Nuclear Boy

I’ve been on Spring Break for the last week, and in that time I decided to try and rediscover music that interested me while I was in high school. In particular, I’ve been listening to PIG. PIG is essentially Raymond Watts, with assistance from guitarist Steve White up until around 2004 or 2005.

I first discovered PIG while a high school student. At the time, I was very much into visual kei, J-Rock and industrial rock. One band I am particularly fond of is BUCK-TICK, a Japanese band that has been consistently releasing solid albums for over twenty years in Japan. In the early 90s, BUCK-TICK guitarist Hisashi Imai formed a side project with Maki Fuji of SOFT BALLET called SCHAFT. After releasing their debut track on the DANCE 2 NOISE compilation series, they released their first and only album, “SWITCHBLADE,” in 1994. SCHAFT featured a group of guest artists, in particular Raymond Watts. It was on songs like “THE HERO INSIDE” and “ARBOR VITATE” that I became aware of the lord of lard, and his work with them left a lasting impression on me. His voice was unlike anything my virgin Christian ears had ever heard. I was slightly afraid of his deep, haunting growls, yet at the same time I was somehow intoxicated by it.

I sought out more about Raymond Watts, and discovered that he had been the singer on KMFDM’s Juke-Joint Jezebel, a song I had loved back in elementary school when Mortal Kombat was the name of the game. In my excitement, I bolted to a used CD store in Belden Village in Canton, Ohio and picked up the TVT release of PIG’s “Wrecked” on CD. I started listening to it as soon as I got in my car, and from the beginning I juvenilely  felt someone had finally made music that was solely intended for me. Loud guitars, heavy beats, creepy atmospheric sounds, ridiculous orchestral sounding production and symphony samples, haunting vocals with a taste of some Catholic and evil imagery…the list goes on and on. With this one album,  without even listening to any of his older material at this point, I understood the diversity that is the scope of his music. It’s that fucking good of an album.

Given that Raymond Watts seems to be resurfacing with a new Twitter account and news of a new official site, I thought it might be fitting to write a general overview of his career as PIG and his work with 2-kut, KMFDM, SCHWEIN and SCHAFT. I understand that Watts has been involved in way more than just these projects, but I want to focus on what I listened to most. For people who want to seek out his full discography and technical credits, I have links at the bottom.

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KMFDM
“OPIUM / WHAT DO YOU KNOW, DEUTSCHLAND? / DON’T BLOW YOUR TOP”

The debut release of KMFDM hardly resembles anything the group has been releasing for the last 15 years or so. “OPIUM” was a cassette-only release that featured KMFDM leader Sascha Konietzko with Raymond Watts and Tom Geist.  Throughout KMFDM’s long history, it is apparent that it is Sascha’s group, and that it shattered the idea of what a normal band was supposed to be, with various members cycling in and out at various stages. In their early days, Sascha played bass guitar while Watts did vocals on various tracks as well as some various production work in collaboration with various other artists. While many early industrial acts were focused on repetitive drums, factory/metal sounds, and random shouts, KMFDM seemed more focused on sequencing samples and various production to create something that was closer to D A F in method than Einsterdune Neutaban. Watts would be on three more albums during this period, “WHAT DO YOU KNOW DEUTSCHLAND?”  ”DON’T BLOW YOUR TOP,” and “UAIOE.”

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2-kut

In the late 80s, Watts collaborated Jon Caffery with in a short lived house group called 2-kut.

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PIG

The late 80s also saw Watts release his first material under the name PIG with a selection of singles and a full-length LP, “A Poke In The Eye…With A Sharp Stick.”

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More PIG

The early 90s saw Watts incorporating a more orchestral sound to his music, as well as venturing to Japan for exclusive Japanese PIG releases. “praise the lard” was originally released in 1991 on Concrete, and it would later see an entirely botched re-release on Cleopatra Records in the late 90s (that was fortunately very limited in release). Not all was lost with Cleopatra Records, however, as they re-released the rare Japanese releases “red, raw, and sore” and “The Swining”  in 1999, with more insight from Watts.

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KMFDM Part Deux / SCHAFT / MORE PIGgy

In the mid-1990s, Watts and Sascha crossed paths again, culminating in KMFDM’s breakthrough album NIHIL, fan favorite SYMBOLS, and the infamous PIG vs KMFDM EP. I’m assuming this period was Raymond Watt’s most commercially succesful. KMFDM’s NIHIL had sold over 100,000 copies and JUKE-JOINT JEZEBEL was a club hit. It is also worth noting that anyone who bought a single VHS tape from Manga Entertainment has heard KMFDM’s ULTRA about a thousand times.

A year earlier, he had collaborated with Hisashi Imai (BUCK-TICK) and Maki Fuji (SOFT BALLET) on the industrial super project, SCHAFT, to much success in Japan. He also signed to Trent Reznor’s NOTHING records during this period and released what could be considered his first and only commercial album under the PIG name, “SINSATION,” in 1995. For his following release, “Wrecked,” he would return to TVT/Wax Trax for the album’s US release. He also released a few more exclusive EPs, “No One Gets Out Of Here Alive” and “Prime Evil,” in Japan with new songs and remixes.

(it is worth noting that Motokatsu of THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS is playing drums above)

(it is also worth noting that the bass on the above song was played by TAKESHI UEDA, also of THE MAD CAPSULE MARKETS)

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KMFDM Part 3 / SCHWEIN

KMFDM took a break after the release of “ADIOS” (which did not feature Watts), and returned with a new lineup featuring not only Sascha and Watts, but members PIG’s studio/live band (including Steve White), Lucia Cifarelli, Tim Skold, and Bill Rieflin (of Ministry, Pigface fame). While KMFDM had always existed outside the normal band lineup, this period saw the origin of what would remain KMFDM’s lineup from the early 2000s until this very day (minus Watts). Watts would record two albums during this period with KMFDM, “ATTAK” and “WWIII.” I was lucky enough to witness KMFDM/PIG on the Sturm and Drang Tour in 2002, and I had never felt so welcomed at a show. Members of KMFDM were more than happy to hang out with fans after the show, but unfortuantely Watts was “tired” and asleep in the bus. However, I did get a chance to talk with Watts before the show in front of The Odeon in Cleveland, Ohio (literally for about 20 seconds). I remember he complained about how hot it was outside, and he gave my wife (then girlfriend) a very pleasant greeting (I also believe he was wearing a T-Shirt that read “What Would Satan Do?”).

Also around this period, Watts worked once again with Hisashi Imai in addition to Atsushi Sakurai (BUCK-TICK) and Sascha on a one-off project called SCHWEIN. The had a successful tour in Japan(without Sascha), and the album hit the Top 20 on the Japanese Oricon Charts (the equivalent of the Billboard Charts in the US).

(my apologies for the photo that shows up a few minutes in above…no idea what that is about)
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Pigmartyr

In what appears to be a rift that has taken place between Watts, his former band mates, and KMFDM, Watts has remained surprisingly silent since his last PIG release, PIGMATA, in 2005. The release itself was in production hell, and was released under the WATTS name in the UK in unmastered form. Metropolis Records re-released the album the following year under the PIG name, not only mastered, but with three new songs.

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I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, and I apologize to anyone who wanted an in-depth analysis of his music. I just wanted to share some memories and good tunes, in hopes that one day Watts will return with yet another glorious release. All hail the Lord of Lard.

For now, you can get a free new PIG track by subscribing to his mailing list. Details here.

Pig @ Discogs
Pig @ Wikipedia
Watts @ Twitter