{"id":8953,"date":"2012-11-14T00:00:59","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T00:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=8953"},"modified":"2012-12-28T15:03:09","modified_gmt":"2012-12-28T15:03:09","slug":"feature-pig-destroyer-11-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-pig-destroyer-11-12\/","title":{"rendered":"PIG DESTROYER – The Underground Men (November 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

PIG DESTROYER – The Underground Men<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nNovember 2012<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pig Destroyer (l-r): JR Hayes, Adam Jarvis, Scott Hull and Blake Harrison<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nRichmond, Virginia-based grindcore metallers Pig Destroyer began authoring a fifth studio full-length during 2009-10. Kicked out of their practice station, the quarter convened at a new practice station: the home of guitarist and co-founder Scott Hull. At that time, Pig Destroyer opted to build a studio where songwriting and recording sessions could take place. In early July 2011 however, it emerged that drummer Brian Harvey had parted ways with the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrian had a lot of things going on in his life that prevented him from doing what we aim to do,\u201d discloses Blake Harrison, samplist for Pig Destroyer. \u201cAs everybody knows, we\u2019ve been in a pretty bad economic state lately. There was some issue with his job and stuff like that, and he just wasn\u2019t really able to give us the time and energy that we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blake hasn\u2019t spoken to Brian since his departure. \u201cI guess everything is okay,\u201d he muses. \u201cHe\u2019s definitely been a friend of mine for 15 years. We don\u2019t have any personal problems with him, or anything like that. Me and Scott still talk to him every now and then, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s really interested in being in another band. He\u2019s just working, and doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Misery Index sticksman Adam Jarvis was revealed to be Brian\u2019s replacement. \u201cWe talked to Dave Witte from Municipal Waste and 500 other bands first,\u201d the samplist remembers. \u201cDave had some issues with scheduling because music keeps him pretty busy, so we actually jammed with Dave a couple of times. We\u2019ve known Adam for a long time. I live in Baltimore, and Adam also lives in Baltimore. When Dave bowed out, we asked Adam if he had the time and the energy to do it. He was very excited. Not just an all-round cool guy, he\u2019s an incredible talent. He\u2019s just got a rigid blast beat (laughs). He\u2019s a very aggressive drummer. He\u2019s in Misery Index as well, so he\u2019s always in shape and always ready to play. I think he just brings a little more energy to the band. I think we\u2019re very lucky to have him, and very lucky to be working with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

October 2012 effort Book Burner<\/em> marks Adam\u2019s inaugural recordings as a Pig Destroyer member. \u201cWe started with Brian as a drummer in mind, but then we parted ways with him,\u201d Blake notes. \u201cWe got Adam Jarvis eventually, and then we started writing a little more. To a certain extent, we\u2019re all involved in songwriting. Basically Scott comes up with the riffs and does the basic drum patterns, and then we learn it and take it from there. The bulk of the work is definitely his, but we all have a hand in arranging everybody\u2019s stuff. We have a hand in arranging JR\u2019s lyrics and helping him out, and a hand with the drums, and with what I do. We all contribute. We say \u2018This doesn\u2019t sound good here, so let\u2019s move that,\u2019 or \u2018Let\u2019s play this a couple of more times,\u2019 or \u2018That\u2019s cool, but I think we\u2019ve done that enough.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe really didn\u2019t start digging into it until about a year and a half or so ago. So yeah, there was a long time between records but there was a lot of mitigating circumstances that held us up at the time. With this record we wanted to go a little more nasty, a little more lean and mean, and a little more grindcore \u2013 back to our roots. We wanted to stay away from longer, four-minute songs. A lot of songs nowadays are like five minutes but with this record we wanted to go for short and sweet, and just bring songs to the point. I think we achieved that. We made a conscious decision to try to make it a little more stripped down. I guess everything is just leaner and meaner, and just has a rawer grindcore sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blake\u2019s contributions towards Book Burner<\/em> very much form part of a team effort. \u201cYou should always know where to play,\u201d he reckons. \u201cDoing samples, I wanted to contribute to the overall mood and tone and theme of the record, but I didn\u2019t want to step all over it. I don\u2019t want to ruin what\u2019s already been written, so it\u2019s just trying to find that space where I can contribute without taking away. I basically try to set a mood, like a dangerous mood or a dark mood. Anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Situated at position eight on the track listing, \u2018Book Burner\u2019 is the title cut of Pig Destroyer\u2019s fifth studio full-length platter. \u201cWe were tossing around the idea of record titles, and JR presented the story \u2018The Atheist\u2019 for us to see if we wanted to record it,\u201d the samplist recalls. \u201cWe didn\u2019t come up with anything that we really liked, so after reading the story I think it was Scott who said \u2018Why don\u2019t we just call it Book Burner<\/em>? It does tie in with the story.