize my scpiel had nothing to do with SP's demise, haha. OOPS.

Well personally I find Arcade Fire a bit underwhelming but I know others say they are 'absolutely amazing'. I am not saying it's bad music or anything, it just doesn't do anything for me at all.

But bands like that got popular well after SP bit the dust the first time around. I can't bare to listen to the radio these days because mainstream rock, save a few exceptions, is a bit generic. Also, the state of the music industry is such that while record sales are plummeting, but yet pop acts still can sell multiple platinum records, while many modern rock acts can barely break platinum, if at all.

Have any of you folks that applied heard back from them yet? This seems to have kind of faded into the distance, at least for the time being...

I haven't really heard anything from anybody that submitted something about this. Maybe the PumpkinsMediaMillitia is still sifting through resumes and essays. I don't know how many people ended up applying in time, but they had 290 people that had requested the application information.

I sent a PM to Pumpkins Media Militia asking about this. They replied to me today saying they are still reading essays.

I kind of figured that was the case

Curses, my bum got a rejection letter from the Pumpkins gods today. WONK WONK.

Anyone make it to the next round?

>>> really good

Trillian wrote:
i got a rejection letter also, i know of one person who made it to the next round.

i'm sorry trillian, you would have been perfect for it.

I made it to round 2.

Good on you, Ghostchild! Do you think you could post your essay here? I want to see what the employers were looking for, because it obviously was nothing I could offer!

ghostchild wrote:
Congrats!

Great job. What does round 2 consist of? Do you have to submit another essay?

ghostchild wrote:
yay for you, good job!!

I will share my writing with all of you once the whole process is over. Until then I'm not making it public. That's all I'll say for right now.

Well, the process is over...the writers have been hired, and I regret to say I'm not one of them. I just got this email:

Greetings finalists,

This message is to regretfully notify you of our decisions regarding
your most recent submission in regards to employment at
smashingpumpkins.com. The current positions have been filled by the
top qualifying applicants.

Although you have not been chosen among the very limited few to be
employed, we may contact you in the future, possibly even the near
future. The positions at smashingpumpkins.com are not completely
permanent. People will come and go and of course, you are part of the
top percentage of applicants. Please keep this in mind. Your
information is on file and at the top of the long list. We may even
choose to request guest columnists from time to time.

And of course, we appreciate your continued involvement with the
future of smashingpumpkins.com and your overall contributions to the
Smashing Pumpkins community. It is people like you that keep the
legacy of this amazing band thriving.

Best regards,

-The Smashing Pumpkins Media Militia




I'd expect some sort of announcement soon on sp.com as to who made it. This was an incredibly cool thing for the band to do, and I'm just glad I got to take part.

For those of you who were curious, here is the essay I wrote to get me through the first round:

Be careful what you say, but be really careful what you don’t say.


“Special thanks to everyone for their continued support and a fuck you to those who will never understand. Love, peace, empathy, desire, mischief, and gladness 2007”

--Billy Corgan (from the liner notes of Pisces Iscariot)

Could it be that the 1994 album full of b-sides and rarities we have all come to know and love somehow predicted the future of 13 years ahead? Nobody can truly know what will happen 13 years down the line in any of life’s endeavors...especially in the endeavors of a rock band in the modern music industry. Not to suggest that Billy is a fortune-teller or a psychic, but how do we explain this quote? What’s with the reference to the year that saw the band re-formed, nearly seven years after they called it quits?

Today this quote seems to ring with an eerie, somewhat cryptic tone in light of all that’s happened. It kind of makes the hairs on your arms stand up…you know, the same way Geek U.S.A. still does when you crank it up driving down the highway with the wind in your face. Love. Peace. Empathy. Desire. Mischief. Gladness. All of these are undoubtedly emotions that The Pumpkins have addressed and evoked through their music in most of us. But just what did he mean when he scribed those four numbers, 2007?

Surely Billy didn’t know Jimmy would go through a personal hell surrounded by drug use and abuse just as the band was reaching its pinnacle of commercial success. Surely Billy didn’t foresee his mother’s passing and the personal struggles that would follow. Surely Billy had no idea that Jimmy would come around and re-join the band, only to see the eventual collapse of the group dynamic that had held strong through so much. Surely Billy didn’t know that after a poorly received Zwan album he and Jimmy would feel that passion again and want to have The Smashing Pumpkins live again. Surely Billy didn’t know that the band would re-form to champion the cause of rock and roll and take on the world again, but with only half of the original members on board…

Or did he?

There’s no question Billy’s writing has always had recurring themes and concepts that link songs together in various ways. One need look no further than the “Glass and the Machines of God” theories and explanations that are readily available through your friendly local neighborhood Google website to see that. But could it be that this whole thing has been one great concept band from the beginning? Not just a concept album, but an entire concept band? Yes, it seems far fetched even for Billy and company, but those four numbers…2 – 0 – 0 – 7 at the end of the liner notes from a nearly 14 year old b-side compilation record almost seem too ironic to be just chance. Has the whole thing been scripted from the beginning, or is it just a random coincidence?

2007 saw the re-formation of the band we love. What does the future hold? Does Billy already know? Stay tuned and maybe, just maybe we’ll find out!

....And my 2nd round piece can be seen here:

http://seibert.xtruth.org/

I coped the HTML off their site to make it look like it was a real blog on SP.com. Wasn't good enough, though....I'm really anxious to see the 5 who did win!

A valiant effort, though!