SplatterTribe: 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.

Rob Zombie Band: (l-r) John 5, Rob Zombie, Piggy D, Joey Jordison

SplatterTribe: 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 & packaging designs for different bands. My company does a lot of merchandising designs.

SplatterTribe: 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).

Alice Coper- 'Along Came A Spider' 12" - Art & Design By Piggy D

SplatterTribe: 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 video's. I do the video's and documentary directing on the side.

SplatterTribe: That's got to be awesome working with the one and only Alice Cooper.   Piggy D: Awe...I mean, We just finished the tour last night, which was the first time Alice Cooper & Rob Zombie where (ever) on tour...

 

SplatterTribe: Yeah, how was that experience?

Piggy D: It was amazing dude. I mean, you look out in the crowd every night and you realize (that) these people are so happy because they're seeing something that they never

thought they would get a chance to see. And in Toronto, the second to last night of the tour, we actually got Alice out on stage with us and that was like...(pausing to find his words) I think you could have killed everybody (the band) after that gig and we would have been happy.   SplatterTribe: What are the chances of that tour happening again?   Piggy D: Remains to be seen... I know a lot of people missed the show. We went to some kind of strange, smaller markets with it, but the reaction was overwhelming.     SplatterTribe: You released a sole album called 'The Evacuation Plan'. What does 'The Evacuation Plan' represent to you?

Alice Cooper Costume Design by Piggy D & Hazmat Photo by Piggy D

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 where really close to me, the band that I played with... Relationship where 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 Capt Caveman, right... I wrote probably, I think, somewhere around 35 songs everyday.

 

SplatterTribe: 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 5 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.

 

Piggy D - The Evacuation Plan (Solo Release)

SplatterTribe: Whereyou there during the hurricane?   Piggy D: I left the night before.     SplatterTribe: Because it was coming?   Piggy D: Yeah     SplatterTribe: Did your area get wiped out or what?

Piggy D: Actually, not that bad. I was slightly higher than the places that got really hit. The strange thing is, there was a lot of damage to the house, but I got robbed. So after the hurricane, it was just shitty people.

 

 

SplatterTribe: Did you lose a lot of stuff?

Piggy D: Oh my God, I lost so much shit.

Rob Zombie Promo - Designed by Piggy D

SplatterTribe: Is that why you said you lost some of your close friends? Was it people you knew that robbed you?   Piggy D: Actually, come to find out, it was. Yeah. But it was just a weird time, man. I basically saw a whole city of people that had no back up plan because they didn't know that they needed one. Nobody does. I mean God forbid something horrible happen tomorrow. There's gonna be a lot of people that climb to the highest mountain and hide. There's gonna be a lot for people go, "What the Hell do I do"? I don't know what to do.     SplatterTribe: I got stranded in Memphis during the flood recently. It was pretty hectic. I mean who knows if we are learning to be prepared or not.   Piggy D: Exactly...

 

SplatterTribe: 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.

 

 

SplatterTribe: So what is it like being in a Zombie Movie every night of your life?

 

Piggy D: (He smiles) Man... It's...pretty much pointless to describe it. Even watching it from the stage you don't really know what's going to happen. Yeah it is cued with the pyro and the robots and stuff, but there's a real chaotic element to the show  where it really could go anywhere. You're not exactly sure what's going to happen. You know a lot of bands come out there and play this song and then stare at our shoes and stop here and then start into another one. It's not like that. It may look choreographed, but it's not choreographed. you really gotta like...(laughs) I mean, we've had some collisions (laughs).