\u2019 That just clicked, and that was it. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithout giving too much away, it\u2019s basically a story about personal liberties and personal freedoms. It\u2019s about the fact that there\u2019s people out there who make art, music and all kinds of things, and that these things are to be respected, and that they are under threat. Especially with the climate right now, it\u2019s a little more relevant… Maybe not so much since Obama got elected. The song and the story don\u2019t necessarily co-exist. Well, they do co-exist but I wouldn\u2019t say there\u2019s a direct correlation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Book Burner\u2019\u2019s title suggests 1953 Ray Bradbury novel Fahrenheit 451<\/em> was an inspiration, but this isn\u2019t actually the case. \u201cWe\u2019ve got that question a bit, but no, not really,\u201d Blake corrects. \u201cI don\u2019t think that was an influence on JR, but it makes sense that people would think that. I don\u2019t know if there is a correlation or not, but there was a period in US history where a lot of people were doing that as well, like the Fahrenheit 451<\/em> sort of thing where books were burnt because of their content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Misery Index vocalist Jason Netherton guests on \u2018The Diplomat\u2019, while Agoraphobic Nosebleed alumni Katherine Katz and Richard Johnson appear elsewhere on the album (Kat guests on \u2018Eve\u2019 and \u2018The Bug\u2019, Richard guesting on \u2018The Underground Man\u2019). \u201cJR was really interested in having \u2018Eve\u2019 come from a female\u2019s perspective,\u201d the samplist augments. \u201cWe talked to all three of them, had them all in the studio on the same day, and they just kind of knocked it out. They all did quite great. Misery Index is little more of a political band, so I think \u2018The Diplomat\u2019 suits Jason a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The Diplomat\u2019 spawned a music video, directed by Phil Mucci. \u201cPhil came to us with the idea,\u201d Blake details. \u201cWe discussed it with him, so initially it was actually him. We didn\u2019t really have too much to do with it. I think it\u2019s great, and I think it\u2019s about time we actually had a good video. Our other videos are okay but they\u2019re kind of standard, just the band playing in a room with some images. It\u2019s a take on 1970s movies in tone with the colour, and things like that. The Diplomat is the main character, and he comes to a new planet. It actually ties in pretty well with the lyrics; it\u2019s basically what the lyrics are about \u2013 mankind\u2019s nature, and how history repeats itself. Most people make the same mistakes, and that\u2019s basically what it\u2019s about.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pig Destroyer\u2019s decision not to appear in the music video was a conscious one. \u201c100%,\u201d the samplist confirms. \u201cWe\u2019ve done that type of thing, and who\u2019s to say we won\u2019t do it again in the future. We aren\u2019t actors, and we don\u2019t really wanna do that. Actually, I think the video is much better because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some might feel the collective are somewhat adverse to publicity. \u201cAt the end of the day we like doing music, but we don\u2019t like doing all of the stuff surrounding it necessarily,\u201d Blake laments. \u201cThat\u2019s more what the label wants, but you know, we have to do it. It\u2019s just something that we do. Given a choice though, I don\u2019t know if we would ever really choose to do that. I think the video is great, and plus we\u2019re not in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Book Burner<\/em>\u2019s compositions share \u201cthe common theme of desperation or something like that. \u2018Baltimore Strangler\u2019 is basically about a serial killer. JR went through a couple of versions of that song; he wrote it from both the female\u2019s perspective and the stalker\u2019s perspective, but he didn\u2019t like that. He then wrote it from just the serial killer\u2019s perspective. There\u2019s not really a thematic thing. \u2018Book Burner\u2019 ties in with the story a little bit \u2013 there\u2019s the deluxe edition which includes a short story by JR. That\u2019s about personal freedoms, and the fact that they can be taken away relatively easy and they\u2019re always threatened. I wouldn\u2019t say that there\u2019s a common theme. It\u2019s a Pig Destroyer record; JR writes what he writes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deluxe edition versions of Book Burner<\/em> include a bonus disc of punk covers, the interpretations amounting to seven in total. \u201cIt took us awhile to get to a point where we felt happy with Book Burner<\/em>, because we had so much going on leading up to that,\u201d the samplist divulges. \u201cAfter recording the record, we wanted to do something fun. They\u2019re American hardcore songs that were influences on us. We did toss around a bunch of