Billy Corgan: Oh, yeah. It's very frustrating, because I do being in the band circuit [in]1989-90 and thinking, “We're a really good band. Why are people not coming to see us?” In our case, we just kept working on our music, and one day I seemed to find a meld between psychedelic music and hard rock, which many people now would call the Pumpkins’ sound. The minute we found that, people just seemed to come out of the woodwork. We literally went from 100 people to 800 people overnight.

And I feel that way with the NWA. We’re toying with the exact right formula, and we see little flashes where we know that the quality of what we're doing is higher than what the attendance would indicate. Having been through that, I know I just have to be patient [and know that] when you do find that right formulae, people will come. And I think our last two or three shows have been the biggest shows that I've had in running the company, so there's some indication now that we fixed that problem to a certain extent. But yeah, it definitely takes me back to standing there on the street in1989, hanging flyers, getting almost arrested by the police [and thinking], “We’ve got to do anything to get people through the door.”

Corgan also touched on the process of growing the NWA by appealing to a fanbase of longtime wrestling fans who may want a hit of nostalgia as well as newcomers to the sport looking for groundbreaking content:

Billy Corgan: It's a great question. It’s actually not that dissimilar from being in a band. You get a lot of people in your ear saying, “You should do this, you should do that.” You hear them, and then of course, there's what you want to do. There’s kind of a defiant thing: “Well, this is what I want to do.” Somewhere in the middle is a sweet spot where you do what you want to do [and] you take some observational understanding of what people are asking of you, but it doesn't really influence you to the point where you change your vision.

If you just did what you wanted to do without the awareness, it wouldn't be the same, and if you just did what they wanted you to do, it wouldn’t be the same. If you can do what you want to do while you respectfully understand what the crowd is asking for… and the reason I'm saying that is, if I present something to you that you're not interested in, what are my two selling points to you? Quality, and conviction.

That's the thing I found most has sold in the band over 35 years. It's amazing what people will do if you demonstrate, “I really believe in what I'm doing, and I know there's quality here.” It doesn't put a negative feeling on the other person, but it might create a sense in them that maybe they're missing something, and give them a pause to think, “Maybe I need to consider this from a different angle, because maybe it's outside my realm of experience, or exposure.” That, to me, is the difference. [To me], serving people in a, “What do you want from me?” way from the arts never works. It's a recipe for disaster.

Working With Her Dad On Her Wedding Gown Inspired Chloe Mendel To Start A Company

Much of Billy Corgan’s Adventures in Carnyland revolves around Corgan’s marriage to longtime partner Chloe Mendel, and a particularly touching storyline is that of Mendel working with her father on her wedding gown. Gillies Mendel is a fashion designer whose work has been worn by Taylor Swift, Olivia Munn, Heidi Klum, and more. Here’s what Chloe Mendel had to say on working with her father:

Chloe Mendel: We really made an amazing gown together. It was so much fun [that] we actually started a company out of it. We started House of Gilles, and now we do bridal and bespoke for other people. We thought it was such a unique and fun experience that we wanted to provide that for other people. I loved my gown. I think it was really me and we had the time to really make it feel perfect for my wedding.

And also, my dad and I have a camaraderie. We yell at [each other]—it’s family—but you don't need to be nervous around your family. Sometimes we'll argue and people will be like, “Oh my God,” and then we're planning dinner five seconds later. They’re like, “We thought you were angry at each other,” [and] I'm like, “He was just being stupid.” It’s normal—that's just our life. We’re very family-oriented in general. I'm one of seven children. I have a lot of siblings, and we are all super close, so family is the most important thing to us. I love being able to work with my family every day.

The Cameras Let Viewers See The Real Dynamic Between Billy Corgan & Chloe Mendel

Like many of the best reality shows, Billy Corgan’s Adventures in Carnyland offers a never-before-seen look at its subjects as they manage their own endeavors and their t tea shop business, Madame ZuZu’s Emporium. Of course, the access reality shows have can often be a double-edged sword. Mendel and Corgan spoke on the subject when asked if they ever regretted letting cameras into their lives:

Chloe Mendel: To be honest, there was not one point that I regretted it. We knew what we were getting into from the beginning, and it was really important for the show to be an honest take on running a small company, a family running it, and so on. Once I accepted it, I embraced it. I hope we get to more seasons. That's the goal here.

