I'll come in with a string of riffs and direct the musical ideas. But you still need a band and their input to make the ideas come alive. You can't underestimate band chemistry.

To me, music was about being accepted and escaping from this crummy existence.

Billy [Corgan] and I used to spend quite a lot of time together in Los Angeles, when I first moved there.

People try to make a big deal, like I don't want to play my old songs. That's not it. I don't want to play my old songs if that's my only option. That's a different thing.

Once a pumpkin, Always a pumpkin.

That's the great thing about rock n' roll: the myth is ultimately more important than the reality. And that's what you learn - you just learn to go with the mythology.

I'm from a lower middle class background; all my family were immigrants.