Kiki Wong is Bringing PRS Guitars to the Forefront with Smashing Pumpkins

For a long time, Kiki Wong was known primarily as a touring musician and guitarist for pop-rock band Nylon Pink who happened to love shredding heavy metal riffs in her free time.

Then, in January, the Smashing Pumpkins held an open audition via Instagram to be their new guitarist. Wong applied (along with thousands of others), but didn’t think much of her chances of getting the gig. But after a Zoom call, a harrowing three-month wait, and an in-person audition in Los Angeles, she officially landed the biggest job of her career.

Of course, with the new role came the need for a new sound. No longer was she going to be constantly playing through heavy distortion with all of her effects loaded into a digital amp profile. Instead, she was going to need tools that would allow her to reach the wide range of tones present in the Pumpkins’ music — from the sparkling clean notes to the Big Muff that covers so many of their signature songs.

As a starting point, Wong turned to the guitars she’d been fawning over since she was a teenager killing time at Guitar Center. She knew that PRS guitars would provide her with the versatility she needed while also being unquestionably reliable for the entirety of the biggest tour of her life.

SPIN spoke with Wong about her experience with Smashing Pumpkins and the PRS guitars that shaped her sound for the full tour.

SPIN: How did you first come across PRS guitars?

Kiki Wong: I first discovered PRS guitars when I was 15 or 16 years old, because my leisure time back then was to go with my brother to Guitar Center and spend like three hours there and never buy anything. I was one of those annoying kids. PRS was always this brand that was untouchable. That’s when I first knew that one day I would love to own one for myself, if I could ever afford it. Then I was at NAMM in 2012 and I remember seeing their display and thinking “Man, it’d be really cool to get sponsored by them.” It wasn’t until this tour that I was able to get a connection through Herman Li from DragonForce. He was like “Oh, you like PRS? Let me talk to the people there.”

What’s it been like touring with the PRS guitars this time around?

Oh, they’re incredible. I was pretty intimidated at first, because they’re pretty high-end, and I just never imagined myself owning one. I’m probably at the bottom of the totem pole of the artists they work with, but they welcomed me in really quickly and treated me with a lot of respect. The guitars have been incredible on tour and held up really well. Touring with the Pumpkins, the sound is a lot more diverse and more complex than what I’m used to. At home, I generally play a lot of heavy metal with a lot of high-gain distortion for a kinda nasty sound. Coming on tour with the Pumpkins has been a completely new experience in terms of tone and playability. It’s really broadened my horizons, and being able to play with PRS guitars has been such a cool opportunity for that, because it’s opened up my playing and given me a lot of options in terms of tone. I also love the finish of the guitars. Everybody always makes really cool comments online because of PRS’s reputation, but also just because aesthetically, they look really nice.

Do you have a favorite of the guitars you brought on tour?

It’s funny, because back in the day, I really wanted one of the SE Customs. I would go to Guitar Center and play them all the time, but it was like a $700 guitar at the time, and I just didn’t have the money for it. I probably played those guitars for about seven years, and now I have the S2 versions that have exceeded my expectations. They’re like the guitars that I tried at Guitar Center, but on crack in a good way. I love it and I couldn’t be more happy with them.

What was it like getting the gig with the Pumpkins?

It was honestly insane. I’ve toured since basically 2010, and I’ve done a lot of trudging along with some of those bands — like I was sleeping in the trunk of a seven-seater van for some of those tours. ThenI had a baby in 2023, and I was like “This is the end of touring for me. I’m just gonna be a mom.” Then one of my friends was like “Hey, there’s a social media post looking for a guitarist for the Smashing Pumpkins. You should apply.” I didn’t think there was any way that it was real because it was just a picture of the band with some red text on it, but I clicked on it and it was the band’s actual page. I was in the middle of playing a video game at midnight, and I remember jumping off the video game to submit my resume. But in my mind, I knew there were probably a million people who did the same. I couldn’t believe that it actually went through, and then I got an email saying that there was a Zoom meeting with the band. I met with the band on Zoom, and we ended up talking about Dimebag Darrell and metal for most of the time, and then they were like ‘Maybe we’ll see you in LA.’ Then it was three months before I heard anything, so I figured they found someone. Then I get a message saying “Hey, audition is in LA. Can you make it?” I was living in Arizona at the time, so I packed a bag, drove out and did the audition. The next day, I got a phone call saying “You got it.” It felt unreal. I tried not to focus too much on anybody else who was applying and just kind of focused on my own lane. Some of the names leaked on who was trying out, and it was a really, really good bunch of people. It was just extremely honorable to be chosen to be a part of it. I know for a fact that I’m not the best shredder guitar player out there, but I’m glad that they saw potential in me to be part of that experience.

What was the first tour with them like for you? 

It’s been nuts. The first tour was in Europe, and it was the craziest thing, because I had a month to learn 24 songs — over two hours of material. And I had to go from being someone who plays really crunchy metal with alternate-picking kinds of things to these really vibey tones and vibey playing style. It was super difficult for me to transition into that. The second show of that tour, we played The O2 [Arena in London] and it was a sold-out show. It was huge pressure, but I work really well under pressure in high-stress environments. Being thrown out with the wolves is how I operate the best. It was definitely a transition period, and there was the stress of trying to keep up. But once everything got locked into place, it was incredible. Playing with Green Day, Rancid and the Linda Lindas was truly a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to aim for the stars, but I never thought I’d be playing on a stadium tour for three months straight. 

As a lifelong metal guitarist, what was it like to have to switch gears so dramatically with the Pumpkins? 

I have loved metal through and through since I was 13 years old. I was just drawn to it. Later on, I would listen to all kinds of things — like dubstep — but metal was always it for me. I didn’t spend a lot of time learning acoustic or anything else when I started playing guitar at 13, and I’m 35 now, so that’s a lot of years just playing metal. I’ve used picks for years that are really for precision picking and led me to a really pigeonholed style of playing, and as soon as I went in with Billy [Corgan], he was like “We’re going to change your picks.” I think it was the day before the first show, we switched picks and it made a huge difference. But man, it was such a weird feeling to change out of that pick that I’m so comfortable with. Also just understanding all of the pedals was a challenge. I really just did high distortion and higher distortion before, whereas now everything is really clean and vibey, so I have to understand how to mesh those and activate those live. I used to use a Kemper [Profiler], and it was super easy. Just click it on and boom, you’re good. We went back to all individual pedals, and we spent hours trying to figure out tones that worked for the songs. It was such a trip just going up on stage having to remember to activate and deactivate six different things. Those first two weeks were just insane, like a guitar pedal boot camp. But now, after 60 shows, I’m so grateful for this experience. I’ve learned more in the last four months than I had in the 20 years before that, and I couldn’t have asked for more. At the end of the day, all I want to do is learn.

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