Spearheaded by South African-born producer, songwriter and artist Esjay Jones, We Are PIGS is a self-described "nu-metal revival" project with a penchant for big-name collaborations. The band's latest is with Smashing Pumpkins ringleader Billy Corgan, who co-wrote and co-produced the new song "PIGS," a moody, spider-web-laced tribute to the late Bjorn Thorsrud, who passed in 2021. A friend to both Corgan and Jones, Thorsrud was also a respected producer, programmer and audio engineer who contributed to every Pumpkins album from 1998's Adore to 2012's Oceania. Stream "PIGS" above via its visualizer video.
"I started writing this song in 2018. It was the very first idea and original blueprint for what became my current project, We Are PIGS," Jones tells Revolver. "However, I'll take you back to 2007 to a small town in South Africa called Durban, KwaZulu Natal. I was in a not so little band with a couple of No. 1 hits called Stealing Love Jones. My guitarist at the time was previously in a band that had been flown to Chicago as a finalist in a Smashing Pumpkins cover song contest. There he met our dear and late friend Bjorn Thorsrud, who became the catalyst for Billy adding his genius to and finally finishing this song."
We Are PIGS' previous collabs include two singles, "KIDS" and "MOOT," featuring Korn's Brian "Head" Welch and Kittie's Morgan Lander, respectively. Regarding her production work, Jones notably helmed some of the enhanced recordings of Chester Bennington's pre-Linkin Park band Grey Daze.
As for Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins' Atum: Act Two — the second part of the band's three-part rock opera — is scheduled for release on January 31st.
