An Interview With Kiki Wong Of The Smashing Pumpkins

Feature Photo by Venla Shalin.

When Kiki Wong joined the Smashing Pumpkins in 2024 as a replacement for Jeff Schroeder, it was a dream come true. Like the Pumpkins’ leader, Billy Corgan, Wong is a meathead at heart. But, like many of us, she also grew up loving ‘90s alternative rock… like the Pumpkins.

This is to say that Wong, with her high skill level, endearing personality, and cooler-than-cool vibe, was a perfect fit for the machine that is the Smashing Pumpkins. And so it was to be, but as wild as it sounds, Wong has social media to thank.

She admits that she never expected her star to rise as it did via TikTok and Instagram, let alone catch the eye and ear of Billy Corgan. But she did—and at the perfect time. Still, the Internet can have a dark side, so use it with caution. “With great success and benefits comes a lot of risk,” Wong tells ClassicRockHistory.com.

“It can be a deafening place when you’re searching to express your artistic individuality,” she explains. “What may take hours of blood, sweat, and tears on a piece of content may not garner nearly as many views or interactions as something more mindless. But if you use it as a platform to step up and promote your creative work, it can be an absolute diamond.”

The last bit of that advice has served Wong well. This, along with the hardships that came via her nearly quitting music, makes her success with the Pumpkin that much sweeter. “I cannot express enough how incredible everyone in the band is,” Wong beams.

She adds, “They are truly gems of the world, inherently good people with all the love for their families and absolutely sheer raw talent and passion for their craft. It’s been one inspirational journey, and I have seen so much growth musically, emotionally, and spiritually as a result of being within their mentorship. Every day, I am beyond grateful.”

For Kiki Wong, a life in music has been akin to a roller coaster. There’s been peaks, valleys, and everything in between. To that end, Wong is grateful for every morsel of hard-earned success she gathered. “Do I have any regrets?,” she questions. “None.”

“Every mistake, failure, and pitfall has always come due to my own responsibility,” she says. “And every one of them has always been taken as a lesson. If it weren’t for my failures, I would never be where I am today.”

What are your first memories of music in your life?

I remember my brother and I received these toy guitars that were made of plastic when I was about two or three years old. The guitar always seems like such a fascinating instrument to me, something that was almost untouchable and slightly mysterious.

When I went to preschool, there was a musician named Music Mike who came to sing kid songs to the class. I remember he had my full attention and interest; the guitar sounds and instrument itself were so magnetic.

What drew you to the guitar, and when did you decide the sort of player you wanted to be?

My dad grew up in a very musical family; he and his five brothers and sisters played in a musical group called the Sing Song Wongs. I know, catchy. [laughs] They performed songs with traditional Chinese instruments in the San Francisco area.

One year, when I was about nine years old, my mom found a guitar on sale at Costco for $180, a Yamaha Eterna. She gifted it to my father for Valentine’s Day, but it ended up going into the closet. A few years later, when I was about 13 years old, I remember my brother was listening to something super heavy in his room, and I overheard it from mine.

I popped my head in and asked what he was listening to, to later find out it was “Master of Puppets” by Metallica. I was absolutely floored by the riffs and sound; I’d never heard anything like it before. I took it out and asked my father to teach me how to play the guitar.

At this point in my life, I had already been taking piano lessons for six years, so my dad taught me my first three guitar chords and sent me off to figure it out on my own, where I became self-taught.

How did the scene you grew up in impact you as a player?

I grew up in a quiet suburb outside of Sacramento. I was obsessed with heavy metal, death metal, and anything in between. However, our town was so small that most of the local venues that held shows like these were at churches. I remember paying like $7 to go see bands like Necrophagist, Cattle Decapitation, and all kinds of incredible bands, where you could literally stand and touch them if you wanted.

The venues were so intimate. It was those shows, building camaraderie with local metal lovers, moshing, and feeling the sweat literally dripping off the bands’ faces, that really motivated me to want to be a part of the scene and play the music.

The ‘90s and early 2000s were a fun time to come of age. How did that affect you as you were getting into things?

It was an interesting time to be a kid and a teenager. The internet was just sort of getting its bearings, but our social media exposure was literally the Myspace era. I’m grateful to be a part of a generation where we still didn’t quite have tech, but also are still somewhat savvy with it in our adult years.

It also left a lot more time and dedication to your instrument rather than mindlessly scrolling. Now, it’s wild to be in a legacy ‘90s grunge band, especially when I used to listen to Smashing Pumpkins songs as a teenager. Never thought that would ever happen in any lifetime.

Tell us about your early gigs and how the trials and lows you faced shaped who you’d become.

My first professional gig as a musician was in an all-girl Asian rock band called Nylon Pink. I joined in 2010 when I was in my third year of college studying Biological Sciences/Pre-Med while taking 19 units and driving from Irvine to LA for rehearsals.