Billy Corgan: She was probably more comfortable with the idea of the intrusion than I was, I think, because I've lived it for 35 years. I'm a little bit more sensitive to where the camera goes and maybe what they're looking for when they're in the room. It was definitely a navigation for me.

Chloe Mendel: But we didn't fabricate any dramas, and we weren't put in positions that were compromising, so it was fine. I would end the day sometimes and be like, “Did you get anything?” and they were like, “Don't worry, we got tons. You’re more interesting than you think.”

Corgan and Mendel also shared their thoughts about the cameras in relation to their dynamic:

Chloe Mendel: Honestly, the show didn't really change anything in our lives. It opened a door for other people to see into it, really through the lens of our world in wrestling, and a little bit in the tea shop.

Billy Corgan: In the beginning of our relationship, we didn't let anybody know that we were even in a relationship. We had an earlier version of ZuZu’s Tea House, and people thought Chloe was an employee of mine at the tea house. Even when Chloe was pregnant, Chloe hid the fact that she was pregnant, so nobody knew until she had a baby. Even then, not everybody knew that I was the father of the baby.

We’ve been very quiet in public about our relationship because we always considered it a private matter between us. Of course, our close friends knew the nature of the relationship. It is interesting, for the first time after a 12-year relationship, to open the doors and not only show one of the most intimate moments of our lives in getting married, but to also show our actual dynamic. People have often speculated—particularly given our age difference—what that dynamic is like, and I think the show really shows that we're partners in life. We really are a 50/50 endeavor here. Chloe is an amazing mother and an amazing businessperson and an amazing designer. I'm in awe of my wife, and to have her to do something as crazy as NWA is meant the world to me, because I honestly couldn't do it if I didn't have her . How do you go out the door and try to explain to your wife, “Hey, I'm going to go do this crazy thing in Dallas and work at the Crockett Cup—

Chloe Mendel: “I’m going to drive eight hours to the middle of nowhere in Tennessee just to go in the ring and say something, then come home.” That’s literally what a Thursday night is like.

Billy Corgan Weighs In On A Smashing Pumpkins/Green Day/Rancid Faceoff & Reveals The Insane Matchup That Could Have Been

In 2024, The Smashing Pumpkins are touring with Green Day, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas for Green Day’s The Saviors Tour. In the spirit of how Billy Corgan’s Adventures in Carnyland blends the worlds of music and wrestling, Corgan weighed in on how The Smashing Pumpkins would fare in a tag-team wrestling match against those bands. He and Mendel also revealed an absolutely wild idea that was proposed involving The Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, and BattleBots.

Billy Corgan: I would not be one to question the toughness of Green Day or Rancid, but I will say—and I think it's publicly demonstrated—that the Pumpkins are crazier than the other bands, and the wrestling business crazy goes further than you think. And, by the way, we're very good at being heels, to use the wrestling term. I would say, at this point, Rancid and Green Day are babyfaces—they're the good guys. We're certainly the black cloud that shows up at the party, and we would definitely use that to our advantage.

Chloe Mendel: I wanted them to have a BattleBots [fight].

Billy Corgan: I did propose… it never happened. We went to BattleBots [and] met the people who own and run BattleBots in Vegas, where they shoot the show. We proposed Green Day versus Pumpkins BattleBots. It never happened, and I'm still disappointed, because h amazing would that be? Pumpkins versus Green Day BattleBots—may the best robot win.

About Billy Corgan’s Adventures In Carnyland

When he isn’t churning out albums and touring the world with his legendary band The Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan is also a wrestling promoter who owns the storied National Wrestling Alliance, which he intends to restore to its former glory. As if being a rock star navigating the demanding politics of running both a band (Pumpkinworld) and a group of eccentric wrestlers (Carnyland) isn’t tricky enough, Billy is also a father of two AND he’s planning a wedding to his longtime partner, Chloe. Can he possibly keep all these balls in the air? Tune in to Billy Corgan’s Adventures in Carnyland to find out!