Piggy D was a gruesome presence on this year's Mayhem Festival. Photo by Jesse Pollak/Dizzy Focus.
As the longtime bassist for Rob Zombie and former guitarist for Wednesday 13, Piggy D clearly has a fondness for the type of metal that can raise the dead. But like Zombie, this little Piggy’s creative talents go far beyond the musical realm as he his creepy creations also include video and musical collaborations with Alice Cooper and album artwork for Zombie guitarist John 5. After a summer headlining the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival and a performance at the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil, Piggy and the rest of Zombie’s band are in the midst of a Halloween season headlined by Zombie’s own haunted attraction the Great American Nightmare, where the band will perform on Nov. 2 before hitting the road with Korn for the Night of the Living Dreads tour. Halloween is obviously a busy time for Piggy D, which is why it’s the perfect time to hear what he recently had to talk about with Wrestling with Pop Culture.
This year was your second Mayhem Festival with Rob Zombie. How would you describe your tenure with Zombie?
It’s been seven years with Zombie, so I consider myself fairly knowledged, learned and edumacated.
On Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor you received a writing credit, plus you made a cameo in Zombie’s latest film The Lords of Salem. How does it feel to be more and more involved with Zombie’s creative process?
I was in the movie, once credited and once uncredited. I’ll give anyone a hundred bucks if they can figure out where I am. I’ve been the bass player for seven years, John 5’s been in the band for eight years and we’ve had three drummers in the last eight years. We’re hoping this one sticks around. I’ve done two studio records so far. Everybody writes songs and puts their riffs down. I think I submitted 18 songs, John probably had twice that and the song that actually made it to this record, “Lucifer Rising,” was actually written for Hellbilly 2. I had another song on that record called “The Man Who Laughs”. There are songs that’ve been kicking around for ten years. They just go in this massive catalog and sometimes we pull stuff out and dust it off and see if it fits the vibe of the record. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. So don’t throw anything away because you never know when you’re going to need it. It’s like hoarding, only it’s not Styrofoam cups and cat food cans. It’s songs.
Like Zombie, you are multi-talented when it comes to your creative endeavors. You’ve provided visual art for John 5’s albums, worked with Alice Copper and done various other creative things. How did all these collaborations come about?
Photo by Jesse Pollak/Dizzy Focus.
I try to do everything I can. I’m a horrible cook and I can’t fold clothes. I might as well have flippers. It’s just awful. But I like painting with different brushes. Videos and graphic design is stuff I’ve always been into and Alice has been a great outlet for that. I’ve studied Alice since I was a kid and probably know more about Alice Cooper than he knows about himself. I’ve done art for him, I’ve made clothes for him, I think I mowed his lawn once. So I just kind of do whatever needs to be done. It’s an easy place for me to go to. We’ve written a lot of music together, actually. Some of it’s been published and some of it hasn’t. He gives me a lot of outlets for that stuff, so it’s great.
As long as he doesn’t ask you to cook or fold laundry.
As long as he doesn’t ask me to cook or fold laundry. Them I’m going to have to call for backup.
Rob Zombie has done music for WWE, did an animated film about a luchador named El Superbeasto and has worked with wrestlers on some of his movies. Outside of your work with Zombie, have you ever done anything within the wrestling world?
No, but I wear tights. Does that count? I have a whole wardrobe case full of tights.
You used to play with Wednesday 13, who is a big Ric Flair fan.
Huge Ric Flair fan. Oh, my God.
Did Wednesday’s love of wrestling rub off on you at all?
You know, it’s a nostalgia thing for me. When I was a kid the closest I got to wrestling was Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling – GLOW, if you’re in the circle. What’s better than chicks in tights rolling around kicking the shit out of each other? Dudes in tights is great – not that there’s anything wrong with that. Did they ever make GLOW action figures?
No. But there was a GLOW documentary released recently.
I did see that. But that’s the closest I got to wrestling.
It’s been a few years since you put out a solo album of original material. Are you working on any new solo stuff?
Photo by Jesse Pollak/Dizzy Focus.
I started a project five years ago called the Haxans with a girl in England. As fate would have it, it took us five years to write a song. We’re now up to five songs in the can. What I’m hoping to do is go finish that up and put out a little EP [in between tours]. It’s different. Nothing I do sounds anything like anything I do with Zombie. It’s great because it’s just me being me, but it’s also hard to find an audience. Rob Zombie fans won’t get most of what I do, and that’s fine. Without even trying, I kind of operate a little bit outside of the system. I run my own independent label and company and when duty calls with Rob I have to put everything on hold. But I’ve been doing more producing and more writing with other bands and trying to get more into that. The Haxans has kind of trumped my solo stuff right now because it essentially is [my solo stuff]. It’s a little more mellow, a little more moody, a little more folky, I guess. It’s like dark folk, satanic folk.
What’s next for Piggy D?
We have Rob’s haunted house, the Great American Nightmare, going on for two weeks. We’re going to play the last night of that. Next year we’re probably going to start making new tracks and going to see our friends overseas.
Are you involved with the Great American Nightmare at all?
No. I’ll go, though. I’m pretty excited about it. Maybe I’ll put on a costume and scare somebody.