Back in 2014, Mötley Crüe rocker Tommy Lee contributed drums to The Smashing Pumpkins ninth album, Monuments to an Elegy.
Lee recently sat down with Stereogum to discuss his latest solo album, Andro, released last month. During the interview, Lee delved into the recording experience working with Corgan and co.
“Man, talk about a challenge. Billy [Corgan, frontman] came to this studio and brought me some demos to listen to, and I loved the music,” he recalled.
“But it was a big challenge for me because in the prog-rock drum world the time signatures are constantly changing, and the feel of songs changes sporadically. It’s not your straight-ahead four-on-the-floor thing. I love a challenge, though.”
Lee went on to detail that Corgan is averse to editing takes with Pro Tools, and prefers to find magic in raw takes.
“He wanted a top-to-bottom uncut take that encapsulated the energy and feel of everything,” Lee explained. “‘That’s magical, that’s it!’ He was adamant about that stuff, so we were on the hunt for the magical take, which took some time.
“Especially as the drummer – you’ll think you have the perfect take, but those last few bars at the end you ran out of energy, or you space out and play the wrong part. ‘Fuck, we gotta do it all over again.’ But it was a great learning experience for me.”
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When asked whether there is a potential future collaboration between Tommy Lee and Smashing Pumpkins on the horizon, he mused. “Not yet, but we had such a good time together that I’m sure we’ll do it again.”
Smashing Pumpkins are set to release their eleventh album, Cyr, on November 27th. The band has already unveiled a number of tracks from the forthcoming double record, including the title track, ‘The Colour of Love’, ‘Confessions of a Dopamine Addict’, ‘Wrath’, ‘Anno Satana’, ‘Birch Grove’, ‘Ramona’ and ‘Wyttch.’
