“I wondered if she would fit in, because I knew her as more of a metal guitarist… She just felt like a real breath of fresh air”: Billy Corgan reveals how many guitarists the Smashing Pumpkins auditioned in person – and how they knew Kiki Wong was the one

In a new interview, Billy Corgan has discussed the inner workings of the Smashing Pumpkins’ epic guitarist search for the first time – including how many players they auditioned in person, and why the band ultimately went with Instagram shredder Kiki Wong.

“We got 10,000 emails from 10,000 different people,” he told Kerrang! of the exhaustive process, which saw the band recruit eight people full-time to work through every application (including one from this writer).

“When we whittled down that list to, let's say, people with some form of professional pedigree, I saw Kiki's name was on the list, and I thought, ‘Oh, this is great. I know who this person is.’”

Corgan already followed Kiki Wong on social media, although he admitted he found that “kind of a weird thing” at first.

“I wondered if she would fit in, because I knew her as more of a metal guitarist,” he continued. “So, we talked to her on Zoom – she's such a nice person, and so engaging – then we invited her out to audition.

“I think we auditioned nine guitar players that day. What was interesting about her being first in the day was we had such a good feeling about her. And then it wasn't that other people weren't as good, but there was something about Kiki's presence and personality and sweetness that we just were really attracted to.

“She just felt like a real breath of fresh air. We love that it's a great opportunity for her. But we also think she's the right person.”

As for how their new touring guitarist fits into the live lineup, Corgan says, “We haven’t played a show yet. We're all in preparation mode. It's a two-hour show, so it's a lot to learn, especially for her.”

It’s not long until Wong makes her debut with the Pumpkins, on June 7 at Birmingham Utilita Arena as part of their co-headline UK tour with Weezer.

As she told Guitar World in an exclusive interview last month, the gig has forced her to stretch her playing wings far beyond metal.

“It’s definitely been a challenge learning the Pumpkins style of rock,” she admitted. “There’s so much feel and rhythmic eloquence that goes into their style of playing. I’ve been taking guitar lessons, going back to the blues roots, and even playing more acoustic to integrate it into my playing.”

Elsewhere in his interview with Kerrang!, Corgan revealed the band have already finished a new album – and it’s very much guitar-centric, harking back to seminal ’90s epics Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

“We’ve been working on this album for, I think, almost two years now,” he explains. “It's very much a rock, guitar record, old school. I think the old-school fans will be happy, for once [laughs].

“It seemed interesting to me, after coming off of [2023 triple-album] Atum, with all that expanse, to have a singular focus, which is: let’s just make a guitar record. So it's been a lot of fun, and it brought up a lot of memories.”

No release date has been set just yet, but we’ll bring you more info as we have it.