Before the Smashing Pumpkins were formed the lives of all band members were extremely different. Once they culminated and formed a group, all four lives changed forever. They became a band that were looked down upon, told they could never be big, given all the wrong advice, insulted, and told all lies. Their great success a few years later disproved all the cynics and critics of their music.
Billy was working in a used-record shop and "basically being the four-track cassette making geek." James was a student in Graphic Arts at Loyola University and playing in a band called Snake Train. D'Arcy was still working at a coffee shop. She had training in oboe and the classical violin.
The Early Years was a dark and mysterious era in the history of the band. There are differences among the sources consulted for much of the information presented.
Click on a year to see what happened in the world of Smashing Pumpkins