“The work ethic gifted to me by the Pumpkins helps me get prepared… I’m excited to be playing with these amazing, legendary musicians”: Ex-Smashing Pumpkins bassist Ginger Pooley will join Garbage on their upcoming tour

Ginger Pooley is best known for being the bassist and backing vocalist of The Smashing Pumpkins between 2007 and 2010. However, she has toured around the world playing bass, with her post-Pumpkins career including stints with Gwen Stefani and Lea Michele. 

While Pooley has had an illustrious career so far, she can now add Garbage to her already-hefty resume. In an exclusive interview with GuitarWorld.com, Pooley revealed she'll be joining Garbage for their European tour this summer.

She explains how the opportunity to flex her bass skills with Garbage came about: “Things are kind of winding down. My daughter is going into high school in the fall, and I feel like, in a way, I've graduated from a certain phase of life.”

“This came up recently, and I'll just share that I'm very excited. I'm working on learning the songs, and I'm really excited to go out on tour again.”

Ginger is no stranger to working under pressure. In the upcoming GuitarWorld.com interview, Ginger reveals how playing bass with The Smashing Pumpkins was “definitely a mental workout.” She continues, “It was not an easy gig, and I would never say it was. I'm proud of having been able to do that. Next to raising my daughter or giving birth, that gig is up there.”

On the flip side, she mentions how the work ethic cultivated by the Pumpkins has helped her prep for any last-minute scenarios and switch to work mode: “The work ethic gifted to me by the Pumpkins helps me get prepared,” she says. “I can hear it in my ear, like, 'Okay, time to get to work.'”

She also reveals that she's knuckling down and learning Garbage's catalog, which consists of a total of seven studio albums, with the latest – No God No Masters – released in 2021. And as for the gear she'll be touring Europe with this summer? 

“I'm not totally sure yet. We're still working on all that. I'll probably bring my [Fender] P-Bass, and there's some drop D involved, so as far as the rig does, we're still in talks with what all that entails.”

Garbage's European tour kicks off in Milan, Italy, on 26 June, and ends with a celebratory rock extravaganza at London's Wembley OVO Arena on 20 July. This tour follows the April 5 release of the vinyl reissue of their 2005 album Bleed Like Me.