ideas, but we cut them down from there. Recording them was a lot of fun. Those are songs that we all grew up on and love, and it shows some of our other influences that some people might not obviously think of. With the record industry and the current climate, you\u2019ve gotta have these special things to move records. We did those covers, and we thought that was great. I\u2019m a record collector too, so I love the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cover artwork duties were handled by Chris Taylor, the man having previously designed covers for January 2004 compilation Painter Of Dead Girls<\/em> and October 2004 third full-length effort Terrifyer<\/em>. \u201cThat was a picture he had done a number of years ago,\u201d Blake reveals. \u201cJR saw it, and really liked it. We asked Chris if he still had that lying around, and he did. It was tweaked a little bit of course, but most of the colours and stuff were there already. I don\u2019t know if we know who that is (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

On November 9th, 2012, it was revealed that Pig Destroyer had opted to ink a new contract with Relapse Records. \u201cIt\u2019s great, man,\u201d the samplist enthuses. \u201cThey treat us amazing; we have a very good working relationship with them. They don\u2019t expect us to get out on the road and tour non-stop, and I think they promote us well. Actually, we love working with them. We\u2019ve never had a problem with them. Some bands do complain about their labels a lot, but we have no reason to. It was time for our contract to be renewed, and I don\u2019t think there was ever really a question that we would go anywhere else. Our worry is that another label would want us to tour non-stop, and that\u2019s not how we\u2019re set up to run. <\/p>\n

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Pig Destroyer (l-r): Blake Harrison, Scott Hull, Adam Jarvis and JR Hayes<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\u201cWe all have day jobs. JR is married and Scott has two kids, so we\u2019re pretty busy people. That goes for touring too. A lot of people ask why we don\u2019t do that. It\u2019s never something we\u2019ve done, or something we\u2019ve been interested in. We like to do little stabs here and there. We don\u2019t work at the band, so it doesn\u2019t become a job to us because of that. When we go out, it\u2019s a lot of fun. I don\u2019t want to make it sound like we don\u2019t like playing shows. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very grateful to be able to go to where we go, like this year. I think we did two festivals in Europe (Brutal Assault XVII in Czech Republic on August 8th and Leperfest 2012 in Belgium on the 10th), a festival in Calgary, Canada (Noctis V Metalfest on September 29th), four shows in Japan (August 22nd-25th), three shows in the UK (November 1st-3rd), a show in New York (October 19th in Brooklyn), a show in Baltimore, Maryland (on October 19th) and we\u2019re going to Miami, Florida (December 15th) at the end of 2012. We have loyal fans; we\u2019ve had kids fly from Alaska to Seattle to see us. We just played the UK, and there were some kids who came from Ireland and Norway. That\u2019s pretty flattering. It\u2019s crazy to me that someone would do that; I live probably about a mile from a club in my town, and there\u2019s a lot of times I don\u2019t make it there because my couch is right here (laughs). We do like playing though. It\u2019s just our lives and our day jobs make it hard to get out there and do that full-time.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Union Transfer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 19th, 2013, Pig Destroyer will perform as a part of Decibel<\/em> magazine\u2019s 100th Issue Celebration Show. Attendees will receive a limited edition live Pig Destroyer flexi-disc. \u201cIt\u2019ll have five songs, I think,\u201d Blake ventures. \u201cWe\u2019re just finishing that up. I believe we plan on doing another with them which\u2019ll come with the magazine, but I don\u2019t really know when that is planned to happen right now. I think it\u2019s a cool format. They used to do that a lot in magazines when I was young, and I always thought it was really cool. I think it\u2019s really cool of Decibel<\/em> to bring that back. I know they had a hard time finding someone to make them (laughs). Even if you don\u2019t enjoy the bands on these discs, it\u2019s cool to own something that is pretty unique and very limited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Book Burner<\/em> was released on October 22nd, 2012 via Relapse Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in November 2012.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PIG DESTROYER – The Underground Men Anthony Morgan November 2012 Pig Destroyer (l-r): JR Hayes, Adam Jarvis, Scott Hull and Blake Harrison Richmond, Virginia-based grindcore metallers Pig Destroyer began authoring a fifth studio full-length during 2009-10. Kicked out of their practice station, the quarter convened at a new practice station: the home of guitarist and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,465],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-pig-destroyer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8953"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9108,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8953\/revisions\/9108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}