Mitch Davis shares “‘Demon’ is one of those songs I love to play because it’s got this classic metal/rock simplicity that’s galloping while being so laid back in the verses that it’s almost like falling asleep while you’re driving. It’s just moving along, then there’s a guitar trill that’s like shaking around trying to wake yourself up… and it all gets interrupted by these chords that hit you on the upbeats out of nowhere that feel like your head just fell down and you snap yourself back up and out of it. I’m not sure exactly what inspired that Blue Cheer style vibrato in the guitar solos, but it was definitely intentional. I think it was partially just because it seemed like an “anti-trendy” thing to do and also because it just felt right for the song. To my ears, ‘Demon’ has this badass mysterious confidence that doesn’t feel like it needs to be filled up with a bunch of stuff. It’s basically just the one rhythm guitar, solos, bass, drums and vocals. It breathes and it’s comfortable in its own skin. This wasn’t the first song I wrote for the album, but it is the first song I recorded vocals and finished the production on from the record. It set up the momentum for the whole thing.”
Watch “Demon” Playthrough Video at Ultimate Guitar here:
https://www.ultimateguitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/ug_exclusive_premiere_watch
It’s a bit difficult to place SALTPIG neatly into a particular metal sub-genre. While there are elements of doom/stoner/psych/occult metal and others, there is also an intentional disregard for certain expected conventions of those styles. The music is of today, but it is taking inspiration from a time when there was just “metal”. Whether it be heavier, faster, more or less melodic, etc., it all came down in the end to being “metal”.
In that spirit, the songs on the SALTPIG debut record were produced with, as Mitch Davis puts it, a consistent inconsistency. “I get bored listening to a record where every song comes on with the same drum sound, same guitar sound, same vocal production. Maybe it’s the producer in me or maybe it’s a byproduct of how we listen to music on streaming services now. I wanted to create something that felt more like a mix tape. When I produced these tracks, I basically zeroed everything out from song to song and let the songs be their own entities. To force myself to write unexpected things, I changed tunings from song to song to force me away from what might fall naturally under my fingers. I even put a song on the album that’s nearly 20 minutes long. The only rule I gave myself and Fabio was to disregard anything that could be considered a ‘rule’, and at the same time to not be jarringly different just for the sake of being different. It’s more about just following a creative vision without having to be constrained by what is expected. It all sounds varied from song to song, but consistently SALTPIG at the same time because, in the end, it’s still me writing the songs, singing, playing the parts and producing/mixing the tracks with Fabio playing the drums, so It always sounds like SALTPIG.”
It’s melodic but embraces dissonance. It’s noisy and dirty and evil sounding. Underproduced and real. Recorded onto analogue tape and pushing the levels with a “distortion is never bad” ethos.
In fact, this album is being released on cassette with what Mitch has coined as a ‘multi-master cassette’. “As far as I know, this has never been done before. When the cassettes were being manufactured, there are some being recorded at the ‘proper optimal level’. But there are also some cassettes being recorded at ‘too loud’ levels! And there is no way to know what version you’ll be getting. Even I don’t know which is which! You may get a normal copy. Or you may get one that’s more saturated… or you may get one that’s even more saturated! When I was mastering the album to tape, I was trying it out at different levels… hitting the tape harder and distorting it more. No matter what level I recorded at, it sounded different and great in its own way. So I wanted to give that sort of individualized listening experience to people who get the SALTPIG album. I wanted the feel of the old tape trading days. You traded tapes… copied them… didn’t have any regard for proper levels. You just recorded it and you loved your copy. I wanted people to get this album and have their copy be unique to them. Get the tape, rip it to digital, put it on YouTube… whatever! Let people hear what your copy sounds like. Share it! It’s a great time to be part of the metal scene. There is so much amazing stuff coming out now and it’s really inspiring to be a part of it. And if we can re-create some of that old school community, even better!”
About SALTPIG:
SALTPIG is a two-man metal band with its members living practically on opposite ends of the globe. Mitch Davis started writing this debut album and enlisted drummer Fabio Alessandrini (playing with Annihilator at the time) early on in the process. Even though they are separated by an ocean with Mitch based in the US and Fabio in Italy, technology allowed them to make a record as easily as if they were in the same room.
Mitch Davis has worked with and recorded bands/artists such as Damon Albarn, U2, Mark Lanegan, Billy Squier, Danger Mouse and Stephen Malkmus. He has also co-written the four latest LA Guns records since the Tracii Guns / Phil Lewis reunion and the Sunbomb album with Michael Sweet. But the SALTPIG project is in a decidedly darker and much less commercial direction while still being very memorable and hooky.
SALTPIG online:
https://www.fuckinsaltpig.com/
https://saltpig.bandcamp.com/album/saltpig
https://www.facebook.com/saltpigband
https://www.instagram.com/saltpigband/
