PIGS: Canada's #1 Pink Floyd Tribute Band Comes to Cornwall

By Mahlon Smoke

Pink Floyd remains as one of the most iconic rock bands in history. They're also one of the most experimental with their music, from "The Wall" to "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Animals" to name a few of their albums. Their music continues to resonate with people from different generations, from the ones who were there at the height of their popularity to the ones who are just hearing about them now. There is something there for any lover of rock.

Twelve years of playing and performing Pink Floyd's music to thousands of fellow fans, old and new, PIGS came to Cornwall to share their love of Pink Floyd with their renditions of their most popular songs such as "Another Brick in The Wall," "Money," "Comfortably Numb" and more favorites from the band. The lead-guitarist and vocalist, the "David Gilmour" of the band, Josh Szczepanowski, sat down with Indian Time to talk about how it happened and his love of the band.

1. How did you manage all of this?

JS: "It's been about 12 years, it sorta started by accident. I won tickets to another Pink Floyd tribute band and I didn't think they were very good. I thought 'Well we can do better than that.' and so we did."

2. Were you always a Pink Floyd fan?

JS: "Not always, I was 24 when I first listened to them and they were my dad's favorite band. Which probably helps, I think they speak to everyone - they're talking about the hopes and fears that everyone has."

3. What's your favorite part about touring and doing this cover band?

JS: "My favorite part is after the show where we get to meet everybody and hear their stories. A lot of people are deeply affected by this music and it really resonates with them. Because it's been so long since Pink Floyd started there is really a lot of intrigue and interest from people who are my parents ages or older and it really resonates with them and they are still excited to see this."

5. Which main singer of Pink Floyd are you?

JS: "I'm the 'David Gilmour,' we have a 'Roger Waters,' and each member plays a certain member of the original Pink Floyd lineup."

6. Is there ever time when you're up there that you bring your own style to the performance?

JS: "No, we don't bring our own stuff into it. We all have our own bands and it can be hard to get in the right mindset when you have to jump back in [and preform as Pink Floyd]. We play things the way they did it."

7. You've watched a lot of live performances then. How do you do that? Frame by Frame? Memorization?

JS: "Well, it's a little bit of everything really - I would be surprised if there isn't a Pink Floyd video that we haven't seen."

8. How would you describe Pink Floyd, Live in Concert, to a younger generation or a person who has never heard of them?

JS: "Well, I would say that it can be a pretty intense show, a lot of dynamics. It can be pretty quiet to pretty loud to very bombastic. Of course, we've got the big screen lots of lights so you're never really bored."

9. Which album is your personal favorite?

JS: "It's a difficult question to answer because you've got 'Dark Side' and 'The Wall,' which are culturally beloved from an artistic standpoint. But if I had to pick, it would The Final Cut. It's a pretty weird album but I like it."

10. Tell me about the technical side of the show.

JS: "Well we try to keep everything as close as possible, despite not being millionaires like them, with all the lights, the effects, and more. It's all in the details really, we even have the same strings and keyboards as the original band."

11. Pink Floyd is famous for having a giant inflatable pig or a fake plane crash onto the stage. Have you guys thought about getting one?

JS: "Actually, we have looked into it. Wasn't that expensive to get one, the cost of the permits to fly it and the cost of the helium was just too much for us to pay."

12. How do you feel about people coming up and praising you guys for being as authentic as you are?

JS: "Honestly? It's great and rewarding to hear that from people."

13. What other music do you like to perform outside this cover band?

JS: "I have my own band 'Men Against the Seas' we all have our own bands and write our own songs; each have our own styles."

14. How much has this changed your life, especially something you've done for so long?

JS: "It's changed my life in ways that I could never imagine. Back home I'm a teacher, in middle school. It gets in the way sometimes because I'm leaving for tours. It's tough because it can get in the way of your personal life in different ways. But other than that, it's a very rewarding career."

15. You mentioned that you're a teacher, have any of your students seen you perform?

JS: "Yes, some of them have seen me and they love it."

The band is continuing their tour through the rest of the year and hope to return to Cornwall.