‘It felt like I was in control of that narrative, rather than it being in control of me’ – Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs on Overcoming Self-Doubt and Death Hilarious

In recent years, porcine psych-rockers Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have taken the world by storm.

Having cut their trotters in the underground clubs and heavy psych/stoner metal all days, their stock began to rise around the time they release their second album King of Cowards, which saw them being championed by the likes of Mary Ann Hobbs and Sean Keaveny on BBC6Music. They became a household name – at least in households that enjoy heavy riffs and infectious grooves when they released Viscerals in 2020 as the Pandemic was taking hold and the world was crying out for some much needed sonic escapism.

Their previous record Land of Sleeper was released as recently as 2023, and was followed by a relentless schedule of touring which took them across the world to play countless live shows. ‘Maybe too many shows’, laughs vocalist Matt Beaty, ‘But, you know, the benefit of that is that we came out the other side of it just so in tune. You kind of feel invincible. Not in a physical way, but it does afford you sort of the confidence to kind of throw a little bit more in when you’re performing.’

During that time their heads were fully in that album cycle and they barely got any time to write, other than the odd riff here and there. Somehow in that time they managed to come back less than two years later with their fifth album Death Hilarious. Given how busy they’ve been on the road it shouldn’t be possible for a band to write an album of such sheer brilliance in such a short amount of time. 

In fact the bulk of the writing  was done in just seven days. Matt explains how this was even possible. ‘Individually, we’ll all kind of have little ideas that will squirrel away while we’re touring. And then what we tend to do is we’ll just block book a week in the studio and just start writing and demoing so at that point, we kind of come together. We don’t really talk at all about, you know, what direction we want any new album. It’s just like “Oh, hey, I’ve been working on this. What do you think?” 

When a band has spent so much time on the road and in the studio together as Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have, a kind of telepathic synergy comes into play during the writing process.  ‘The five of us within the band have been at it for so long now that we’re all kind of confident enough to be able to express if we like something, and if we don’t nobody gets upset about it. So the end result is always an album where all five of us are all 100% in on every track. I think that’s important because we’re a live band and that’s where we win over the most people. Our approach assures we’ll be completely all in on the songs that we’re playing live.’

It wasn’t all plain sailing, though. With this album more than any of the previous four, Matt battled with bouts of self-doubt and imposter syndrome. Having been the drummer in every band he’s ever been in before joining Pigs as a vocalist, it would seem he’s always found the writing process tricky but this time in particular, those doubts were further confounded by what Matt refers to as ‘really quite stressful situation personal things going on that provided fertile grounds for negative thought patterns to take over.’ So how did he overcome?

He explains; ‘I was trying loads of different things. And as the deadline for recording was approaching that extra stress was adding water to the seeds of self doubt. But then I kind of realized, these really hard points and pieces of the barrier, just fucking use that. As soon as I decided to open the door and allowed it to just kind of be thrown at all of these songs I was finding they were sticking. I was happy with it. It felt like I was in control of that narrative, rather than it being in control of me. It was a pretty big breakthrough.’

The result is a set of songs that have a much more personal slant, which are somewhat darker than his previous offerings, however there is still that throughline of wry humour peppered throughout. 

I kind of view it a little bit like, you know, there’s serious heavy shit going on. But then, you take a step back from it all and the sheer absurdity of it all is mind blowing. Our band always walks on that tightrope somewhat. And I do try to angle my lyrics in certain ways where there’s dark humor thrown in there, or midlines that you can interpret one way or the other.’

One of the many highlights of Death Hilarious is the track ‘Glib Tongued’, a gruelling slab of noise rock that features a guest vocal from none other than one half of hip-hop duo Run The Jewels, El-P. So how did this unlikely pairing come about? 

The song started life as a riff brought to the room by bass player Johnny Hedly. ‘ It was this big sludgy riff and I think he was expecting the rest of the lads to kind of pile on top of that. It’s quite a gnarly, quite aggressive song, but what Ewan (Mackenzie, drums) started doing around it was this really quite tight beat with a lot of groove to it. Usually he’s quite expansive with lots of symbols and big kind of soundscape. Then Adam (Sykes, guitar) and Sam (Grant, guitar) fed off that and started providing more ambient guitar tones. It felt like it was presenting itself with another unique kind of flavor for us.’

Aware that his own unique delivery may have had its limitations in this instance, being as he puts it ‘very much in a certain lane’, he came up with another idea. ‘I was like  “Hear me out now, how would you feel about getting like an emcee on this?” And at that point we just drew up a wish list, and El-P came in straight at the top.’

Getting him on the track turned out to be much easier than any of the band had imagined. After a few enquiries it turned out they had a mutual industry friend who was able to send over the demo. 

‘A couple of days later Jaime was like, “Yeah let’s let’s roll with it.” It was a ridiculously easy process. I was expecting his manager or label or other people to pile in and ask a lot of questions but we just dealt with Jaime direct for months until he sent his final version asking “Are you happy with it? And we were like “Yeah.” It was a really smooth process.’

Death Hilarious, like all their other releases, was put out by Rocket Recordings. The label has become synonymous with all things left-field and noisy, their roster boasting the likes of Gnod, Goat, Gum Takes Tooth and Teeth of the Sea. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are by now the most high profile of their signings, and their relationship has become symbiotic by this point.

‘We’d always liked them because we were so ingrained in Psych and noise rock,’ says Matt, ’And Rocket Recordings are the label in the UK for that, and they were the ones always doing really interesting releases.  Plus their design works amazing, just everything about the label is really inspiring. They love the music too.They want to work with people they enjoy working with, and likewise with us.’

Outside of his work with Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Matt is immersed in music. His day job is working with the music publishing and distribution platform Wipe Out Music, a business he founded, and he also has his own label, Box Recordings which put out records by the likes of worriedaboutsatan. In recent years, though, he’s found an outlet outside of music to channel his boundless energy into – kickboxing. In fact, as the conversation takes place he’s sporting quite the shiner, which he proudly shows off. 

‘I did a sparring session last night and an 18 year old kicked the crap out of me, which was very humbling’ he laughs. ‘But yeah I enjoy it. I started during the pandemic when obviously all the band stuff stopped. And then I’ve kind of realized that my whole life was music. I’m not complaining about that but my day job and my business is music outside of that so it’s obviously  a lot of focus on one thing. When I started kickboxing I realised that it’s quite valuable to have interest outside of music, and not only is it good physically, but it gives my, quite often obsessive mind another, another direction to channel my energy into.’

Anyone who’s seen Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs live will have seen Matt carry that martial arts physicality into performance, not to mention the fact that his on stage getup is always a pear of kickboxing shorts. ‘I was wearing the shorts and doing the bare foot thing before, like, way before, like, pretty much from the start of Pigs, really. But the only difference is the shorts have turned into kickboxing shorts because actually on a practical, functional level they’re so good. They’re quick dry so I can hang them out after a show. There’s a lot of movement in them plus a lot of the Muay Thai designs are really cool as well.’

You can see Matt throwing down in his fetching tiger adorned Muay Thai shorts, throwing down with his porcine brothers as the band depart on an extensive tour of the UK, with most of the sizable venues already sold out. 

If you can’t catch them live, be sure to listen to Death Hilarious, which is arguably the band’s best record yet. When this proposition is suggested he gives a wry smile ‘You know I think the same. I’ve not said it to many people as I’m aware it’s a cliche and every band says that about their latest record so it’s quite a dangerous thing to say, but it has crossed my mind.’

Death Hilarious is out now via Rocket Recordings. Purchase the record here.