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What was the switch that made you say, “If I’m going to continue under the Pumpkins moniker, I want it to be with James and Jimmy?“

There was so much acrimony over the years, but when James and I were able to mend that bridge and get to a place where we could sit down and have a meal and talk, the idea of playing together again grew out of reconnecting as friends. It was never a switch that we flipped back on, it just kind of happened.

D’arcy is not back in this new incarnation. What happened there?

It’s really hard to talk about the D’arcy thing because it’s all clickbait at this point. I would refer to what I’ve said in the past. We tried to include her, and it just didn’t work out. As far as I’m concerned, we gave her the option to be involved and she chose not to be and that’s that. That part of the story is done.

Going back into the studio with James and Jimmy, did you worry that the musical magic might be gone?

We never lacked confidence in what we do musically. It’s just that what we do musically doesn’t always align itself with what people want or expect from us. This was as easy a situation as it gets. We had a great producer, Rick Rubin, and we had three of the original four progenitors of the band in the room. All we had to do was come up with one song. That’s a pretty relaxed atmosphere. It’s like saying to Babe Ruth, “Hey, do you think you can hit a home run?“ I don’t ever think you lose that mindset that you can’t swing for the fences.

One of the things I always admired about the Pumpkins is that you always tried to take listeners to someplace new. I remember how you followed the ambitiousness of Mellon Collie with the electronic sounds of Adore. As part of that band and as a solo artist, how did you avoid falling into a repetitious groove the past 30 years?