Words & Photos by Christopher Thompson

For ten years Pig Destroyer has been playing some of the hardest and loudest grindcore shows in America, and their new release last week on Relapse Records, Phantom Limb, shows no signs of letting up. The music is now just as fierce as ever, but incorporates a move toward longer songs with more room for singer J.R. Hayes to articulate his demonstrable anger.

Although you could find the Virginia-based band contently chatting with fans outside by their merch table, when they take the stage the band implodes. Drummer Brian Harvey’s athletic handling of the kit enthralled the crowd, and Hayes stumbled about stage aimlessly, concentrating all of his energy on his angry, angry words. New member Blake Harrison applied a gratuitous layer of electronic chaos to the night’s performance, which ended with the band covering underground shock legends the Dwarves.
Before the performance J.R. Hayes and Blake Harrison talked with us about the new album, love and the unmitigated violence of metal:

‘Sup: You recently became a quartet; what was the motivation to add a new member (Blake)?
JR: When we started out we did a little mini-tour with Whitehouse early last year and experimented with adding some noise textures to the live show and we liked that. At the time it was improvisational and it was hit-or-miss. (laughs) That’s being generous, but we liked the idea, so we enlisted Blake because we have known him for a long time and uh…
Blake: …work for them for years.

I read that in your first show with Blake a lot of people weren’t pleased with him.
JR: Oh I don’t know.
Blake: Was that Chicago?
JR: Uhh… maybe.
Blake: It might have been the Secret Diaries one.
JR: It could have been that one, too. I mean, I just assume no matter what we do, no matter where we go, somebody is going to like it, somebody is going to hate it. It’s grindcore and it’s not for everybody. If you can’t deal with it, get the fuck out.

From the beginning to Phantom Limb, the music of Pig Destroyer has morphed from a strong reliance on dissonance and fragmented phrasing to a more clear and elaborate style. Is this the product of growing older?
Blake: Part of it is just trying to keep it fresh.
JR: I think it is also part of incorporating some of our other influences. You know, Melvins and noise rock influences. And you know Scott has always been able to write riffs, and now that we have been doing it for a while and have a couple albums under our belt, we concentrate more on the overall effect of the song, the transition between the parts, the dynamics of the songs. It’s not just– you know, in our songs in the past were just mini piles of riffs.

I always found that with Pig Destroyer it wasn’t really the songs but certain moments that have the most impression on me. Like on Terrifyer, the moment “Thumbsucker” starts I get pumped for it, every time.
JR: Yah! That’s one of my all time favorite songs we have done. I love that song.

So much of metal deals with power and obsession, yet Pig Destroyer is one of the few bands to really tackle the issue of love and all that hate that goes with it. Why do you think that is?
JR: I think it is finding something that is…
Blake: It’s your muse.
JR: Yeah, whatever inspires you. Early on I wrote about political stuff because that was the stuff I was involved in when, you know, I was nineteen years old. A little more idealistic, thinking about the big picture. I just decided to get a little more introspective with it because that was where the emotion was. I don’t like to write songs that don’t have emotion in them.

Do you think most metal bands are scared of writing about love?
JR: Um…
Blake: No
JR: Maybe they just don’t know how to, or maybe their mind is on something else. They are looking at their band as a way to make a political statement. I think a lot of bands write about the way they want things to be. You know, like the way they think the government should behave, the way they think society should behave. I just like to write about the way that I think things are. For better or for worse, I just try and tell it like it is. How I feel about a certain thing, whether it is good or bad, whether I am proud of it or not. I’m not proud of all the things I have written about, but I am proud of the way I have written about them.

How would you respond if a good friend that you respected took offense to the violence in your songs?
Blake: People are going to read into it what they want.

But if you felt inclined to explain yourself, what would you say?
JR:I don’t explain myself. If it freaks people out, if it makes them uncomfortable, that actually makes me more happy. I wish our music made more people uncomfortable.

