“I wouldn’t know a fraction of what I know without being in the Pumpkins”: Kiki Wong on the “incredible mentorship” of Billy Corgan
While Kiki Wong earned a spot in the Smashing Pumpkins for being a fucking fantastic guitarist, there has been a bit of a learning curve since joining the iconic grunge act in 2024. From tough tracks to getting acquainted with pedals, Wong has taken every challenge in her stride – and having Billy Corgan as a mentor has certainly helped.
In a new interview with Guitar World, Wong admits that the last two years have been a game-changing training camp in terms of technique and tone. “I wouldn’t know a fraction of what I know without being in the Pumpkins,” she says. “Billy Corgan has been an incredible mentor and showed me the ropes of how to dial in tone.”
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One particular difference has been her ever-expanding pedal collection. In the past, Wong wasn’t much of a pedal girl – but that’s all changed. “Before I joined the Smashing Pumpkins, I really only used distortion straight from the amp head, and maybe a wah once in a while,” she explains. “In my previous band, Vigil of War, we ran through Kempers, so many of our effects were pre-programmed as well. Now, I feel like I’ve been exposed to a new – yet old-school – world of sound design.”
While Wong admits to being “relatively new to pedals”, she’s not shy when it comes to diving in headfirst and experimenting with new sounds. “[I’ve taken] an open stance on how to approach fusing my style with the Smashing Pumpkins’ sound,” she says.
“I wanted to find a series of pedals that allowed me to add those shoegazey-style twinkles and reverb while retaining my super-heavy metal roots…” she adds. “It’s allowed me to tap into my creativity and expand my songwriting with a wider arsenal of sounds.”
Guided by Corgan’s mentorship and her own experimentation, Wong has landed on pedalboard that “serves a variety of styles [without being] too complex”. Powered by Voodoo Lads Pedal Power 3+, Wong’s board consists of plenty of goodies, from a Dunlop 95Q Cry Baby Wah Wah, a Chase Tone Fuzz Fella, an Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork Plus Polyphonic Pitch Shifter, and more.
Her pièce de résistance, however, is her Interstellar Audio Octonaut Hyperdrive. As she puts it, the overdrive pedal is the one she just can’t live without. “I love the distortion I get from it,” she notes. “It mixes well with my clean channel and works well as a boost!”
And she knows there’s lots more to learn. “I know it’ll be a forever learning process, changing with time as my own creativity changes,” she says. “It’ll probably never be perfect, but that’s the beauty of it. I don’t think there’s a wrong way to do things with pedals.”
After performing at Lollapalooza on 31 July, the Smashing Pumpkins will take two months off, before hitting the road from 30 September for their Rats in a Cage North America tour.
For a full list of dates, head to the band’s official website.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
