THE SMASHING PUMPKINS have shared the official music video for “Spellbinding”, taken from their critically acclaimed trilogy album “Atum”. Directed by Kevin Kerslake, who previously directed videos for the band (“Cherub Rock” and “I Am One”),worked closely with Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha and Jeff Schroeder to create digital avatars of themselves, existing within an otherworldly fictional universe that is “Atum”, created by front-man and founder Billy Corgan.
Speaking on the making of this video, Kerslake shares: “We adopted a virtual production model for the ‘Spellbinding’ video, creating it entirely in the gaming engine; unreal, with digital avatars moving through fantastical worlds that play a key role in the ‘Atum’ storyline. Billy and I share an interest in the fusion of old-world elements with state-of-the-art technology, and all the stars aligned on this video to break new ground.”
The “Spellbinding” video coincides with the launch of SMASHING PUMPKINS‘ North American “The World Is A Vampire” tour, which kicked off last Wednesday, June 28 at The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. Produced by Live Nation, the 27-date tour will feature special guests INTERPOL, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS and RIVAL SONS as support on various dates, as well as some of the world’s biggest champions from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA),who will be competing in most cities. “The World Is A Vampire” tour has already sold-out 30,000-plus-capacity shows in Mexico City this year, as well in cities across Australia this year, and is set to expand to more countries in the future.
The sequel to 1995’s “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness” and 2000’s “Machina/Machine Of God”, “Atum” features 33 tracks in three acts and was written and produced by Corgan over the past four years.
When The Smashing Pumpkins first emerged out of Chicago in 1988, the world had never heard a band quite like them. They spun together rock, pop, shoe-gaze, metal, goth, psychedelia, and electronic into a kaleidoscope of saccharine melodies, fuzzy distortion, bombastic orchestration, incendiary fretwork, eloquent song-craft, and unshakable hooks. Upon their formation, their sound was different, iconoclastic, and wholly new—and it still is today. As a result, they’ve sold over 30 million albums worldwide and collected two GRAMMY® Awards, two MTV VMAs, and an American Music Award. Their catalog is highlighted by the platinum “Gish” [1991], the quadruple-platinum “Siamese Dream” [1993], diamond-certified “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” [1995], platinum “Adore” [1998], and gold “Machina/The Machines of God” [2000]. In 2018, they embarked on one of their most successful tours ever, the Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour, followed by SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN. Meanwhile, 2020 saw the release of the band’s eleventh full-length and latest double album, “CYR.“ As prolific as ever, The Smashing Pumpkins continues touring and working on new music
