Pigface | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active |
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Labels | Invisible |
Members | See "Members" |
Pigface is an American industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin. [3]
Pigface was formed from Ministry's The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour, [1] which produced the In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up live album and video. For the tour, Al Jourgensen brought Atkins, Nivek Ogre and Chris Connelly. Also on the tour was Rieflin, regular Ministry drummer at the time. While Atkins enjoyed the dynamic of playing with a second drummer, he felt that the lineup was capable of doing much more than being, what he has frequently called, "a Ministry cover band." Once the tour was over, Atkins and Rieflin decided to continue working together and recruited several of their tourmates. Pigface was born with the intention of keeping a revolving-door style collaboration with many experimentally-minded musicians, many of whom, especially early on, had recorded for the influential industrial music record label Wax Trax!.
Trent Reznor was also an early partner, [4] before Nine Inch Nails became a household name. "Suck," co-written and sung by Reznor, was something of an underground hit, and Reznor later re-recorded the song for the Broken EP.
Rieflin left Pigface after the first tour, leaving Atkins as the sole founder of the group. With hundreds of musical collaborators to record and perform with Pigface, it has ensured that each album, tour, and song is unique. However, this practice has led to some negative criticism due to a perceived lack of continuity.
In 2009, Full Effect Records, a Detroit-based label, announced the signing of Pigface. [5] The Pigface album, 6 , a collection of songs already recorded over the span of the previous five years, was released soon after the announcement was made. Unlike with the previous releases, there was no tour to support the album.
After a seven-year hiatus, Pigface returned for two Chicago performances in November 2016. The first was a rehearsal show held at Reggie's on November 24. On November 25, the band performed at House of Blues: Chicago. Both shows saw the band performing with several first-time members as well as the return of members like Lesley Rankine, En Esch, Mary Byker, Curse Mackey, Dirk Flannigan and Fallon Bowman.
Several offshoot bands of Pigface, all smaller sized all-star groups featuring Martin Atkins as a common member, have released albums during the time Pigface was active. These bands include Murder, Inc., The Damage Manual, Ritalin, Martin Atkins And The Chicago Industrial League, Spasm, and The Love Interest.
In March 2019, Atkins announced that Pigface would tour again for the first time in fourteen years with thirteen dates scheduled for the East coast and Midwest in November 2019. [6] On February 12, 2020, a larger, national tour was announced to be taking place throughout May, June and July of that year. However, on April 2, 2020, Atkins made the announcement that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour had been canceled.
Rieflin died on March 24, 2020, from cancer at the age of 59. [7]
The following is a partial list of musicians who have contributed to Pigface at some point in the band's history, whether it be appearing live as a band member, performing on an album, or contributing a remix of a Pigface song. [8]
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann and Buzz McCoy. They became known in the 1980s as pioneers of the industrial music genre – although by the early 1990s they had changed to a more disco-oriented sound – and as a frequent target of censorship groups, including the PMRC, which objected to the band's humorous and satirical references to Satan, Jesus and sex in their song lyrics and stage shows.
Broken is the first extended play (EP) and second major release by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released on September 22, 1992, by Nothing, TVT, and Interscope Records. The EP was produced by frontman Trent Reznor and Flood.
KMFDM is a multinational industrial rock band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project.
William Frederick Rieflin was an American musician. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups such as Ministry, the Revolting Cocks, Lard, KMFDM, Pigface, Swans, Chris Connelly, and Nine Inch Nails. He worked regularly with R.E.M. following the retirement of Bill Berry in 1997. He was a member of King Crimson from 2013 until his death in 2020.
Martin Clive Atkins is an English drummer, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, and Killing Joke. He also works as a consultant, has written multiple books on the music industry, and is the music industry studies coordinator at Millikin University in Decatur, IL. Atkins is the owner and operator of the Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music in Chicago, is an honorary board member of the Chicago-based nonprofit organization Rock For Kids, and a fellow of In Place of War.
1000 Homo DJs was a side project of American industrial rock band Ministry. The project released two singles, one of which featured a cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut".
Lard is an American hardcore punk/industrial band founded in 1988 as a side project by Jello Biafra, Al Jourgensen, Paul Barker, and Jeff Ward. Over the years, several other members of Ministry played with Lard, namely Bill Rieflin, Mike Scaccia, and Rey Washam.
Chris Connelly is a Scottish musician and author. He is notable for his industrial music work of the late 1980s and early 1990s, particularly his involvement with the Revolting Cocks and Ministry.
Edwin William Tucker was an American guitarist whose credits included work with Ministry, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Pigface, Chemlab, and Chris Connelly. He grew up in New Jersey, where he formed Regressive Aid with Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain. He also taught the guitar to locals, one of whom was Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo of the alternative band Ween.
Bile is an American industrial metal project based in New York City. Although there have been many different members throughout the band's career, Krztoff is the songwriting, recording and conceptual leader. The group has performed with as many as 11, and as few as two people on stage. The early shows in 1993–95 New York included a dominatrix and fire-breather.
Zeromancer is a Norwegian industrial rock band formed in 1999 by members of the band Seigmen. The current lineup is Alex Møklebust (vocals), Kim Ljung, Noralf Ronthi (drums), Lorry Kristiansen (programming) and Per-Olav Wiik. They have released seven studio albums; the latest, Orchestra of Knives, was released in 2021.
Black Box – Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years is a box set album compiling songs released on Wax Trax! Records between 1980 and 1993. Black Box commemorates Wax Trax!'s output as an independent record label prior to its purchase by TVT Records. In particular, Black Box celebrates Wax Trax!'s place as the seminal American industrial label, featuring acts such as Ministry, KMFDM, Meat Beat Manifesto, Coil, Laibach, and many others.
Gub is the debut studio album by American rock band Pigface. It is notable for featuring contributions from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, with Reznor later re-recording the song "Suck" for the Nine Inch Nails EP Broken, released in 1992.
The Blackouts were a punk rock band formed in Seattle in 1979 by singer/guitarist Erich Werner, bassist Mike Davidson, and drummer Bill Rieflin, who were all former members of a local punk band, The Telepaths. They were joined by Roland Barker, first on synthesizer and later on saxophone.
Hyperhead were a British alternative rock band formed by former Gaye Bykers on Acid singer Mary Mary in the early 1990s.
6 is the sixth studio album by the industrial rock band Pigface. It was released in 2009 on Full Effect Records. The song "KMFPF", an acronym for "Kill Mother-Fucking Pigface", is a warped allusion to the band KMFDM.
Ian Garfield Hoxley, known by his stage name Mary Byker is an English singer, record producer and DJ known for his work as the lead singer of Gaye Bykers on Acid, Pop Will Eat Itself, Pigface and Apollo 440.
The Joy Thieves is a musical supergroup, consisting of current, former, and touring members of bands such as Ministry, Stabbing Westward, The Rollins Band, Killing Joke, Pigface, Revolting Cocks, <PIG>, David Bowie, Machines of Loving Grace, Marilyn Manson, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Naked Raygun, Foetus, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Blue October, Pegboy, Nitzer Ebb, Die Krupps, White Zombie, and many more. The band incorporates elements of industrial, industrial rock, hard rock, alternative, and punk into their music. Along with their original releases, The Joy Thieves have also done official remixes for many other artists, including Chris Connelly, <PIG>, Consolidated, Drownd, I Ya Toyah, Blue Eyed Christ, Machines With Human Skin, DogTablet, A Covenant of Thorns, Death Pop Radio, Sapphira Vee, Stoneburner, and more.
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