PIG interview: ‘I am fairly intolerably self-critical and demanding of myself and others’
Raymond Watts is undoubtedly a fixture and a recognized figure in the Industrial scene. Best known as the man behind PIG, he has been active since the early 1980s, and his career is also closely intertwined with projects and artists such as KMFDM, Einstürzende Neubauten, Foetus, Psychic TV, Zos Kia, Schwein, Schaft ao. As a producer, sound engineer, musician, and songwriter, Watts has left his mark on a remarkably broad spectrum of the Industrial scene. For over three decades, PIG has served as his primary artistic outlet, evolving into a distinctive blend of Industrial Electronics, heavy guitars, dark theatricality, and Watts’s unmistakable personality. Now, Raymond Watts returns with “Hurt People Hurt”, a new ten-track album released by Metropolis Records and created in collaboration with his longtime partner Jim Davies. Once again, PIG proves that the proverbial pig still possesses plenty of grit, energy, and creativity. In my view, “Hurt People Hurt” is a brilliant work, featuring a succession of strong and powerful tracks—an opus that runs like a well-oiled machine and ruthlessly blows everything out of its path. It is now time to let the man himself speak, but not without offering a final word on his body of work as a whole: respect! (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: “Hurt People Hurt” is arguably PIG’s twelfth studio album (excluding remix albums, compilations and EPs), arriving almost forty years after your debut. Looking back, what remains of the young Raymond Watts from those early days? In terms of your songwriting, production, influences and choice of instruments, how much has fundamentally changed, and how much has remained surprisingly constant?
Raymond: That’s interesting as a couple of years ago when I was getting “Sinsation” and Wrecked” remastered (albums from the mid 90’s) and I was actually asking myself that very question! I could quite clearly hear what I was trying to put together and it was pretty ambitious… but I was mostly glad to realise that I wasn’t in that place anymore. It was quite harrowing to be a voyeur on my own confusion, overwhelming fear and dread.
When I go back to even earlier material such as “The Fountain Of Miracles” from “The Swining” it’s interesting to hear how the choral and gospel influenced arrangements are already so apparent in my writing and arranging… but it’s where I am in my head that gives the album it’s unique stamp for me and I’ll use whatever production tools that are to hand to give birth to it (but I still love a synth and a guitar locked in mortal combat as much now as I ever did).
Q: I don’t want to generalize, but many artists and bands seem to lose some of their creative spark after such a long career. With you, however, I have the impression that PIG just keeps getting stronger, more focused and more intense with every release. Where do you still find the energy, inspiration and sheer enjoyment to keep making music—and, more importantly, to keep creating new albums? And how demanding and self-critical are you, both of yourself and of the people you collaborate with?
Raymond: To start with the last part of the question first: I am fairly intolerably self-critical and demanding of myself and others! I’m still trying to be a bit more relaxed about things but sometimes it has to be ‘just so’ before I can move on. However I have become a lot less neurotically driven my own vision and have really enjoyed collaborating and seeing where the good ship PIG ends up pointing with others in the crew.
It’s kind of you to say that you think PIG keeps getting stronger with each release and where do I find the energy and inspiration from; I’m not really sure is the honest answer… It just keeps coming out of me at the moment and if I look for my muse it may disappear. As I mentioned I am really lucky to have brilliant collaborators in Jim Davies and recently Marc Heal (Cubanate/C-Tec)… but it’s not just the musical collaborators in PIG that blow on the flames but Gabriel Edvy (videos/visuals), Vlad McNeally and Mark Griffiths (visuals) whom I’m very lucky to work with.
It is worth remembering that I did stop doing all things PIG for about 12 years… this was for many well documented reasons but one of them often gets overlooked… predominantly I just felt I didn’t know where to go after “Genuine American Monster” was released. It’s not that it set a high bar, but I felt at that time the cupboard was bare inside me and maybe I needed to let life take place, restock and try and save myself instead of documenting my decline. All of that certainly filled up the well.
Q: You mentioned Jim Davies who over the years has become an increasingly important part of the PIG story. How do you view his contribution and could you also explain a little about the creative chemistry between the two of you and why your collaboration works so well?
Raymond: Jim is integral to the health and welfare of the current PIG incarnation! We’ve been working together more and more since he first did a remix for PIG… and when I heard that I said to myself ‘I’ve got to meet this guy!’. The collaboration works because Jim is incredibly relaxed about me sometimes taking his structures and deconstructing them, and yet he’s incredibly prolific so if an idea hits a brick wall it’s not a big deal.