On the new album the song “Loathsome” seems to be response to that kind of attitude against censors and such.
JR: You could read that into it. I think that was one of the songs on the record that was more of a, I guess, I put a lot of different types of emotions together. There is a little paranoia in that. It’s more of a, I guess, an internal thing.

More about personal issues?
JR: Yeah. I mean, people want to pigeonhole, they want to know what something’s about. I don’t, man. I just try to write what I feel. People are going to react to it anyway I want.

Why are you so angry?
JR: Why am I so angry? (laughter) Where do I even start? Turn on the television. That’s the only thing I can say.

The album came out this week; what has been your impression of the release so far, and what do you expect fans to get out of the album?
JR: I expect some people to not like it because it’s not the same as the stuff we have done in the past, but that’s kind of the point.

I have seen some people freak out over stuff like– it sounds taboo but– the breakdown in “Phantom Limb”, the title track.
Blake: That’s a fucking cool breakdown.

Yeah, “It’s a cool breakdown”, that’s what I said.
Blake: Heavy songs, are heavy songs, man.
JR: It’s our job to make the music. A lot of the decisions that we make when make it are impulsive. We’re like, “Oh, that riff sounds cool! Let’s put this here, let’s make this song longer,” or whatever, you know? Somebody is going to listen to the album and be like “Ugh, there’s a five minute song on here. Fucking sell outs.” So I don’t know.

Why longer songs?
Blake: That’s just how it came out.
JR: I think that when you only have a minute to work with, it’s not a lot of time, and you could put a little bit of dynamic in the song writing. It’s a lot easier when you can give yourself a little more space. I kind of look at it like when Napalm Death went from From Enslaved Into Obliteration to Harmony Corruption. Same band, different approach.
Blake: I don’t think it was a conscious decision.
JR: Right.
Blake: To write 5 minute songs. It just sounds really good
JR: Yah. Maybe you do a tour with a band and they influence you, or you listen to a record and you’re like “Yeah, let’s try and incorporate this.” It was a natural thing.

You seem to have an expanding audience. What would you attribute this to? Relapse?
Blake: Oh wow…
JR: I think we just try to keep it raw man.

You see a lot of indie rock press attracted to you.
JR: I think a lot of people like our aesthetic.
Blake: There’s a certain honesty to our music.
JR: And we try and be artistic about it. Not bone headed about it. I always try to keep it…when I write lyrics, I can’t say this necessarily for the music as that is more Scott’s deal, but when I write lyrics I try to make it as brutal as it is artistic. Sometimes that’s a hard line to walk, but that’s the line I try to walk. You can have it both ways.

There is a lot of appreciation out for your lyrics. What are your literary influences?
JR: All sorts of writers. Hunter S. Thompson, William Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, Charles Baudelaire, and the singer from Acid Bath, Dax Riggs, is probably my favorite writer ever. His lyrics are as good as any lyrics or literature I have ever read.

Beyond sounding good, what is you approach to your live show? Do you try and convey anything or change minds?
Blake: Just keep it fucking raw man.
JR: Musically we try to write metal. When we play, we try and play it like a punk band.
Blake: Go on stage and give it all.
JR: Keep it raw.

Just high energy?
JR: Yeah, it’s all about energy. If you get to rapt up in being note perfect and just trying to make the music perfect it’s gonna loose…
Blake: Takes a lot of life out of it man.

You seem to be a band that has garnered almost unanimous respect across the media and Internet among real people. Does this ever feel like a burden?
JR: Absolutely not. Personally, I just try and stay in a bubble. I try and not look at the Internet.
Blake: I try and not read the Internet at all. (laughs)
JR: I try and not leave my house when I don’t have to. I just concentrate on my writing and do my own thing and minimize the influence from other people because usually that will be bad

You guys seem to be band that does not really fret about being a band.
Blake: That’s not necessarily true. We just have other obligations being family or work.
JR: You can’t get wrapped up in your ego.
Blake: Yeah.
JR: We’re just a fucking band. Luckily, we have a lot of people who support us, and you know the kids keep coming out the shows. It’s great.