Jimmy Chamberlin talks like a man who's at peace with his place in the universe. At 54, he sounds grounded and thrilled to be touring with Billy Corgan and James Iha for the first time since the Smashing Pumpkins played their farewell concert in Chicago 18 years ago.

Before they launched the Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour here in Glendale on July 12, Corgan told the New York Times, "I would say this is the happiest time of the band."

That may have been true at the time, but they're actually happier now. At least that's how it feels to Chamberlin, who says, "We’re in a really good spot."

They followed the tour with an album produced by Rick Rubin, "Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun," on which they've effortlessly tapped into the majesty that made their singles stand out on alternative-radio in the '90s.

And as they prepare to return to the Valley for a show at Mesa Amphitheatre on Dec. 7, they're already talking about getting back in the studio, which is "super exciting" for Chamberlin.

"I need to be moving forward," he says.

That's why he plays a lot of jazz gigs with his own band in Chicago.

"And the Pumpkins have always been a really great vehicle for self-expression," he says. "I’ve been able to do pretty much whatever I want on the drum kit and challenge myself to grow as much as I can. The band has celebrated that in the best possible way and absorbed it. So it’s kind of a dream situation for me."

Was Billy Corgan a control freak?

Such talk of self-expression may seem strikingly at odds with Corgan's reputation as one of alternative music's great control freaks.

Asked if he believes that reputation is or was at some point warranted, Chamberlin answers, "Absolutely not" without a moment's hesitation.

He's only capable of playing like himself, he says. And when he joined the band, he didn’t know the frames of reference he was hearing thrown around the practice space.

"I didn’t know Depeche Mode, Love and Rockets or Joy Division," he says. "I mean, I was listening to Weather Report and Tony Williams and Miles Davis. So I didn’t really have a road map. And I think Billy has always been extremely generous in his songwriting to let me do whatever I want and to totally trust my instincts."

It can be easy, he says, to mislabel someone a control freak.

"Even in the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex," he says, "it’s kind of my band. So do I want to be a control freak? No. But do I want to be in control over what the band does? Kinda."

The sum of the parts

Corgan was over for lunch a day before the interview, he says. "And we were just talking about our individual endeavors versus when we attach ourselves to the band as a unit and how much more powerful it is. It’s really the sum of the parts."

That's why playing with Iha again was so magical, Chamberlin says.

"The nuances are really the foundation of what makes Pumpkin music compelling," he says. "James' nuance, my nuance, the way Billy plays, how we play as a unit. It’s the way we learned to play together growing up together in the business and it all comes to the forefront when you stand onstage or stand in a rehearsal room."

It made everything easier, he says, "just because you’ve got the original product, right?"

Re-forming the band

It's obviously not a full reunion of the Pumpkins' classic lineup. Founding bassist D'arcy Wretzky quit in 1999 and hasn't taken part in the reunion.

Asked if he was disappointed that she's not involved, Chamberlin says, "Of course I was."

The whole band wanted her to be involved, he says, and went into negotiations with the "best intentions."

How that all played out may depend on who's talking.

Chamberlin doesn't get into it, saying, "I certainly wish that it could’ve been different. But I’m also a firm believer in the universe and what it gives you and trusting that things are right. I feel like the universe gave us what we needed to do the tour and we ended up doing it. I mean, obviously, if it could’ve been that way, it would’ve been amazing. But it was amazing nevertheless."

The new lineup includes third guitarist Jeff Schroeder, who's been a member since 2007, when Corgan first revived the Pumpkins name. Although Iha plays bass (and guitar) on the album, the touring lineup features designated bassist Jack Bates, whose legendary father Peter Hook played bass in Joy Division and New Order.

"It was magical," Chamberlin says of the tour. "The crowds were great. The set list was incredible. Getting to play 'Stairway to Heaven,' obviously, was fun. It’s something I had done in my basement, much to the chagrin of my neighbors, probably thousands of times as I played through that album as a young drummer. But to play it in all those shows, especially at Madison Square Garden, was incredible."

Buying into 'Stairway to Heaven'

When someone first suggested adding "Stairway" to the set list, he recalls, a couple people shot it down.

"But then we challenged everybody: 'OK, you don’t want to play "Stairway"? What other song is that bold to come out and play in an arena?' "

For a while, “Dream On” was in the running.

As Chamberlin says, "We were looking for something that was just so over the line that it would only fit in in Pumpkin World. Everybody learned it note-for-note and the whole thing was not to make it a jam, to really play a faithful-to-the-record version. Obviously, as a drummer, it’s just so much fun to play. And it gave me a chance to go take a couple bites of an apple during the set. There are four verses before I come in."

Their own songs fell together pretty easily.

"I mean, Billy and I were talking the other day," the drummer says. "And he said something about, 'Let’s get together and rehearse.' We had two shows in Europe. I said, 'Look, we’ve proven over time that it’s harder to forget this stuff than it is to remember it, right?' When you get back in a rehearsal, it just kind of comes back to you."

Creating new material

Even coming up with new material was easy.

"The thing about us is when we get in the studio," Chamberlin says, "the output is insane, right? We were in the studio for three weeks and wrote 16 songs, with the idea that we would whittle it down to the best and take it to Rick Rubin and he would pick one, two or three songs to record.

"By the time Rick got done listening to the eight songs we had picked, he was like, 'Well, these are all great. You should just record ‘em all; and by the way, I want to hear the other eight.' ”

The experience served as a helpful reminder, he says, to go with their guts.

