Kiki Wong: From Social Media Sensation to Smashing Pumpkins Guitarist

In this episode, PJ Pat reads and comments on Kiki Wong's Guitar World Magazine Interview from June 2025. Article written by Andrew Daly. 

We explore Kiki Wong's extraordinary journey from a social media guitar sensation to joining rock legends Smashing Pumpkins. Discover how Wong, who almost gave up on her dream of large-scale success, beat out 10,000 applicants to become the band's touring guitarist. Learn about her experiences, how teaming up with Billy Corgan and James Iha has influenced her musical style, and her insights on embracing failure, social media's impact, and personal growth. 

Wong's story is a compelling testament to resilience, hard work, and the transformative power of music.

Music by Witch of November

Transcript

Hey, rock fan. Thank you for joining the channel. My name is PJ Pat, and today I'm gonna bring you an article from the Guitar World Magazine released back in June, 2025, so earlier this year with my favorite guitar play of all time, Stevie Ray V on the cover, and it was called Class of 85.

Eventually, I'm gonna bring you that article, but today I saw this article on page 40 to be precise regarding Kiki Wong, the newest guitar player for Smashing Pumpkins. And I saw a short article that highlights her, and it's called a Smashing Pumpkin. That's it, that's what it's called.

That's a title by Andrew Daly from Guitar World Magazine. Now, I recently saw Kiki Wong play with Billy Corgan. So he did a it wasn't a, an official Smashing Pumpkins tour, but he did like a solo tour on his own, and Kiki wong. Even though she's in Smashing Pumpkins, I guess they worked it out that she was also gonna be a part of his solo tour and it was awesome.

They played this fairly intimate venue here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the sound was great. We were close to the stage and I was really able to get a good look at Kiki Wong. I think they just had hired her not too long before that show, and I gotta say she was awesome. She is this. Pretty tiny Vietnamese shredder extraordinaire guitar player, and she was just rocking out all night.

The energy that she had the movements and just the enthusiasm that she brought on stage was very refreshing. Obviously Billy is Billy he's getting up there in age now, so he's not jumping all over the place, running all over the stage. But Kiki definitely brought the energy and her playing was 

right up there with any amazing shredder that you can think of right now. Nita Strauss is a woman shredder that I can think of that's simply amazing. I saw her when she tour with Alice Cooper. She was absolutely amazing. And I guess Kiki Wong is falling within her footsteps and she reminds me a lot of Nita just.

Really flawless in her guitar playing. And I wanna bring you this article because I was really impressed with her. And I know a lot of you, especially if you're a Smash of Pumpkins fan, probably want to know a little bit more about her, if not already.

So here we go. Let's get right into it.

The article is called A Smashing Pumpkin, Kiki Wong on Her Life Gear and Technique before and since Teaming up with Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan and James Iha in the Spring of 24 by Andrew Dali.

Before securing the gig as a touring guitarist with the Smashing Pumpkins, Kiki Wong had all but given up her dreams of large scale success with a big time act. That's not to say she wasn't capable. One glance at her million strong social media following showed she was sterly up to the task, but an unruly music business and a devotion to family led her elsewhere.

Outsiders called Wong, a social media shredder and a bedroom guitarist. Forget that she was riffing heavy on gnarly guitars in front of millions of viewers. To her detractors, it wasn't enough. My biggest advice is to accept failure like it is your best friend. Long Tails, guitar World.

Some of your biggest failures will happen early on when you're just getting started or when you're in a vulnerable position. Failure sucks. It hurts. It stays with you, and you certainly don't want to do it again. Wong processed the hurt and vulnerability, the music biz slung at her and saw her star rise so high.

In fact, when Billy Corrigan held an open audition in the winter of 2024 to replace the departed Jeff Schroeder, he chose Wong for the Gig over another 9,999 in bracket. Seriously, applicants. Wow.

He must have had a team of people go through those 10,000 applicants. I'm not sure what length the video audition was, but I guess in 30 seconds you could pretty much tell maybe even less than that whether it was worth moving on to the next stage.

I am really curious on how that filtration process went down. Like at the end. Was it a really hard decision between five guitar players 10 Or was Kiki Wong really the clear and sure winner out of all and they knew right away, wish I was a flying wall for that. Since signing with the Pumpkins, things have gone well for Wong.

