Kiki Wong (born April 15, 1989) is an American

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

known for being the touring

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

the Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

. In the 2010s she performed with artists such as

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

and Usher, and was a member of girl band Nylon Pink. She also played in She Demons, put together by

Jerry Only Gerald Caiafa Jr. (born April 21, 1959), better known by his stage name Jerry Only, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the Misfits and later the vocalist as well. He is the only member to appear in every Misfits lineup exce ...

Misfits MiSFiTS was the acronym for the ''Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy''. This organization has now changed its name to GPS, an acronym for Geek Partnership Society. It was founded in 1999 and was the parent non-profit org ...

, and Vigil of War, a band started by

DragonForce DragonForce are a British power metal band from London, formed in 1999. They are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced sound. The band themselves refer to their music as "extreme po ...

bassist Alicia Vigil. While in Nylon Pink she started a popular travel blog with bandmate

Kaila Yu Kaila Yu is a Taiwanese American singer, songwriter, former model, and freelance journalist foThe Rolling Stone Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...

later commenting that he was already a fan before her application. Wong has said that joining the band has forced her to expand her playing style beyond her heavy metal roots.

Early life

Kiki Wong was born April 15, 1989. She is

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

and

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

American. Wong says she started playing piano at age six, guitar at thirteen, and drums at age sixteen. She graduated from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

with a

bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years (de ...

in biological science on a

pre-medical Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students mostly in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med ...

track.

Career

Early career and session work

Wong's first professional gig was as a member of all Asian-American girl band Nylon Pink, whose members she initially met when she took a job on a photoshoot to earn extra money during college. The band played metal and electronic covers of

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

songs, as well as their own music. After graduating from college in 2011, she took a job working at

UCLA Medical Center Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as UCLA Medical Center, RRMC or Ronald Reagan) is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United S ...

with neurological patients, which she quit when Nylon Pink was offered a tour of China. This tour was ultimately cancelled, so Wong did what she describes as "all kinds of other odd jobs in between to make ends meet". She says touring with Nylon Pink in places like Japan, Macau, Malaysia and South America is how she discovered her love of travel, and "learned to play my heart out no matter how shitty the venue or crowd is". Wong had a range of gigs as a session musician in 2014: drumming for

at the

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

, playing with Usher at CBS's

Fashion Rocks Fashion Rocks was an annual international charity fundraiser event, which featured fashions by the world's top designers presented as live performances by popular music acts. Fashion Rocks Worldwide is the owner of the intellectual property righ ...

, and playing lead guitar for

Bret Michaels Bret Michael Sychak (born March 15, 1963), known professionally as Bret Michaels, is an American singer and musician. He is the frontman of rock band Poison, which has sold over 65 million albums worldwide and 30 million records in the United St ...

Poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

in a

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

commercial. Wong subsequently joined the all-girl punk band She Demons (later called Hellfire Heart), put together by

. She toured the US with She Demons in 2015 as Misfits' opening act. Wong has said that when the band ended she went through "a pretty low moment" and took a step back from music, spending some time in corporate jobs. She worked for a music tech business in South Korea, and a

startup incubator A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend t ...

in Silicon Valley.

Blogging, social media and return to music

2016 saw Wong start a travel blog with

Kaila Yu Kaila Yu is a Taiwanese American singer, songwriter, former model, and freelance journalist foThe Rolling Stone The pair also self-published a book, ''30-Day Travel Challenge: How To Make Your Travel Dreams A Reality''. Wong returned to music when asked to join a tour in 2019 with Vigil of War, a band started by Wong's She Demons bandmate Alicia Vigil, who is also bassist for

. At this point Wong says she hadn't played guitar for three years and had only a few weeks to practise before the tour, but that it rekindled her love for music. When the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

stopped plans that Wong and Yu had for travel to Estonia, Thailand, and South Africa, they instead started posting on TikTok. Wong then started posting videos of herself playing guitar, which '' Inked'' magazine says "earned her true viral star status". As of 2023, Wong had 655,000 Instagram followers and 1.3 million TikTok followers. She has said that the topic of social media can be touchy for musicians as many see it as a joke, "but it's a joke that can get you out there if you use it properly". She has responded to accusations of being "just a TikTok influencer" by saying that she has been playing "real shithole" venues since 2010.

