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Pigface was formed fromMinistry'sThe Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour,[3] which produced theIn Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up live album and video. For the tour,Al Jourgensen recruited musicians such asNivek Ogre andChris Connelly to join the lineup. Also joining was drummer Martin Atkins, to play alongside Bill Rieflin, then Ministry’s regular drummer. Atkins later stated that while he enjoyed performing with a second drummer, he felt the lineup was capable of more than functioning as what he has described as "a Ministry cover band." After the tour, Atkins and Rieflin decided to continue working together and invited several of their tourmates to join. This led to the formation of Pigface, conceived as a revolving-door collaboration with various experimentally minded musicians, many of whom, especially in the early years, had also recorded for the influential industrial labelWax Trax! Records. Rieflin left the band after the first tour, leaving Atkins as the sole founder of the group.
Trent Reznor was also an early collaborator,[4] beforeNine Inch Nails became a household name. "Suck", co-written and sung by Reznor, was something of an underground hit, and Reznor later re-recorded the song for theBroken EP.
With hundreds of musical collaborators to recording and performing with Pigface, it has ensured that each album, tour, and song is unique. However, this practice has led to some negative criticism due to a perceived lack of continuity.
In 2009, Full Effect Records, a Detroit-based label, announced the signing of Pigface.[5] The Pigface album,6, a collection of songs already recorded over the span of the previous five years, was released soon after the announcement was made. Unlike with the previous releases, there was no tour to support the album.
After a seven-year hiatus, Pigface returned for two Chicago performances in November 2016. The first was a rehearsal show held at Reggie's on November 24. On November 25, the band performed atHouse of Blues: Chicago. Both shows saw the band performing with several first-time members as well as the return of members like Lesley Rankine,En Esch, Mary Byker, Curse Mackey, Dirk Flannigan and Fallon Bowman.
Several offshoot bands of Pigface, all smaller sized all-star groups featuring Martin Atkins as a common member, have released albums during the time Pigface was active. These bands includeMurder, Inc.,The Damage Manual, Ritalin, Martin Atkins And The Chicago Industrial League, Spasm, and The Love Interest.
In March 2019, Atkins announced that Pigface would tour again for the first time in fourteen years with thirteen dates scheduled for the East coast and Midwest in November 2019.[6] On February 12, 2020, a larger, national tour was announced to be taking place throughout May, June and July of that year. However, on April 2, 2020, Atkins made the announcement that, as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the tour had been canceled.
Rieflin died on March 24, 2020, from cancer at the age of 59.[7]
The following is a partial list of musicians who have contributed to Pigface at some point in the band's history, whether it be appearing live as a band member, performing on an album, or contributing a remix of a Pigface song.[8]
