J. R. Hayes - Pig Destroyer 'You Need Those Kids To Really Bring That Grindcore Energy'
After 17 long years, Pig Destroyer are finally returning to these shores.
Pig Destroyer changed the face of grindcore, and shifted the terrain of heavy metal for that matter on the day they released their third album, the 2004 opus Terrifyer. In an era when the likes of Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge and Mastodon were skewing the boundaries of the genres and sub-genres laid out before them, this Virginian mob broke free of the traditional constraints of grindcore and created something truly abrasive, acerbic and violently erratic all at once.
Terrifyer received high praise from metal fans and music publications across the globe, is still discussed today on podcasts, interviews and top 100 lists and is regarded as one of the greatest metal albums of all time.
To back it up, their live shows have earned the reputation of being a chaotic, technically proficient and high energy venture that has become the stuff of legend. Not that Aussies under 30 would know it. Their last jaunt down here was 17 years ago and through no fault of their own, their touring experience proved to be a bit awful. Yet here they are, finally returning to Australia and New Zealand and it is shaping up to be an absolute belter. But did it really have to be 17 years between drinks?
“It was such a crazy experience for us the last time. It was brutal. The guy that set it up, it was the first tour I think that he had ever organised.
We flew to a few shows, but we did a lot of driving and some of the drives were like 16, 17 hour drives just through the Outback.
So we had no time to do anything really, except play and drive and fly. But the shows were amazing and the people were amazing, and obviously the nature was amazing. A lot of dead roos.”
Having traversed many country highways over the years I can attest to the vast numbers of flattened wildlife on the side of Australian roads but I can’t imagine them coming across too many in the city centres they’re visiting this time around. It’s not like we’ve got any kangaroos hopping across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“Actually, my biggest memory from Sydney is that the tour manager put us in a hotel, and we must've been on the 50th floor of this hotel. We were so high up in this building. We got to stay in the hotel for 35 minutes, and then we got back on the road and started driving. We were so angry. We were so just pissed.”
Pig Destroyer aren’t about to let past experiences shape this next tour, as their upcoming expedition has been extended well beyond the usual east coast run into Perth, Adelaide and even Townsville are getting a nudge. Plus with New Zealand being treated to three shows and it looks like the lads are more than making up for lost time.
“I'm really excited. There's a lot of places like that in America too. It is just like routing wise, it just doesn't work out. One of my best buddies, going to shows, that's his favourite thing to do in the world, and now he has to live in Anchorage, Alaska. You know what I mean? Big tours, I think war's coming at some point in the next couple months, but other than that, it's really hard to loop that into a tour.”
Aside from geographical difficulties (and the foreboding shadow of an inbound war), another reality facing the lads is that a large subsection of this tours patronage will have been too young to catch Pig Destroyer on their last jaunt here, some of who weren’t even born.
“Well, I remember on the last tour we encountered quite a few people who were just too young at the time to get into that show. You know what I mean? Because they weren't all ages things. We were kind of bummed about that because it's like somebody comes out and then they can't see you. It's tough.
You need that youth at your show to bring that energy. You know what I mean? Like a band like us who's been playing for almost 30 years, you don't want to show up and it's just you and a bunch of other 50-year-old people.
Those people are awesome, but you need those young kids to really bring that grindcore energy.”
That energy JR speaks of that accompanies the sonic maelstrom that is Pig Destroyer, is also visually matched by the incredible art that adorns their album covers, t-shirts and tour posters across the globe. The Aussie/NZ poster, masterfully crafted by Rohan Harrison features the “Ayatollah of Rock and Roll-ah” himself, Lord Humungus from Mad Max 2 (one of my all time favourite movies), plus their cover for their 2001 album Prowler In The Yard was produced by the iconic American tattoo artist Paul Booth (has tattooed the likes of Corey Taylor, Phil Anselmo, Kerry King, Dez Fafara and Max Cavalera amongst others). So I was wondering, when finding these artists, is there a method to their madness or do they just sort of go, that's cool, I want that shit.
"With the Paul Booth thing, it came because Scott was getting tattooed by Paul. That's what he does. My other band mate Alex, he also has a bunch of Paul Booth artwork. So Scott just kind of roped him in at that point to do the art because of that relationship.
Chris Taylor, who did the Terrifyer art, he's in (hardcore punk band) pageninetynine, who were from the same town that I'm from. So we've all been super close friends forever, and so I would always use him to do artwork as well. It's weird. We don't really have a method where we choose somebody.
To give you an example, when we did Head Cage, the Full of Hell guys had been using Mark (McCoy)’s artwork for some of their records, and he was showing me some of his images, and I was like, 'wow, that's super cool', and just that chance encounter kind of led us down to work with him and do the cover art and everything. So you don't know where these little things are going to happen and kind of branch off and become a thing, but you just have to be ready for ‘em, I guess.”
Well here’s hoping it’s us who are ready when Pig Destroyer make their long awaited return to these shores in September. It’s bound to be an absolute belter. Let’s give them a reason to want to come back here a lot sooner than in 17 years time.
Interview by Duane James
Pig Destroyer kick off their assault next week. Tickets via Soundworks Direct Presents.
Pig Destroyer - Australia & NZ Tour 2025
with Wormrot*
Sept 2nd - Perth, Amplifier Bar
Sept 4th – Adelaide, Lion Arts Factory
Sept 5th – Melbourne, Max Watts
Sept 6th – Sydney, The Factory Theatre
Sept 7th – Canberra, The Baso
Sept 9th – Brisbane, The Triffid
Sept 12th – Auckland, Galatos
Sept 13th – Christchurch, Loons
Sept 14th – Wellington, San Fran
*Australian dates only.
