Earlier this year, Pig Out released the ridiculously adrenaline fuelled album, Rave X. It further distanced them from any possible pigeonholing or categorisation and gave fans a pure dance experience. Kit Lawrence, who makes up one half of Pig Out, was nice enough to share a few words with us via email, giving his opinion on everything to do with the album and what it’s like to be ahead of the game.
How are you?
Wicked
What has Pig Out been up to lately?
Djing a lot in Auckland, writing a lot of 2step and dubstep tunes, organising our album tour, working on our live show and djing on George fm every once in a while.
What were your expectations for your album Rave X in regards to the album you set out to make and the album you ended up with?
It changed massively from when we signed with Tardus to when it came out almost 2 years later. We thought it might be a live band album, then a straight electro album, then as we got down to it, it became more beat orientated and mashed up. Once we started using break beats and 2 step/garage beats it made a lot of sense to us even though it was a big shift, but we were having a lot of fun and being very technical minded and creative.
Where in your mind does the album sit in regards to the current international dance scene?
Strangely enough that mashed up sound has started to become really strong in Europe with people like Doorly's remixes blending jungle and rave and breakbeats being mixed with dubstep bass. Doorly incidentally liked the album a lot when we gave it to him so I think it shows we know exactly what were doing. Shame that sound is not more popular here but it gives us inspiration and hope!
If you had to associate it with musicians or albums that you’ve been influenced by, who would you pick?
It draws on old rave and jungle quite a bit. Old XL stuff as well as early dubstep stuff. We made it in isolation but it sounds more like what people are doing at the moment than anyone we were aware of when we made it.
How do you formulate your songs?
Start with choosing a bpm, my default setting is 140 which is the dubstpe bpm. Ill construct a beat on Ableton with imported stabs, stems or beat samples, a kick, a snare, just get a groove going in a loop add a bass line and build a track around it in no particular order. Its very organic I guess, shifts a lot during the writing. If it isnt working pretty quickly I wont labour it. I write a lot but I trash a lot which is healthy I think.
Do they take on a new identity when you play them live?
Recently weve been playing a soundsystem show which is me on cdjs and a sequencer and Marie on an MPC with vocal samples and sweeps as they are called (the pitch shifted rises that tell you a drop or breakdown is coming). We can vary the set like a dj and build an atmosphere more effectively and it tells us what works for future writing.
Do you have a favourite cut to play live from Rave X?
Any of them. I like to play DWM out but we hardly ever do, its just too fast for people. I didnt play Top Boy too much but its getting dropped more these days. I like Hype, IOU and Cashflow a lot. We play half the album, half tracks that are newer than the album and unreleased.
Which aspect of performing live gives you the biggest thrill?
Coming on and building the atmosphere with our intro. Also surprising people with how varied our tracks are.
Would you ever consider moving Pig Out overseas permanently?
Just show me the departure lounge.
Do you find that Pig Out get pigeonholed a lot?
Not really, its impossible to pigeonhole us as anything. We more suffer from being overlooked or ignored as there are so few people who get what were about or where dance music is heading. We're too extreme and way too advanced for a lot of younger clubbers in Auckland who want big hooks, simple beats and recognisable or overused sounds.
Why do you think people find it necessary to pigeonhole bands?
Because most people are simple minded and need to be told what to like. Its helpful for a quick description to differentiate time signatures for instance but theres so much genre mashing these days its pointless to fuss over it. Like that Wiley track. 'Garage?/I dont make garage/Who told you I make garage?/Made in a studio/Not in a garage'!
What do you do when you’re not being a musician?
Sleep
Have you even begun thinking about another release?
I just want to release RAVE X in Europe before anything else comes out here. We have a couple of EPs worth and an album worth of 2 step/jungle/dubstep we could release under different names.
What would you like to do differently for future recordings?
Id like to record in a place where we're surrounded by like minded people that get our music, which probably means going back to London.
What are you listening to at the moment
Lots of bassline, garage, UK funky but mostly Bob Dylan.
What else does the future hold for Pig Out?
I dont know. Well see if RAVE X can get issued abroad first.
In your opinion, what is the state of music in NZ?
Good and bad. I dont like much of what I hear. Theres hardly any dance music released here and what there is just apes overseas music. The guitar music scene is different in that they are happy to stand out as different. Musicians are creative here but the thing that keeps people down or locked in a cycle of small releases is a huge amount of ignorance within the music industry and buying public, and this is propogated by funding, mainly due to the wrong people in the right places where money is being given out. A lack of understanding and appreciation of truly talented and adventurous music, regardless of style is the main problem. As an artist, and speaking to other artists, lack of support from labels doesnt help.
Gareth Meade