I remember we had our first tour ever planned – the gigs were mostly in the state of Ohio. But we all packed our bags and traveled across the country for our first gig, which was at Putt-In-Bay, OH. We were the cover band/entertainment for a local bar there.

We did what we thought was our best, but we weren’t ready for the gig. And, me being a bit of a drunk mess, we were fired after the second day they booked us, barely getting through the first evening after a full night of an empty room.

At that point, we could have quit, complained, stopped the tour, blamed others, or each other. But we kept persevering and eventually were about to tour the world, all over Asia and the US, doing what we loved as a band.

You all but quit music at one point. What led to that, and what brought you back?

After the band Nylon Pink, I was fortunate enough to be a part of an incredible group called the She Demons, which was the all-girl punk rock group put together by the legendary Jerry Only of the Misfits. It was truly the experience of a lifetime touring the US and Canada on a 34-date tour as direct support for the Misfits.

I was ready to go all in for the project, quitting my job and putting every fiber of my being into it. However, when the project came to a sudden halt, I just didn’t have the drive in me to continue. I truly thought it was the end of the road for music. I was out of a job for four months, creeping slowly into debt and far gone in my alcohol consumption.

Eventually, I got a corporate job working in Korea and San Francisco for about half a year, but it didn’t pan out, and I continued to spiral. Eventually, I decided to get sober. The singer from my band, Nylon Pink, Kaila Yu, and I decided to pivot our lives and turn our website into a thriving travel blog.

With thousands of unpaid hours dedicated to understanding social media, marketing, and research, we were able to travel the world for free to some incredible once-in-a-lifetime destinations. My incredible friend and bass player of the She Demons, Alicia Vigil, who now plays for Dragonforce, called me and asked if I could play last minute for a tour in the UK in 2019.

At that point, I hadn’t picked up a guitar in almost 3 years. I had no idea how I’d do. But little did I know that the tour fully rekindled my love for music and performing on stage again. When the pandemic hit, we were at another standstill; traveling wasn’t an option, so I was forced to pivot again.

TikTok was starting to get some popularity. So, Kaila and I decided to start a 30-Day TikTok Challenge to figure out how it worked. I would have never imagined my social media accounts would have taken off so successfully as they did. And I’m grateful for it.

How important was social media to your coming back, so to speak?

Social media was truly my bread and butter for success. We really tried to capitalize on social media growth in my first band, even before Instagram was really a thing. It’s gotten me to where I am today, to the point where even Billy Corgan discovered my account long before I even imagined auditioning would have been an option.

You’ve been with the Smashing Pumpkins for a couple of years now. How did that happen?

It was funny. I was about five months pregnant, give or take, and was winding down after a long day of taking care of the baby by playing Call of Duty. I remember one of my fiancé Neil’s friends sent me a post saying that the Smashing Pumpkins were auditioning. I thought it was fake, but when I clicked through, there it was blue check mark and all.

I was on comms and asked my friends, “Should I do it?” They all immediately replied, “Yes!” So, I hopped off for a minute, created a resume, sent it into the ether, and waited. I didn’t expect much since the post had already gained 4,000+ likes, so I figured my resume would get lost in the mix. But eventually, I got the call back for a Zoom meeting with the band.

When it actually happened, the vibes were so good. I ended up talking to Billy about heavy metal and Dimebag Darrell for most of the interview. It ended up being such an exciting and high-energy conversation, almost like talking to an old friend I hadn’t spoken to in years, yet I was speaking to rock icons of the ‘90s.

It took about three months to receive a callback. I was almost certain the spot was filled, but Neil kept insisting I had it in the bag. I later received a call that I needed to travel to LA in two weeks and learn four songs. I packed up our little family and drove from Phoenix, Arizona, to LA. I was the first one up, as I later found out, for the auditions that day. The next day, I found out I had the gig. It was truly a dream come true.

What’s been the key to your rig, and where does it stand today?

One of the most essential pieces of equipment in my rig is by far my Revv Generator 120 head. It is an absolute beast in terms of tone and has handled some of the most rigorous load-ins and load-outs all over the world. It truly is exceptional for quality, durability, reliability, and tone. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

What’s something about you as a musician—and listener—that might surprise fans?

I am wholeheartedly a dubstep fan. Like, dirty, disgusting dubstep that annoys people when they hear it. I mostly listen to it when no one is around because most people can’t tolerate the noise. [laughs] But huge fan.

What’s next for you?

I am beyond excited for an incredible 2026 year ahead. We have a pretty fun tour schedule coming soon, so keep an eye out. Also, I have been working diligently on releasing my own music, which I am beyond stoked about it. So, stay tuned, follow along for the ride @kikiwongo.

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