The Michigan Daily - Wednesday December 11 1991 - Page 9
Welcome to Detroit ..PIgface!
Inzdustrial band brings changing tour to Todd's
by Nima Hodaei
I, ver a "super group" existed,,
Pi face may well be it. The brain-{
cild of drummers Martin Atkins
(PL, Ministry, Killing Joke) and
B, Rieflin (Ministry, Revolting
Ceks), Pigface can easily be dubbed
th& industrial "mega-band." Consis-
tiog of an ever-changing cast of
members which has included Chris
fonnelly (RevCo, Finitribe), Paul
Rayen (Killing Joke), William
Ticker (Ministry, My Life With
th Thrill Kill Kult) and Nivek
Oe (Skinny Puppy), as well as the
engineering work of industrial
psudo-"God" Steve Albini (Big
Bt0k, Rapeman), Pigface defies be-
ink pigeon-holed into any category.
"I think that it's impossible to
describe Pigface," says Atkins. "It's
4ngossible to listen to the first al-
bugn, Gub, and say, Oh, I don't
knew if I like this or not.' Well,
that's fine, because that's just one
part of Pigface. Pigface is a chal-
lenge to the mind and the ears. It's a
challenge to the audience, but it con-
tinues to be a challenge to us."
The first Pigface album, Gub, re-
leased on Atkins' own Invisible la-
bl; came together as a result of the
st Ministry tour. This remarkably
varied production, featuring the
overwhelming drum beatings of
Rieflin and Atkins, as well as the
creative genius of the supporting
cast, lead to the first tour, which
boldly promised that "no two
shows were ever the same." The fol-
low-up album, this year's Welcome
to Mexico ... Asshole, is a document
ofthat tour, which also contains a
collection of live songs not avail-
able on the Gub LP.
"Bill Rieflin and myself did the
drums on the last Ministry tour,"
explains Atkins, "and there were
al these people around us who we
wanted to interact with in a differ-
ent way than just recreating
Ministry songs. It was a very excit-
iiig tour, but we were making the
l4me music every night. I wanted to
work with Ogre ... and Chris
Connelly, William Tucker, Paul
Barker and all those people. It just
grew. Now, there are like sixty or
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seventy people involved. We've had
bagpipes, sitars, belly dancers bal-
ancing swords on their heads - ev-
ery show has been completely dif-
ferent. Anything goes except for
self-indulgence and masturbation."
Pigface's one ideal all along has
been to remain fresh, while checking
egos and attitudes at the door.
Atkins is quick to point out that he
makes this a mandatory requirement
of all his participants, no easy feat
when you're dealing with the likes
of these performers.
"There is absolutely no ego at
all," states Atkins. "That's the
first criteria for somebody to get
involved in Pigface. Pigface exists
for all of the right reasons, and it
just happens that when you let go of
the music ... (it) takes care of itself.
It happens to be the most powerful,
the tightest, most exciting project
I've ever worked with. But it's not
because we set out to make it that
way. It just happens to be that
way."1
With its first tour only com-
pleted months ago, Pigface has hit
the road again in support of the new
album. The spontaneity of the al-
bums has carried over to the tours,
as fans will be virtually clueless as
to whom they will see at the indi-
vidual concerts. Possible perform-
ers this time around include En Esch
(KMFDM), Andrew Weiss (Henry
Rollins Band), Mary Byker (Gaye
Bykers on Acid), Atkins, Connelly,
Ogre, Raven and Tucker. Yet Atkins
makes it clear that surprise and im-
provisation are the key elements at
any Pigface performance.
"People say, 'Look, I really liked
the Mexico album and here I am to
see you," Atkins explains. "Well, I
think that it's great - it's good
that you're here, and you're going to
see something really cool. But it has
nothing to do with the Mexico al-
bum. We do a couple of songs from
it ..: (and) from Gub, but we're
writing new material all the time. I
think the first five songs we play
haven't been released yet. If you
want to hear the old stuff, go home
and listen to the CDs."
Although Atkins claims that
Pigface will be around for years to
come, he fully expects the sound and
lineup to constantly change. New
recruits are constantly being con-
tacted to join the already wide as-
sortment of characters on board.
Gub and Welcome to Mexico
Asshole have been refreshing thus
far, in that no one in the band has let
the hype get to their head. Does
Atkins fear the expectations that
people may place on the band in the
future?
"I don't think we have anything
to live up to other than our own ex-
pectations and our own goals," says
Atkins. "I really don't care what
anybody thinks. I think that we have
succeeded on our own terms. We are
making the music that we want,
with the people we want, in the way
we want, in the places we want.
How else would you define success?
I don't need somebody to say (that
the album is) number five in some-
body's meaningless chart, or that it
has three stars. This is a band, it's
not a restaurant."
PIGFACE performs next Friday,
December 20, at Todd's in Detroit.
Jesus Lizard opens. Tickets are
available in advance from
Ticketmaster for $10.50 (p.e.s.c.)
and doors open at 7:30 p.m.,Call
366-8633 for more info.
Drummer/co-founder Martin Atkins (far left, middle) is only one of the many faces of Pigface. The lineup of the
band has been constantly changing on its latest tour, so you never know quite who'll show up on any given
night. Ogre from Skinny Puppy? Bill Rieflin from the Revolting Cocks? Donnie Wahlberg from the New Kids?
RED I WITUFR TDECCL I
,
:
A."
>5l.n rbofo"
FolkFestival
a fundraiser for the Ark
Saturday, January 25, 1992
6:00 p.m. * Hill Auditorium
. Lyle Lovett " Odetta e Livingston Taylor
The Four Bitchin' Babes with Christine Lavin, Julie Gold,
Megon McDonough and Sally Fingerett " Len Chandler " John Gorka
Robert Earl Keen, Jr. " Fred Small " Jan Krist with Paul Murphy " and others
Tickets available at: The Michigan Union Ticket Office,
all Ticketmaster outlets, Herb David Guitar Studio.
Charge tickets by phone call 763-TKTS
,;)
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