Pigbaby
The anonymous Irish musician, debuting at Manifesto, talks about the freedom of dressing up, living out of a suitcase, and weirdo pride.
Cyrus Goberville: Could you introduce yourself?
Pigbaby: I'm Pigbaby. I'm a musician and I dress like a pig.
CG: Why do you dress as a pig?
P: I think music nowadays is quite boring, the image people put out. And I'm inspired by a lot of people who wore costumes, like Blowfly. He was an old soul singer and he dressed like a fly for all his shows.
CG: So costume was a priority to make your music happen?
P: Yeah. Because also with the costume, you can build a whole world around it with the videos and the design. And I think if it was just me putting my face on it, it would be boring. So I like the mystery, the mystique. I like playing around with stuff and being tongue-in-cheek. But also, the music is quite sad. So having a bit of humor is a nice balance. I always hated artists like James Blake and Thom Yorke. They're just like these miserable men. I always liked Zombie and Aphex Twin and people with this strong visual identity.
CG: Yeah. KLF and stuff.
P: Exactly. One of my biggest influences is Chill Out. Just the fact that some of their work feels like performance art to me is very interesting. But he most important thing to me is to make really nice songs that are not too challenging.
CG: Yeah. There is a Daniel Johnston vibe, also.
P: Daniel was also one of my biggest influences. I really like outsider art and outsider music, all the weirdos… I could always relate to people like that because I've struggled with mental health. And I’m proud of being a weirdo.
CG: Do you think that music for you is a good way to be a weirdo?
P: Yeah, total expression. With my other art that I do—painting, photography, collage, film—I've never been able to express myself as much as with music.
CG: So what is Pigbaby going to do on Monday?
P: It’s my first ever live show. The record only came out like a month ago. I'm doing a 45-minute performance with my friend, Lexi. He’s going to be playing the tracks and I'll be singing over them. I'm going to play a lot of new stuff from the album. I have a whole new album ready to go. I need to find a label who can really get behind it. But I have an album ready and I'm about to go to Indonesia for a music residency to make another one—I want to work with indigenous Indonesian musicians.
CG: Where are you from?
P: Dublin. But I've been living out of a suitcase for three years. Ireland was a big influence on me. I'm very interested in Irish folklore and traditional Irish music. For the album, I spent a month in a cottage in the countryside, two hours' walk from the local shop. I worked with a cellist and guitarist and someone who was local to the area.
CG: You know a lot about music. How did this happen?
P: I grew up in this record shop, All City Records, in Dublin. When I was 13, I was there every day—for six, seven years. So I was always buying records, and then I DJ'd for 10 years and then did a lot of radio shows like NTS. But only a year ago I tried to make some myself.
CG: You woke up one day just saying, “Hey, I'm going make music.”
P: Yeah. It was the lockdown and I had a big breakup and I was very bored with the other art I was doing. With a tiny keyboard, I recorded everything myself. The whole EP is all not on laptop.
CG: Were there any other super important things in music that happened to you?
P: Yeah. I used to live in Manchester 10 years ago. Soup Kitchen is where I first heard ambient music and I texted this guy, Alexander Taber, who now works for Warp. And I said, “What is this music called where there's no beats?" And he was like, “Oh, that's called ambient or ambient techno.” And from that I found Chill Out and people like DJ Sprinkles, Psychic TV, and Oneohtrix Point Never.
CG: Will Pigbaby always be dressed as a pig?
P: Yeah, I think so.
CG: Is this about being shy?
P: No. I think I'm letting everyone know my deepest problems. So definitely not so shy. But the mask also allows me to speak very candidly about my life without feeling embarrassed that someone I know is going to laugh at it or think it's stupid. I suppose the secret character gives me the confidence to speak about depression or suicidal thoughts or breakups or whatever.
CG: And do you think that Pigbaby is making you happy?
P: Yes. It's the most fun I've ever had in any art form, making anything. It means so much to me. The fact that people like it, too, is mind blowing to me. I've never felt the same feeling from doing a book or a film or an art show. I've never felt that same pride.
CG: In your dreams, what would the perfect Pigbaby show have? What would it be?
P: I would say somewhere amazing like the Barbican with a full set design with trees and little animals and me with a full band.
CG: You’d need animals that pigs do not eat.
P: Yeah. Little birds and a little forest atmosphere, that would be the dream. I'd really, really want to work with a full band. I love working with other musicians. I like to work with violinists and people who play traditional Indian instruments. I love doing as much as I can myself and then working with other people.