“Probably one of the most misunderstood bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll”: Who could Billy Corgan be talking about?

Never shy of fighting his own corner, Billy Corgan has described the Smashing Pumpkins are “one of the most misunderstood bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.”

Corgan was a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and over the course of a long three-hour conversation, the pair touched on a number of topics including the ebb and flow of musical fashions.

“You’re about to see that Nickelback and Creed are about to go on a huge run of business,” predicted Corgan. “They survived (the hate), and now comes the inevitable moment of, ‘It was really good’...they wrote a lot of great songs.”

And he included the Pumpkins among those supposedly ‘unfashionable’ bands that will eventually be appreciated. “Time will tell my story much better than I did,” he reflected.

Joe Rogan Experience #2283 - Billy Corgan - YouTube

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Corgan went on to say that it irritated him to be compared to peers who died and then ascended to ‘legend’ status.

“It bothered me because it felt unfair or it felt like I was being sort of made to pay for the sins of the people who are no longer here. Particularly, in Gen X, we’ve had so many great talents die.”

“We’re probably one of the most misunderstood bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll,” he added, “That sounds like a wrestling statement, but it’s fairly accurate.”

Asked by Rogan why they might be misunderstood, Corgan said: “I think it has a lot to do with the issues of Gen X, and it has a lot to do with a relationship that I set into motion with the media when I was a very young person, playing kind of a funny game — like doing my own my own version of Andy Kaufman or Bob Zmuda. Because I thought it was all shitty, so I was just like, ‘I’m just going to play with this like a toy because I think it’s kind of funny.'”

He continued: “I didn’t realise that the coming culture was going to kind of almost be attracted to people who are willing to immolate themselves on the public stage. Most people who are attracted to fame, they want to run towards the shiny part of it. I was attracted to the non-shiny part, which is, ‘Okay, I’ll light myself on fire and let’s see what happens,’ or ‘I’ll light you on fire and let’s see what happens.’”

“So, it kind of worked in the 90s when everybody was rolling and moving along. Well, here comes Napster, the music business craters, then a bunch of people die, and there you are at 40 years old, you’re supposed to carry some flag for a generation that doesn’t even know who it is anymore.”

It sounds like Billy might be over-thinking all of this. Well...it wouldn’t be the first time, would it?