This just in from the studio, The Smashing Pumpkins' new song, G.L.O.W., is now finished.

Co-producer Bjorn Thorsud says "G.L.O.W. has me glowing all over."

September can't come too soon, as that will be when this song will start hitting the airwaves.

Beginning is the End is the Beginning is featured in the new Watchmen Trailer.

SmashingPumpkins.com released part one of an interview with Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder.

SmashingPumpkins.com: Your Wikipedia article has an unsourced claim that you're a comparative literature PhD student specializing in Asian-American literature at UCLA. Can you give us a brief bio?

Jeff Schroeder: I've been a graduate student in the department of Comparative Literature at UCLA for about 7 years. My area of focus is Asian American literature and cultural production (which includes film, theater, music, etc.), but I also study 20th century French and Francophone literature, and a little bit of contemporary Korean cinema. In general I'm interested in the relationship between the political (and I use the term here in a very broad sense to encompass history, race, class, gender, etc. as well what we normally think of when the term is evoked) and the aesthetic (literature, film, performance art). Right now I'm working on my dissertation, which deals with representations of war in the Pacific Rim.

I'm going to ask you the most impolite question you can ask a graduate student: When are you going to be finished your PhD?

Good question! I'm lucky because I'm done with all my courses, which means I don't really need to be in LA on a daily basis; so the only thing standing in between me and my PhD is the thesis itself. No small matter, but I'm determined to get it done as soon as possible. I try to work on it everyday, even…

The Smashing Pumpkins are back in the studio recording a new single (reported earlier) that will be available this September.

The new single will be titled G.L.O.W. and is the first studio effort from the band since the American Gothic sessions.

The has been no word on the style or arrangement of the song at this time.

This year is turning out to be the greatest for the Smashing Pumpkins.

The Chicago-based alt-rock legends have announced that, beginning next month, they plan to play a series of concerts over the next six months to mark their 20th anniversary.

"The August tour is going to be a blast," band mastermind Billy Corgan said on the band's site. "Expect a very loud and raucous show from us."

The Pumpkins, which formed in 1988, will targert smaller shows during the initial two-week run kicking off Aug. 9 in Hammond, Ill. Corgan says the band is focusing on "unique sets and songs."

Tickets for that show go on sale tomorrow.

Then in November, the Pumpkins will embark on a string of dates hitting larger venues in such cities as New York, Chicago and L.A.

Those shows will celebrate the quartet's "history, legacy, and accomplishments over their career" (despite the fact that two of the original four members, guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretsky, are no longer in the band).

"The 20th anniversary shows will be magical," added Corgan, in typical humble fashion. "We are already working on a lot of surprises."

The road show will continue into 2009, with the band tooling sets to pay homage to their debut album, Gish.

Speaking of Gish, the Smashing Pumpkins are working on a Gish box set that will span the band's early years, and Corgan is asking fans to send in any photos they may have of the group in its infancy which they'll then license and include in th…

A slow trickle of details regarding the upcoming DVD documentary has arrived at SP.com:

- The documentary will be a multi-disc DVD release
- Most, if not all, of the footage will be HD quality
- The tentative release date for the DVD will be November of 2008

In honor of the 10th Anniversary of the Pumpkins' 1998 Charity tour and the 7th Anniversary of Act IV 2001, Act IV is holding a fund raising drive. Donate today to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois this month, and tell them you want your donation associated with "Act IV- A Tribute to the Smashing Pumpkins". This way, we can know how much money you, the fans have raised together for Make-A-Wish, and show the world how charitable Smashing Pumpkins fans are.

Also, we will be donating $7 from each sale of Ghost Children 2 (http://www.act4.net/ghostchildren2.htm) this month to the effort. Normally, only the profits would go (about $3 a CD) to charity, but we're making an exception for this month!

This month long donation drive is from July 7-August 7, 2008. Given that people would be donating under their own names, we would imagine that you would get tax receipts (check with Make-A-Wish on their policies).

If anyone would like to donate over the phone to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois directly, their numbers are:
1-800-978-WISH (9474) (toll-free)
312-602-9474 (phone)

For more information on how to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois by other methods, please go to their website (http://www.wishes.org)

The Smashing Pumpkins have a special connection to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois, as it was the charity that they donated to on their hometown stop during their Adore charity tour on July 7, 1998. Act IV has followed suit by donatin…

SP.com can finally tease some information about the upcoming DVD release by The Smashing Pumpkins.

The DVD is a documentary chronicling their 12 straight shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco in July and August of 2007.

The DVD will feature footage from those shows and more.

Expect to see the disc appear in stores before the end of the year.