Today's guest is the architect of alternative rock who sold 30 million albums and defined the sound of an entire generation — but whose real story begins after the hits stopped mattering to him.

From the suburbs of Chicago to the apex of 90s mainstream success, Billy Corgan built an empire. Then he spent the last 20 years quietly dismantling the idea that commercial success is the same thing as real value. He carries three things simultaneously that most artists never figure out how to hold at once: the ambition of someone who was never going to settle for the midwest, the technical genius of a classically-trained musician who produces every layer of his own work, and the philosophical rigor of someone willing to completely reimagine what success actually means.

This is one of the more unflinching conversations about what staying relevant actually costs — not the version that gets posted on socials, the version that gets lived in the real decisions you make about art, money, independence, and how you want to spend your time. When the gatekeepers are gone and nobody's controlling the narrative anymore, who do you become?

And The Writer Is... Billy Corgan!

In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:

• The trap of being defined by your greatest hits — and why he refuses it

• His father's failed music career, and the moment his dad finally understood

• Chicago's inward-facing indie scene and the cost of communities that don't believe in themselves

• How the value of artists gets assessed in rooms — and why that's broken

• What "influence" actually means vs. commercial success

• The gatekeepers are gone — what that really means for independent artists

• Owning 100% of your publishing and why that changes everything

• Building a new world where direct artist support is how things actually work

• Why legacy thinking is changing, and what comes next

And much more...

Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.

Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris

A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.

Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us.

And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.

Chapter timestamps:

0:00 Intro

2:30 Why Billy doesn't prefer to talk about his hits, and how his legacy has adjusted

5:00 Dad's bitterness: you got lucky

6:30 Dad's realization "You're one of the best songwriters in the world"

8:00 Independent music, 'selling out', and Chicago's music scene

10:30 The touring economics of the 90's

13:15 Rigged charts and the beginning of Pop music

16:00 Representation of Rock music in the charts / award shows

19:30 Ross on the future of music in a digital world

20:30 Numbers mean nothing if no one gives a sh*t.

21:00 Pop vs Rock: The future of music

28:30 Women archetypes in music

38:21 Billy's advice: What you need to survive in the music industry

40:00 World building and songwriting advice

43:31 How to define your value as an artist in a commercial world

44:40 Billy's Batman story

49:00 Breaking 'Landmine' because of Courtney Love

51:50 How he meets Courtney Love

54:08 How he learned to play guitar

57:00 His guitar hero inspiration…

1:01:10 Meeting the band

1:03:20 Finding a world class drummer hiding in plain sight

1:07:05 Fighting for his band when no one believed in them

1:15:29 Keeping your mouth shut when it's not your session

1:16:02 Fight for your copyright. The band struggling with his sole writing credit

1:18:00 AI in music… and Billy's take on it

Credits:

Hosted by Ross Golan

Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad

Edited by Jad Saad

Post-Production VFX by Pratik Karki

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is the Irish troubadour who sold out arenas across the world and built one of the most durable careers in modern music, entirely on his own terms.

From Dublin street corners and busking for strangers to headlining Madison Square Garden, this conversation is about what that actually costs to build the slow, deliberate construction of a career that answers to no one, yet resonates with millions around the world.

He carries three things simultaneously that most artists never figure out how to hold at once: the ambition of someone who was never going to settle for Ireland only, the sensitivity of a songwriter who writes for his whole community, and the creative instincts of a kid who grew up on hip hop and folk and refused to let either one fully win.

This is one of the more honest conversations about what a creative life actually looks like from the inside — not the version that gets posted, the version that gets lived.

And The Writer Is... Dermot Kennedy!

In this episode of And The Writer Is...

We go deep on:

• His whole journey

• The moment he realized the audience could feel how hard he was trying — and why that was the problem • How to carry ambition, sensitivity, and creative instinct in the same body without one of them destroying the other

• Building an international career without a viral hit — and what that reveals about how the industry actually works

• The busking years, and the secrets for how he survived

• Why he deliberately toured smaller venues on his last run — and what that decision says about success

• Imposter syndrome, insecurity, and the reality of growing a career from 0-100.

And much more...

Hit subscribe and turn on notifications.

Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.

Follow us on socials: @andthewriteris

A special thank you to our sponsors...

Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us.

And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period.

Chapter timestamps:

0:00 Intro

3:30 The 3 Sides Every Creative Has to Balance

4:30 You Shouldn't Rinse Your Shows. It's a Sacred Thing.

5:00 What Dermot Beats Himself Up About On Stage

5:30 Anxiety After the Show Starts, Not Before

6:00 The Struggle of Being Lucky Enough to Have a Career

8:00 Childhood

9:00 "I Know I'm Good. But I Feel Very Insecure in Other Ways."

14:00 How Dermot Built a Career With No Algorithm and No Social Pressure

18:00 Why He Doesn't Play Music for People

19:19 How He Started Busking

20:15 Why Most People Couldn't Busk — and the Genius Who Changed Everything

21:00 The Importance of Branding When Selling Anything

22:00 How to Make Real Money Busking

26:00 How Dermot Built His Name and Started Playing Shows

29:00 Into the Music Business — and the Most Successful He's Ever Felt

31:00 Being Sought After and Avoiding Bad Record Deals

32:40 How to Build Out Your Team

36:00 A Note About Touring: Enjoy Where You're At

38:23 His Advice to His 15-Year-Old Self: Find Your Contentment

39:23 How Dermot Kennedy Built a Worldwide Fanbase

Credits:

Hosted by Ross Golan

Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad

Edited by Jad Saad

Post-Production VFX by Pratik Karki

Watercolor Art by Michael White

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.