Paws, Pets & Metal is Metal Insider’s newest column on bands with pets, who watches them on the road, and more. Get to know more about these metal fur-babies. We caught up with Eaten By Sharks’ lead guitarist Chris Chaperon reveals the many pets behind the band.
Tell us more about your pet(s) and their names?
This one may take a while! Matt (vocals) and Tyler (bass) both have dogs. Tyler has 2 Kane corsos named Grizzle and Smoke, and Matts’s dog is named Larry. Dan (guitar) has 2 Ducks, Tobias and Burton. Chris (guitar) has a bit of an animal sanctuary – 2 full-size pigs named Scout and Agatha, 2 mini pigs named Penelope and Norman, 2 ducks named Millie and Emma, 2 roosters named Fraiser and Gregory, 7 hens (Daphane, Maris, Lilith, Bebe, Charlotte, Roz, and Lucile), 4 goldfish (Gilbert, Greta, Gordy and Harley), and 13 cats named Kohl, Obama, Cain, FizzGig, Sammy, Wolvie, Pheonix, Lucas, Fawn, Toby 2.0, Willow, Dino, and Fred!
Have you ever taken your pet on tour?
We have never taken any animals on tour, However, we would like to bring the pigs to give Matt a break on the pig squeals. However, planning the logistics to transport two 1000 lbs pigs has proved difficult!
Who looks after your pet while on the road?
When we are out of town, pet care falls to our partners or family. In my case, our cats love it when I’m on the road as it means more room in the bed for them!
What’s your pet’s favorite song or album?
I would say that Shallow Water is a household favorite. The rescued animals can relate to the narrative of a mother taking revenge on humans for slaughtering their offspring! The pigs seem to like our song Dead Weight as it has the longest squeal at the end; in fact, they have requested that we ramp up the squeals for the next album. Oh, and the cats’ favorite band is Catera!
How did you introduce your pet to metal?
I was listening to some brutal death metal on my headphones while doing my mid-week kitty litter scooping (as you can imagine with 13 cats it’s a bit of a shitty job!), and I could see one of the cats, Kohl, out the corner of my eye, bopping his head a bit. So I ripped my headphones off, and cranked up some Kublai Khan tx! Instant “kitty pit” with litter and claws flying all over the place!
What animal charity means most to you?
Animal charities are very important to me as a whole. As far as the band goes, it would definitely be Sea Shepherd and what they do for the wildlife in the oceans. Sea Shepherd was instrumental in our exposure to shark finning… That is, the brutal practice of hunting sharks to remove their fins, and then tossing their disfigured bodies back into the ocean to die a slow and painful death. The reason sharks are hunted is due to the high price fishermen get for their fins. Money, the root of all evil, Gross!