She's tore the world with Corgan and James Zhi in support of the Pumpkin's latest record, 2020 fours Arie. Maury May and fans have been welcoming, even if some felt her to be too. Metal, yeah, because if you take a look at her Instagram, it's a lot of shredding, right? And even the guitar that she's holding, it's a freaking Jackson, which is synonymous with metal.

It's like a, almost like a v guitar, triangular, total metal type guitar. And I think she was drawn more to that type of style. In that sense, if you just take a look at our image, yeah, it's a little jarring from the Smashing Pumpkins, but I think nowadays people just don't give a crap .

It's not 20, 30 years ago where it was very cliquey. Now because of streaming, everything is opened up so you can listen to, you can be a classical lover or Beethoven freak and still love mega death. You know what I mean? So no one really cares.

Such as life as a pumpkin, you can't make anyone entirely happy. Joining the Smashing Pumpkins has helped me become a whole lot more well-rounded player, adding a little alternative music to my style as well, and I am so grateful for that. She says, as for what she'd be doing if she didn't beat out those other 9,999 applicants Wong says, honestly, I'd probably be doing more TikTok and Instagram reel videos at home and being a mom, which wouldn't be a terrible life.

However, I'm so grateful for having the second chance at fulfilling my dreams and exceeding my expectations of how far I could take my music career. Wow. Can you believe that? I didn't realize she was a mom, but man I wonder, in terms of revenue, I'm just curious. She says like she has millions of followers on social media.

I'm sure she got sponsors. I'm just really curious on what does that bring a year? What are these sponsors paying her? I know there's a dime a dozen. Bedroom guitar players doing social media stuff. So I'm really curious. She definitely has a unique look. There's not a lot of first of all, female shredders, let alone Asian female shredders.

So I'm sure that was definitely a pull for marketers something unique that can differentiate her and others. But yeah, I'm just really curious on what kind of revenue. Obviously it's nowhere near what she's making now with Smashing Pumpkins. But looks like that was cool to sustain her.

So good for her for just finding her way and using her passion to make a living.

 Alright, getting back to the interview. It has been the best thing that's happened to me besides, of course, my son being born. Yeah, I can definitely see that if that's, if your passion is like playing guitar and getting in front of as many eyes and ears as possible, this is definitely gotta be your dream come true for sure.

From indie metal hopeful to social media guitar star, to gracing the grandest stages worldwide, playing iconic hits of the nineties alongside one of rock's most seminal characters. Here's looking at you, Billy, in parenthesis. Wong's journey is an. For anyone hoping to make it, she's seen the bottom, which prepared her for the top.

If you accept failure as a place for growth, the sky is truly the limit. Won. Says I have a thousand percent failed more than I've succeeded, and I truly believe that's why I'm here today. 

It allows you to see where you can improve in whatever it is you want to achieve and check your ego if things are going almost too well.

That advice still stands to this day. Damn kiki, wow. I guess being a mom has really shot up your wisdom and knowledge of life For sure. Obviously she's been through a lot and that advice is not just for any guitar player who wants to make a living, but. Anyone in general. Damn good advice.

Thank you, Kiki.

Okay, so now we enter the question period of the interview and Guitar World asks, you've been playing with the pumpkins since the spring of 2024.

How has that changed your life? Kiki responds. It honestly has been one of the best things I could ever ask for. It still shocks me that I was literally living in the desert between the masses of desert. Almost in the middle of nowhere and catapulting into a world tour with one of the most influential nineties rock and roll bands.

I'm forever grateful. Most importantly, it has allowed me to improve as a musician and expand my musical. Understanding. Does that mean you're a different player now than you were then? Absolutely. I have a lot to attribute to Billy. He's developed a distinct playing style that when you hear it, you go, that's Billy Corgan, which I think is what we all strive to do as musicians.

Learning a style was hard, but it helped me play with more feel and vibe. The first week of rehearsal was like a musical bootcamp that taught me more than 20 years of playing by myself. Wow. She does raise a good point. Billy definitely has a style of his own, a tone of his own. And that's exactly what she said.

As a guitar player, if you think about your favorite guitar players out there, they all have a unique tone and unique style. You're thinking, my favorite Steve V. As soon as you hear one or two notes from that guy on the radio, you know it's Stevie. Or if it's not Stevie, you know that guy ripped Stevie off, I mean slash his own tone.

