Joey Eppard comments on each song on the album Wake Pig (2006):
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Alien
Angel - The album opener, this is often the 1st song we play live
in concert. It has a raw rock energy and strong melody. It began with
a riff and some chord changes Joey wrote after the melody and lyrics came
to him while driving the band van home from the studio. Lyrically, this
is a song with a multitude of sci-fi concepts and philisophical meanings
including; the origin of man kind, on both physical and spiritual levels,
and the possibility of an extra-terrestial or dimensional intelligent
design and covert manipulation of our world. It plays with the idea of
an angel falling, in the sense of loss of innocence, buy also in the sense
of our physical birth being like a spirit crash landing on planet earth,
having"Fallen Into Flesh And Bone" as the song describes. It
is a meditation based on the inescapable feeling that we've come from
somewhere, somewhere higher, more complete. "Are you an angel
who's ship ran aground? Can't get a grip on this planet you found."
It's a fair question for any of us.
Monster
- The curve ball that follows the fastball, this track further reveals
Joey's unorthodox style as he injects his percussive acoustic guitar playing
into the mix of driving distortion and drum heavy poly-rhythms. The lyrics
touch upon aspects of an abduction experience and culminate in the abductees
realization that he's really an alien. "And as I open my eyes,
I know they've come to take me home" Imagery includes stars bleeding
from the sky, shadows turning in pale blue light, as well as some other
sensations relating to sleep paralysis which has often been associated
with "alien abduction."
Dregs
- One of the first recordings made in our own studio, an early
version was featured as a bonus track on Summercamp Nightmare. This track
is the perfect melding of flamenco and metal guitar riffs and marks an
evolutionary leap in the bands sound.
Wake
Pig - The title track, and perhaps the song that received the most
attention during the recording process. Lyrical imagery begins with the
prophetic apocalyptic dream of a soldier. "The fires so high in
the sky" he cannot "find the sun." "Save
them, save yourself" is a karmic reference reflecting the interconnectedness
of humanity. Wake Pig is a wake up call to humanity to remember that we
are all connected, that we all seek the truth in the end, despite our
differences of perspective. It is a cry to remember that we have been
given a choice to decide the fate of our world. There is also a double
meaning here… The inside joke: In the earlier days, during the making
of Summer Camp Nightmare, we all lived in a house together. Between paying
gigs we would paint houses to make ends meet. In the wee hours of the
morning our drummer, Chris (the Gartdrumm), would come down stairs and
knock on each of our doors and yell: WAKE PIG!!!
Bramfatura
- An acoustic solo instrumental piece that displays Joey's unique
style of guitar playing. An interesting side note is that this was recorded
and mixed live in the studio about 15 minutes before we left to master
the record. Joey had stayed up for like 3 days straight finishing the
album. The definition of a Bramfatura as given by Daniel Andreev is as
follows: Almost every heavenly body possesses a number of variomaterial
planes that together form a closely integrated system. These systems,
united by the commonality of processes taking place on their planes, are
called bramfaturas. In the majority of bramfaturas in our Galaxy the chief
process uniting the planes of each is the struggle between the Providential
and the demonic forces. There are, however, bramfaturas that have completely
fallen under the sway of the demonic and those that have freed themselves
entirely of it.
Trust
- This song is a good combination of our rhythmic and melodic strengths.
Often live we use it as the launch point for a drum solo and improvisation.
Dogs
Of War - is loosely based on the Iraq debacle. It reflects the
challenges of sharing limited resources on our planet and also the confusion
and misinformation that has divided the American public in so many ways.
Soul
To Sell - A simple but eloquent beatlesque type tune that is on
one level, an open letter to the bush administration. "Do you
think we're fools? We know it won't be long, till you drill a well, and
fall straight through the roof of hell and they lock you in a prison cell,
you got no more soul to sell." On another level it is a criticism
of those who find it so easy to place blame and take revenge against one
group or another. "And any place you place the blame, the water
tastes the same, the sunlight hurts your eyes, its no surprise. And anyone
you chance to meet, a stranger on the street, they're bound to wonder
why, we run so dry, we drink the tears from their eyes."
One
Way Town - The 1st of the new additions to the rerelease. For this
song we took a rerecording of a solid live radio performance, built a
tempo map around it and then rerecorded each instrument.
Queen
- Most of the vocals to this song were recorded in the early hours
of the morning before the original deadline to go to mastering. The delivery
is simple and fragile while the groove is large and slinky.
Circus
Without Clowns - The other new addition to the rerelease, I recorded
the vocal and acoustic first, then added drums, bass and electric guitar.
It's kind of a cool way to write parts in the studio. "The night
of living dead" becomes a metaphor for a sleeping, hypnotized,
zombie like society. They do exactly as they're told, and even fight and
die for the dark ambitions of rich men in high places. The story telling
persona admits: "you know I'd like to pledge allegiance, but I'm
afraid it can't be found. So as they fire up their legions, I've got another
plan, some of you won't understand…"
Where's
Max - 3's version of the "Peacebomb" classic. This song
features the vocals of the talented and enigmatic Max Oleson, and gives
a solid representation of the math-rock side of the band.
Amaze
Disgrace - This is our epic closer live in concert. The idea for
the song started with the drum groove and Joey quickly followed with chord
changes and melody. It evolved over many live performances. Things usually
get pretty wild when we play the ending. More often then not Joey winds
up with no strings left on his guitar and various instruments and gear
are strewn about the stage.
Related links:
theband3.com