Nicole Fiorentino



Nicole Margaret Fiorentino (born April 7, 1979) is an American bass guitarist. Originally a touring member of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins (replacing Ginger Pooley and her temporary replacement Mark Tulin), she became an official member in 2010. She performs on the band's albums Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009) and Oceania (2012). Fiorentino departed the band in 2014.

Biography
Fiorentino was born in Ludlow, Massachusetts. Prior to joining the Smashing Pumpkins, she was a member of Radio Vago, Chicago alternative act Veruca Salt, Spinnerette, Twilight Sleep, and Light FM, the last of which opened for Billy Corgan's one-off band Backwards Clock Society in November 2009.

Within a February 17, 2011 post on Smashing Pumpkins' Facebook page, Fiorentino claimed she was one of the girls on the cover of the Pumpkins' 1993 album Siamese Dream. Although it was received by many fans to have been in jest, several news sources and a portion of the fan community believed this to be a genuine claim. Rolling Stone suggested that Corgan had "decided to pull a Twitter prank". Former SmashingPumpkins.com webmaster, Paul Friemel, later claimed that both cover models had been located in 2007 and that neither was Fiorentino.

In 2010, Fiorentino began working with Meghan Toohey under the group name The Cold and Lovely. In 2012 their debut album was released after it was funded through Kickstarter. The album produced one single and video for the song "Not With Me" released on April 24. The following year, on September 24, 2013, The Cold and Lovely released their sophomore record entitled "Ellis Bell EP".

In October 2013, Australian art rock band The Red Paintings announced Fiorentino would be performing with them as part of their new 'Wasps' stage show premiere live on AXS TV, October 7.

Fiorentino has been spending most of 2014 working with The Cold and Lovely embarking on a SXSW tour, on a re-release of the EP Ellis Bell and a follow up EP with all new songs, and a summer tour of the U.S. East Coast. In May 2014, Fiorentino provided backing vocals to London band, The Microdance's début album New Waves of Hope. In August 2014, she announced that she will be joining the band Night Terrors of 1927 on their fall tour.

In September 2014, in an interview with Alternativenation.net, Billy Corgan stated that both Fiorentino and bandmate Mike Byrne have not been active members in The Smashing Pumpkins for a while. Any future participation with the band seems unlikely, according to Corgan, but they do still keep in contact.

Personal life
Since 2012, Fiorentino has been married to her bandmate Meghan Toohey. Fiorentino, who identifies as lesbian, did not publicly disclose her sexuality until 2015, saying "The whole time I was in the Smashing Pumpkins, I was very vocal about my feelings on gay rights, but I never discussed it in terms of my own experiences. I just wasn’t ready at that point for my own reasons."

Discography
With The Smashing Pumpkins
 * Teargarden by Kaleidyscope vol. 3 (2010)
 * Oceania (2012)

With Cold and Lovely
 * The Cold and Lovely (2012)
 * Ellis Bell EP (2013)

With The Microdance
 * New Waves of Hope (2015)

With Veruca Salt
 * IV (2006)

With Light FM
 * Let There Be Light FM (2009)
 * Buzz Kill City (2011)