(WE ARE) PIGS is the alternative nu-metal/trap hybrid with brutal riffs, brazen screams and ethereal melodies created by South African born producer / songwriter / artist Esjay Jones. In the summer of 2020, PIGS made its debut with a cover of Slipknot’s “Duality” with its first original single “Pulse Queen” following at the tail end of the year. Today (January 14), Jones ignites the project again with the video for “Pulse Queen.”
Since its release in early December “Pulse Queen,” after boasting massive additions to editorial playlists such as Spotify’s Hard Rock, New Noise and Fierce Femmes and Apple Music’s New In Rock, Breaking Hard Rock, Breaking Metal and Sinister Sounds just to name a few, has garnered over 150,000 plays. It’s video—animated by DAVE THE CREATOR –features the macabre pig masked front-woman among other oddities.
“I’ve always had a deep love for the nu metal era…honestly, it’s still my favorite time for music sonically” states Jones, who continues that her vocal style and the project is unashamedly heavily influenced by her admiration for Chino Moreno and Deftones. The track is written, engineered, produced and sung by Jones who continues, “Although the central narrative of this song and project is subjective, ‘Pulse Queen’ is a veracious depiction of the music industry through my experiences. It’s been really eye opening to discover the lack of value placed on originality and authenticity in the music business.”
Jones, being “a big fan of the imperfect,” says she didn’t want to overthink the creative, editing, production nor mix process and thus retained the rawness and integrity of each song as it was on the day it was written and created. “My formative years were the late 90’s and early 2000’s, so artists like Alanis Morissette, Hole, Garbage, Deftones, Sneaker Pimps Incubus, Limp Bizkit etc had a visceral impact on me… It’s been motivating to lean on my influences and channel that into this project.”
Look for more (WE ARE) PIGS releases to arrive later this year with friends and some of the most significant names in modern rock including a unique collaboration with Billy Corgan as well as tracks with Brian “Head” Welch (KORN, Love & Death), Sonny Sandoval (POD) and Crazy Town.
