Here’s Nick Cave Absolutely Wrecking A Very Young Billy Corgan Of The Smashing Pumpkins
"I've done this same interview with..." Cave says, cutting himself off. "Are these your questions?"
Don’t mess with Nick Cave.
That’s been an adage in the music industry for decades now. The man is a singular talent, capable of churning out heartwrenching record after heartwrenching record. But he’s also Very Serious, as any journalist who has gotten on his wrong side has learned. Say the wrong word, or act like a fool in front of him, and you will be subjected to the kind of wrath you hitherto might not have ever dreamed of.
And that’s no matter who you are, whether you’re a Guardian reporter or a rockstar. Which is precisely what Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins had to learn when he was tasked with interviewing Nick Cave at Lollapalooza back in 1994.
Introducing Cave as his “good pal”, Corgan starts off with a series of lowball questions about Cave’s involvement in Lollapalooza that almost immediately appear to be pissing him off.
“I’ve done this same interview with…” Cave says, cutting himself off. “Are these your questions?”
Corgan immediately begins to squirm. But it gets worse when the Smashing Pumpkins singer calls The Bad Seeds English, prompting Cave to rattle off nationalities like an irate geography teacher.
Basically, the whole thing is a work of awkward, horrifying art. Watch it: