Description:

Year of the Pig (YOTP) is a rock and roll band birthed from the subterranean underbelly of Cheyenne, Wyoming around 2003. The moniker originated from the initial four members sharing one commonality: they were all born in 1971. Under the Chinese zodiac, 1971 is the Year of the Pig. Considering it is said to be very fortuitous and a blessing to have been born in that year, they feel pretty auspicious to be able to have found a group of cohorts with similar ages and somewhat similar influences. Evidently being born in the same year that so many classic rock icons died had a profound yet unconscious effect on the band. Their sound can best be described as having a late 60’s-early 70’s classic guitar driven core, splattered with generous quantities of textural and punk rock colored hues. We have our own PA (the best in Wyoming!) and our own lights that enhance the live shows we create into Atmospheric Bliss.

Impossible to nail down a singular characteristic sound, YOTP is more an aggregate of individually styled and diverse songs. One example is the song, Country Bukkake. It sounds like a classic cowboy traditional giddy up song that quickly jettisons into a full-blown blast beat, shit kicking, country western punk rock song. Or for example, the psychedelically tinged Las Fantasmas De Los Alamos, which sounds nothing like Country Bukkake. It is what one would get if you took one part Cake, One part Jim Morrison, a liberal dose of hallucinogenic synthesizer and baked it together with a smattering of laconic snare and groovy, funky, drumming. The five songs on this demo are indicative of a typical YOTP set. Eclectic, full of energy, and always imaginative; YOTP’s live performances constantly awe audiences.

Inchoate amp playing guitarist,Hugh Selway- Hughcifer, is credited with crafting YOTP into an actual band. If the tightly formed and focused rhythms of drummer Mikel Soden are the Yin, Highcifer’s off timed, aurally textural, and thick riff-oriented playing is the Yang. Both Soden and Hughcifer have been heavily involved in the art of caterwauling and cacophony since George Bush senior’s ill-fated administration in the early nineties. Having played in local bands like the legendary Monastat 7, Desecrator, Anarchy Dragon, and 3 White Guys and a Black Skater, their experiences are noteworthy if not publicly befit. The mysterious and complex singer, Jason adds the needed charisma and chutzpah to the band. His Jim Morrisonesque and contemplative demeanor is engaging and is a self described, mouth harpin’, jingle, jangling, Danoelectroist. Bassist Wayne is from Detroit and is not somebody you want to face on an opposing hockey team. He plays vintage Rickenbacker basses and uses an amp reputably once owned by the legendary John Entwhistle of The Who. As evidenced by the large brown stains running down the front and the threadbare material on the cabinet; its previous owner was clearly a cut from the same Dionysian fabric as the band. Wayne is the only member not born in 1971 but has proved to be a steady and focusing component of the band.

In short, YOTP is a collective effort of four highly diverse and eclectic personalities. They live for playing live performances and leave everything they have on the stage every time. From the banalities of everyday work stress to the profoundly needed escapism that Year of the Pig affords them. There are no rock stars or inflated egos in the band, they play music and shows not cause they seek confirmation or fame, but because they are compelled to play. If they didn’t have this band and this outlet for their collective imaginations; they would quite simply and most definitively, go mad.