I sent this interview to Dave at GWAR's e-mail address and he graciously took time from his busy schedule to reply

Dave, what was Death Piggy?

Death Piggy is a band from Richmond, Va. that began in 1982, flourished briefly, and was then fully absorbed by GWAR in 1986. We put out three singles - 1983's "Love War" and in 1985 "Death Rules the Fairway" and "R 45". When we met up with the Slave Pit and Hunter Jackson in 85, GWAR was born and grew to dominate our energies. Death Piggy slipped away, although the band still reforms for special "reunion" shows and is releasing a CD this fall with all 3 singles plus some extra unreleased tracks.

How did Death Piggy get it's start/why was it formed?

We got started because we felt that hardcore punk was too uptight. We did'nt fit in with the "straight edgers", especially the D.C. crew. They were violent in a nasty way. We wanted to be silly and act stupid, pour mayonnaise down our pants and cry. We wanted to play songs that did'nt sound like anything we'd ever heard, we wanted to act like something we did'nt understand. When successful our performances were incidents of temporary mass insanity. We propelled ourselves into another world and dared the audience to follow.

Did you play in any bands before Death Piggy?

Nuclear Dog Shit, Sub- Urbans, Yams on Wheels, Rock and Roll Priests. Death Piggy was my first real band, real in the sense that we got free beer.

Who were the original members of the band?

Dave Brockie, bass and vocals, Russ Bahorsky, guitar, Sean Sumner, drums. After "Fairway" Russ quit and was replaced by Steve Douglas, who played on "R 45".

Did any other Death Piggy members participate in the first GWAR lineup?

All the members did at one time or another. Steve was the only member who actually played on a GWAR album - "Hell-o".

In the Blender interview, Chuck mentioned that Death Piggy used to bring out a paper mache character called Uncle Knobby and kill him in really brutal ways. Care to elaborate on this?

During a big show with Wendy O. Williams, we brought out a dummy made out of papier mache, cloth and glue. It was "Uncle Knobby", a cripple clutching a Big Gulp, devoid of legs and propped up on a wheeled cart. He had a song too...and while we did the song ( C'mon Uncle Knobby, lets peel back your brain, lots of fun, he's got a gun. Now I know you are insane.) I would remove his brain while he drooled. Later he appeared in a GWAR show were he had a 10-ton jet engine dropped on him. That was one of the greatest triumphs of our lives.

Were there any other strange stage theatrics?

Lots. One show we set up our living room on stage and pretended the show was a practice. People would "Come over" bringing beer and watching TV. We had a "horn section" featuring transvestites and a trombone. We mock hung someone and he nearly died. We gave out "Chuice" ( chew and juice) and sponsored a mayo bar. We threw banana peels into the slam circle and distributed pies and paper airplanes to thew crowd. Then we started dressing up like GWAR.

I understand that there were Death Piggy comics that you did, possibly including Wharghoul. What were some of the subjects of the stories of these comics?

I used to put out a comic called "Mr Donut" and produced 4 issues. It featured mine and others work, including early work from current GWAR members Hunter Jackson and Scott Krahl. Whargoul is an illustrated novel I am currently working on about the exploits of the charecter introduced on the "Ragnarok" album. It's genre could be called Horror\ War historical fiction. My old comic's were about everything from "The Hook" ( big hook that came out of nowhere after you lost your keys ) to "Kingy" and "Prince Eddie" ( bizarre inbred behaviour of twisted royal family ) to " Homo Pyle" (gay military sex on Iwo Jima) Maybe one day I"ll get around to publishing them.

Is there any chance that you would ever reissue all of the singles in a collected CD? Maybe as a limited edition pressing or something? (I really think that the hardcore GWAR fans would go for this, maybe if you put out like a couple thousand copies to start with and see how it sells)

Look for it this fall. I'm in the process of collecting the tapes and compiling the art. I think that I'm going to release straight through the Slave Pit and debut the product on the fall U.S. tour, as well as the mail order. If it does well I'll see about getting it tinto stores.

How did you hook up with Hunter Jackson and Chuck Varga, and the other early GWAR members?

Death Piggy was practicing in a room at the infamous Richmond Dairy, a vast deserted bottling plant that hippies had taken over and rented out vast interior areas to a motley assortment of artists and musicians. Hunter and Chuck had set up the Slave Pit to serve as the production space for a movie they wanted to make called "Scumdogs of the Universe". Hunter made a spewing dick for me in a Death Piggy show, and I suggested he let us use the costumes for a skit I wanted to do about a band called "GGGWWWAAARRRGGLGH". Well people loved it and one thing led to another. We started working on an ever more complex series of shows, attracting other artists, and the rest is history...

Any philosophical ramblings about the deeper ramifications of Death Piggy on the collective unconcious of mankind and it's social repercussions?

Smile or die.

Click here to go back to the main page

Click here for some pictures and sound clips from Death Rules The Fairway

Click here for a list of GWAR links

e-mail GWAR

e-mail huntermc@gmail.com or click here to find out more about the author of this page (as if you give a shit!).