PIGGY D On Playing With ROB ZOMBIE, Outside Projects

SplatterTribe.TV recently conducted an interview with ROB ZOMBIE bassist Piggy D. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

SplatterTribe.TV: It seems like each member of the ZOMBIE band has something else going on outside of the band. Is that a prerequisite to be in this band or something?

Piggy D: It's not a prerequisite, it just kind of works out that way because Rob makes movies now, so we have a lot of downtime, and the more creative you are, the more you have to do on your own, the faster the time flies.

SplatterTribe.TV: You also design clothing and do graphic art designing as well, correct?

Piggy D: Clothing is something I've done since I was a kid. I would get hand-me-down clothes and clothes that fit me or whatever (and I'd) make something out of nothing. Art is something I've always done since I was a kid as well. Now I'm doing album cover art. I'm doing photos and packaging designs for different bands. My company does a lot of merchandising designs.

SplatterTribe.TV: How did you get into the graphic art and designs? Did you go to school for it?

Piggy D: No, I taught myself Photoshop. (I) dropped out of college, like most people. I've never really had any formal training in anything, there's just something I've always appreciated about (art)...Music especially, I've always been really drawn to good album packaging. I'll buy records because they look cool and not have any idea who they are. I'll be like, "Oh this is looks rad. This is cool," or whatever and I buy it to look at it. I love that experience. I think it's dying a slow death and I'm trying to keep it alive (laughs).

SplatterTribe.TV: Is that stuff you just do on your off time or are you working on things like that right now?

Piggy D: I'm doing some ZOMBIE stuff now actually. I have taken some photos for the band before but this is the first time I have actually worked on art. I'm workin' on that right now and that's really fun. I do a lot of stuff for Alice Cooper. I did the packaging for his last record. I did the 12". (I'm) doing (his) DVD art now. I do all of his wardrobe for his tour, all of his costumes and stuff. (I) directed his last 2 videos. I do the videos and documentary directing on the side.

SplatterTribe.TV: You released a sole album called "The Evacuation Plan". What does "The Evacuation Plan" represent to you?

Piggy D: I wrote that album right after Hurricane Katrina. I was living in New Orleans and my evacuation from New Orleans set off a chain of events in my life where I basically had to cut ties with people who were really close to me, the band that I played with... Relationships were broken, you know with my girlfriend at the time. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g... The hurricane was the first thing and then it was a domino effect. Every single thing fell apart after that. So I basically locked myself in a room for 6 months. No Internet. No TV. No nothing. I didn't shower. I didn't sleep. I didn't shave. I looked like Captain Caveman, right... I wrote probably, I think, somewhere around 35 songs every day.

SplatterTribe.TV: Was it a depressing time to you?

Piggy D: Oh, my God. It was horrible. It was absolutely horrible, but it was the most creative...You know how they always say that with art and writing and poetry and music come out at either extreme highs or extreme lows. I had like five extreme lows all in (that time period) and all I could do to maintain my sanity was to just get it out. So the evacuation plan, it's not an album about a hurricane, which is what a lot of people thought it was about. I mean, no one wanted to hear that. No one wanted to be reminded of that. It's an album about starting over. How to purge your life of bullshit, basically, and how to really identify who you are as a person, not by what you are surrounded with. That's kind of what it was.

SplatterTribe.TV: Are you still writing solo material for more releases or is ZOMBIE your main creative priority?

Piggy D: ZOMBIE's my priority. When we get together and start doing ZOMBIE, all other work pretty much stops and this year is going to be a long year. Our record just came out in February and there is a lot of cool stuff planned for this year. So that is going to be the next year (for me). I write a lot for other people. I've got some collaborations and stuff going on with other artists and another solo record in the works.

Read the entire interview from SplatterTribe.TV.