"A lot of times, especially as you get older, you start to amass a good measure of wisdom, right?" he says. "And that wisdom can cause you to sometimes second-guess your instincts."

They went into the sessions knowing they needed a single to promote the tour.

"So we were kind of leaning rock," he says. "But that didn’t stop us from writing stuff like 'Knights of Malta' or 'With Sympathy.' I think that’s what defines this band. I mean, the singles are obviously what people point to but it’s the width of the catalog that’s attractive to me. It’s the quiet moments that really put us in a different realm."

You could actually hear a good bit of that range in the hits with which they helped define the alternative-radio landscape, from mid-tempo tracks as transcendent (and cathartic) as "Today," "1979" and "Disarm" to the more explosive moments of "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" or "Cherub Rock."

Becoming a wiser man

When Chamberlin rejoined the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015, it was his fourth tour of duty. What keeps bringing him back?

"I think logistics have a lot to do with it," he says. "I have two kids and they’re getting a little older now. When the 'Zeitgeist' stuff was going on (in 2007), it was really a lot of work and my kids were very young. I’m a firm believer in raising your kids on your own, not having nannies and that type of stuff. But now that my kids are older, I hardly ever see them."

He laughs, then adds, "My son’s 12. My daughter’s 16. They leave in the morning and I don’t see them until night. So I’ve got a little bit more time now."

It wasn't always just logistics tearing them apart.

"Like any relationship, it doesn’t matter if you’re married 30, 40 years, there’s still high tide and low tide," he says. "But it was never about the music. We never argue about the music. We’re so locked in on that stuff, it’s kind of weird."

In a recent interview with NME, Chamberlin said, “It was personality issues that drove us apart.”

Asked how they managed to put that sort of thing behind them, he says, "When you’re 25 or 27 and you’re rich and famous, I just think you have less tolerance and less awareness. At least I did. I was like a bull in the china shop as a young man and I did a great job of offending my bandmates in the best and worst possible ways. As you get older, allowing people to evolve at their own pace becomes part of the deal, right? It becomes less about judgment, more about acceptance."

They've all grown into different people since the days of "Siamese Dream" and they've managed to put the band into a healthier perspective as part of their own individual journeys.

"Beyond that, we realized that as we get older, relationships are super important," he says. "They’re a big part of what defines you."

Smashing Pumpkins' 30th anniversary

The tour that brings them back to Arizona is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the band. And it's been feeling pretty "young" so far to Chamberlin.

"I feel better now than I did at the 20th anniversary," he says. "And the 10th anniversary was probably even more toxic. So the good news for us is that every 10 years, we’re healthier and better. If the 30th is this good, the 40th is just gonna be a complete blowout."

He's also feeling pretty good about the way the music they created in their youth has held up over time.

"It still has the power," he says, "to bring people together and make them feel something. Because that ultimately is our job, to make you leave feeling at least a little different than when you got there."

And having gone out every night and proved that earlier this year, he feels they have a good bit of momentum as they head into the future.

"Anything like that allows you to kind of move the walls out a little further in the creative space," he says. "Billy and I, we had lunch yesterday and talked about the next recording session. There’s a lot of great words being thrown around as far as the direction that I’m really excited about."

One thing he wasn't looking forward to as the tour approached was going back and listening to those old records.

"I’m generally not like, 'Hey, I’m gonna put on Pumpkins greatest hits and have some coffee,'” he says, with a laugh.

But when he went back and listened to “Gish,” their 1991 debut, for the first time in probably 20 years, he thought, “Man, that’s a great album.”

Lately, they've been working on reissuing “Machina,” their fifth album, as a box set. And he's been amazed by the work that went into preparing for that album. There are eight completely different full recordings of “Blue Skies Bring Tears," not including the version they used on the album.

"That’s the stuff I’m really proud of, that we were willing to go all the way for what we believed in musically when nobody was looking," he says. "That’s I think what really defines you. It’s not what you do at the United Center, but what do you do every day? Do you get up and play your drums? Do you get up and write songs? How hard are you working? Those things are more representative of what I’m proud of, if pride is even the right word. What I think defines the band is just that incredible work ethic."

Touring in 2018 vs. 'Siamese Dream'

As to how touring compares to the early days, Chamberlin says, 'The playing is better. The food’s a little better. Traveling still sucks but the crowds are nicer. There’s way less moshing, although we did have a few good mosh pits on this tour, especially in Europe."

Some things, he says, are easier. "But when you’re young, you’re full of fire, right? You can be out all night and then go and just rip off a show and be onto the next one. Now, there’s a lot more old-man stuff that goes into the process. I was watching my alkalinity and I would do a 30-minute meditation before the show. Stretching. Trying to eat low-inflammation foods."

Playing intricate drums in a huge arena for more than three hours a night is a challenge.

"Everything that’s wrong with your body, you recognize," he says. "If you had one half cup too much coffee or too much orange juice. It’s like a ballet of the body chemistry and how that informs the mechanics of the physical performance. When I was 25, I would eat two bar hot dogs, have a beer and then go play."

As to what tomorrow brings, he says, "I try not to live in places that don’t exist yet or have ceased to exist. We’re definitely gonna write more music. Where that leads to, I don’t know. It could lead to we play together the rest of our lives. It could lead to we do a little bit more and then call it a day. The great thing about it is we’re really just letting the music be the guide."

The Smashing Pumpkins

When: 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7.

Where: Mesa Amphitheatre, 263 N. Center St.

Admission: $64; $59 in advance.

Details: 480-644-2560, luckymanonline.com, mesaamp.com.