The biggest difference to this era of PIG is how much I enjoy it and feel blessed to be able to plough this furrow compared to the desperately dark place PIG came from in the nineties when it really was a case of ‘I’ve suffered for my art and now it’s your turn’.
Q: “Hurt People Hurt” is a powerful and thought-provoking title. How did it come about, and what does it represent for you? What themes or ideas did you want to explore through this album?
Raymond: The expression ‘hurt people hurt people’ is obviously very much a part of the vernacular in these current times but if you just take one word out of that it means something completely different and yet also distills the meaning further. There’s something quite distinctly PIG about that approach to wordplay which obviously appeals. The statement becomes a command.
Q: I’ve often had the impression that PIG speaks to people who feel like ‘outsiders’—not necessarily because they reject society, but because they feel misunderstood, disconnected, or no longer recognize the world around them. How do you feel about the idea that your music provides a sense of recognition, comfort, or even a form of therapy for some listeners?
Raymond: The fact that people resonate with the material is an extremely powerful fuel. Many of my songs are born of pain and isolation so to find that becoming a route to connection is both cathartic and joyful. Something I never in a million years could see happening.
Q: One thing I’ve always admired about PIG—and “Hurt People Hurt” only reinforces this—is that you’ve never seemed interested in following trends or adapting to what happens to be fashionable. You’ve always remained true to your own artistic vision. In an era where AI is increasingly capable of generating music, do you think authenticity and individuality have become even more important? How do you see the growing role of technology in music, particularly when it comes to creativity, songwriting and artistic expression?
Raymond: If I tried to follow fashionable trends in music I wouldn’t know where to look and even my myopic sense of style could see impending disaster if I followed that route. As regards technology I am woefully bad at trying to get my head around it. Martin Eden who has been in the PIG camp for years as a co-writer and collaborator is incredibly patient at keeping my studio just about working and showing me how to work things in their most rudimentary forms.
I actually love messing about in the studio (and don’t spend nearly enough time doing it) so why on earth would I want AI or whatever take that away? It honestly doesn’t interest me but one thing’s for certain, AI isn’t going away.
Q: Looking back on the making of “Hurt People Hurt”, what proved to be the greatest challenges during the writing and recording process? Conversely, what aspects of the album gave you the greatest sense of satisfaction once everything was finished?
Raymond: I always enjoy the process of making albums… people always tell me ‘don’t make albums, just release individual songs’ but a collection of songs under one umbrella can be the manifestation of ‘the whole being greater than the sum of its parts’. Many chapters can tell a story that one alone often can’t. I usually feel pretty disappointed when I’ve finished an album and have absolutely no idea if it hangs together or not. Doubt becomes the final hurdle so if I start getting any kind of positive feedback it acts as a life raft in a self filled sea of shit and indecision. I do love the struggle though… it becomes all consuming making an album and the momentum is frightening once it gets going but what often starts out as a journey with a clear signpost becomes a dark forest with no north star, no road map and no compass. That’s when I know I’m in the right place.
Q: What can you already reveal about the new—and rather special—EP that will be released after the summer?
Raymond: I have been co-writing with Marc Heal again and it’s been great to have him back in the PIG camp working with us and I was able to persuade the great (and reclusive) Günter Schulz to put his paws on the fretboard in the service of PIG and what a blast it’s been. I hope you enjoy this EP called “Dirt Box” which has four new songs and four remixes by Combichrist, Stabbing
Westward, Rabbit Junk and Cyanotic. It’ll be out on CD/digital thru my label Metropolis and the vinyl edition will only be available at the mercy booth on the “Hurt People Tour” starting late September and covering the US and a few dates in Canada.
Q: Finally, looking ahead, what challenges still excite you creatively? Are there any ambitions, ideas or directions you haven’t yet explored with PIG that you hope to pursue in the future?
Raymond: I recently returned from doing a couple of shows In Tokyo and that was absolutely wonderful. To perform there again after a gap of 24 years and to see so many old colleagues and friends was an absolute joy. So much of my life (and PIG) was fermented there. I was first there with band in 1981 and I spent that summer playing in small clubs and finding music and myself in what felt like an incredibly alien landscape that at once felt like home. I was there for much of the 90’s and early 2000’s working not just with PIG but other bands and projects so to return felt like squaring the circle in a way.
So in answer to your question about what excites me creatively it’s playing the new material live in new environments… maybe doing a few festivals in Europe as it’s never been PIG’s natural habitat. Recording new material and of course I’m really looking forward to our upcoming US tour which is once again both terrifying, formidable and fantastic in equal measure.
I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can - and we refuse to add annoying advertising. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
