Mid to Late
90’s – I wasn’t an MTV Head growing up, but one day I came across the channel
and a music video unlike any other presented itself.  It was ‘Tonight
Tonight’.  The singer’s voice was . . . different.  And I don’t mean
in a bad way.  The sounds of the music felt oddly dreamy: rock music with a
strings section and marching-style drumming that motored the song’s
engine.  I LOVED IT.  And I wanted more.

I told my
cousin, who was a Pumpkins fan and had the CD album, and asked him to record it
onto a tape for me.  He did and I WORE THAT TAPE OUT.  The Smashing
Pumpkins had become one of my favorite bands.

Soon after, I spent
my own money and BOUGHT Mellon Collie (this was a big deal; not yet a teen and
here is my first major music purchase).  I
then collected Siamese Dream, Gish, and Pisces Iscariot.

In becoming a
guitarist, Smashing Pumpkins’ music became even MORE crucial as it was through
learning their songs on guitar that I really began to understand how music
worked.  I suppose they call that music
theory.  At various times throughout life,
I’ve learned to play every song from Mellon
Collie.

In 2014, I
performed a cover of ‘By Starlight’ at a friend’s wedding reception.  I then recorded the cover song for said
friend – https://zevin.bandcamp.com/track/by-starlight-the-smashing-pumpkins-cover

To this day, I’ve
never stopped being a fan of The Smashing Pumpkins and Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness remains one of my Top Five favorite
albums of all-time album in my vast collection of music.