Matthew Herbert's pig production

In modern day urban society it is hard for most meat eaters to make any correlation between that cute little piglet on a farm and the bacon in their butty. However, there is a correlation and like it or not the burgers in your bun and the sausages plonked next to your mash were once a living and breathing animal.

Through the production of his concept album ‘One Pig’ Matthew Herbert tries to gage a deeper insight into the process that turns piglets into pork. Matthew feels as a meat eater he has a responsibility to understand where his food comes from.

‘One Pig’ has been produced solely using recordings from a modern pigs life, from birth to slaughter and ending with consumption.

The album is the final part of the ‘One Trilogy’, three individual albums each about one thing.

Some organisations have accused the project of manufacturing entertainment from animal cruelty, something Matthew has countered on his blog;

"I eat meat. As I get older, I feel less proud of that fact. However, since I do eat meat, I think that I have a responsibility to understand the implications of that decision. As much as I didn't relish the prospect of witnessing the death of a pig I had seen being born and raised, I felt it an important reality to face. It seems utterly absurd to me that PETA's knee jerk reaction is to chastise me in public about the integrity of that process of enquiry without even bothering to ask me about the motivation or history of the project. in an otherwise distant and anonymous food chain, this one pig's life has been clearly and respectfully acknowledged."

The album will be performed live as part of Mike Figg’s Just Tell The Truth Festival at London’s Royal Opera House. A full launch can be expected in early October. 

Words: Nicola Elliott