The Smashing Pumpkins

Wong was chosen from 10,000 applicants to play with the Smashing Pumpkins after former member

Jeff Schroeder Jeffrey Kim Schroeder (born February 4, 1974) is an American musician. He is best known as a former guitarist in the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, performing with them from 2007 to 2023. He recorded five studio albums with the ba ...

announced he was leaving the band in 2023. The band held an open call for applications in January 2024, and Wong was encouraged to apply by her boyfriend. After a Zoom call with the band where Wong and Smashing Pumpkins' frontman

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...

discussed

Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), known professionally as Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal music, heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founde ...

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

, Wong was one of nine people invited to audition in person in Los Angeles in March 2024. She was given four songs to play:

Bullet With Butterfly Wings "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is a song by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. It was released as the lead single from their 1995 double album ''Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'', and is the sixth track on the first ...

Cherub Rock "Cherub Rock" is a song by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. It is the first single from their second album, ''Siamese Dream'' (1993) and is the opening track. It was written by lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan. It w ...

, Jellybelly, and

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

. Wong later said "I practiced those songs in and out like my life depended on it for three weeks. I watched every live video I could find of those songs, trying to analyze every move they made. I wanted to make sure I did it right, not just do it the way I thought it sounded". She was announced as the Smashing Pumpkins' new guitarist in April, and played her first show with the band in June, a tour date with

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

. Billy Corgan has said he was a fan of Wong before she applied to join the band.

Equipment and playing style

Before joining Smashing Pumpkins, Wong told ''Guitar Girl Magazine'' that she'd played

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki was one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United Stat ...

and Schecter guitars for years "because of the heavy metal tones and body shapes". At this time, she didn't use many

effects pedals An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion (music), distortion/overdrive, ...

, instead dialling in her tone through

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

or Kemper amps. She auditioned for the Smashing Pumpkins using a Zemaitis guitar. She told ''Spin'' that on joining the Smashing Pumpkins, it was initially difficult to transition from her background of playing "really crunchy metal" towards playing with "vibey" clean tones. Talking to ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

'', she explained: "There's so much feel and rhythmic eloquence that goes into their style of playing. I’ve been taking guitar lessons, going back to the blues roots, and even playing more acoustic to integrate it into my playing". Playing with the band has also required Wong to use more effects pedals. She has described their early rehearsals as "like a guitar pedal boot camp" where she had to "remember to activate and deactivate six different things". While Wong has described herself as previously being a one trick pony, she says she now has a more diverse playing style, and has been exposed to new sounds and effects through her work with the Smashing Pumpkins. ''Guitar World'' reported that at her first show with the Smashing Pumpkins she used some guitars especially suited to playing metal, including two

Jackson Rhoads The Jackson Rhoads is a model of electric guitar, originally commissioned by guitarist Randy Rhoads and produced by Jackson Guitars. Origin The Concorde Randy Rhoads' first Jackson prototype was the white, pinstriped, asymmetrical Flying V ...

models, a PRS Custom, a Yamaha Revstar, and the same Zemaitis with which she auditioned. During Wong's first tour with Smashing Pumpkins, she got a sponsorship deal with

PRS Guitars Paul Reed Smith Guitars, also known as PRS Guitars or simply PRS, is an American guitar and amplifier manufacturer founded in 1985 in Annapolis, Maryland by Paul Reed Smith. After dropping out of college, Smith began making guitars by hand and ...

after having been given a contact at the company by

Herman Li Herman Li (; born 3 October 1976) is a Hong Kong-born British musician. He is one of the lead guitarists, producers and songwriters for the power metal band DragonForce. Li has played with the band based in England since it was formed in 1999 ...

from

Publications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Kiki Living people The Smashing Pumpkins members American rock guitarists American women musicians of Chinese descent American musicians of Korean descent American heavy metal guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists 1989 births University of California, Irvine alumni