David Gilmore, Tom Morello, I can go on and on. But they have that unique. Voice and Billy is definitely one of them for sure. You were mostly known as a metal player going into the Pumpkins gig. Do you still consider yourself as that type of a player? Kiki says, I honestly just wanted to play what I like the most, which is metal my whole life.

It helped keep me super focused and interested in playing and practicing. However, it did end up making me a one trick pony, always blasting the dirtiest distortion, and not really having a whole lot of dynamics to my playing. That's funny because I read an interview with Nita Straus, and that's what she was saying actually.

She started to feel like a one trick pony, just shredding and just, cranking everything to 10 or one, louder to 11 every time. But then when she started playing with Alice Cooper, that allowed her to pretty much learn how to be a blues rock player and gave her more of a diverse palette, in her playing. And so it looks like Kiki is saying the same thing here. I'm not gonna read the whole article. I just wanna leave a little bit of mystery just in case that you want to go check it out yourself.

But I'm just gonna pick a couple more questions here to go through and we'll call it a day. What is the secret sauce to the Pumpkin's guitar sound, and how do you fit into that with Smashing Pumpkins? She says it's all about feel, vibe, and following a pumpkin's pocket. Absolutely. For sure. Totally get that. Everything we play is by vibing and following each other. What you hear is exactly what is being played, and the ebb and the flow of the pocket is what makes it truly an unmatched experience live.

So I don't know if any of you have seen the Pumpkins live, but the first time that I saw them live, it absolutely. Blew me away. Obviously I was already a fan. I loved their albums, was listening to them nonstop at some point in my life. But seeing them live was definitely a whole other level. I definitely found a new level of appreciation for this band.

You don't realize how much guitars play a role in their music and how much Billy Corgan solos and shreds the hell outta his guitar live. It's crazy. It really blew me away and it made me realize that, hey, you know what, yes, they are alternative, but they have some pretty damn intricate solos and intricate guitar parts that play off each other.

It was absolutely eye-opening and incredible.

All right. Let's get to two more questions here.

Okay. Here are two social media related questions. As you've alluded, you've done an amazing job of promoting yourself on social media. Do you think you would be here without that? Social media is an extremely tricky topic. A lot of the time musicians don't want to take part in social media trends and understandably 'cause it can make you feel like you've been selling yourself.

But if you embrace that as a tool for you to get yourself out there and connect with other people, it can be the best thing that will catapult your music career. At the end of the day, people want to feel connected with something or someone. Social media is a place where that can happen without building a following.

There is no way I would've been able to connect with so many incredible fans and musicians as well as have the opportunity to be a part of the Smashing Pumpkins. Did you ever feel overloaded? Did you ever feel overlooked or cast aside as just a social media quote unquote, or bedroom quote unquote guitar player?

Do you feel people take you more seriously now? It's tough. She says, because I have TikTok and Instagram to thank for my claim to fame, quote unquote, she says, so to speak. But at the time, I put in the hours and work playing in bands and writing our own music. 

I've played hundreds of shows before I even became popular on social media, good and bad. So there was absolutely nothing wrong with social media influencers and bedroom guitarists. It wasn't all that was in my repertoire. The positive side is it sheds good light on the fact that dreams can come true for those who are playing at home.

Man, so I encourage you, if you haven't had a chance to see either Billy Corgan solo or Smashing Pumpkins live, go check 'em out. Honestly, you know this, nothing beats live music, but the way they play and when you see them on stage, especially Corgan and Kiki vibing off each other, it's really something to see and a pleasure to see, especially if you're a rock musician, to see them feeding off each other.

Excited to see where it goes from here, especially on the next album. I have a feeling she may contribute a little bit more into songwriting. I'm not sure how much she contributed into the last one, but if Billy's cool with it and allows her to bring some new ideas, maybe their style would change as well.

Maybe they get heavier, maybe they get shred, or who knows? I know Billy can shred the hell out of his guitar, maybe he's open to that. We'll see. It's pretty exciting to see what the evolution of the smashing pumpkin sound would look like in the future with Kiki. Hopefully she stays with the band for a good number of years.

I know historically this band has had a lot of lineup changes, so hopefully Kiki sticks with them for a while and there's no drama. In between Billy and her, we'll see where it goes, but here you go. Hopefully you learn a thing or two about Kiki and Rock on one louder.