Paws, Pets & Metal is Metal Insider’s newest column on bands with pets, discovering who watches them on the road, and more. Get to know more about these metal furbabies. We caught up with Alienator vocalist/guitarist Brad King as he revealed his pets would rather listen to sounds of running water over metal.
Tell us more about your pet(s) and their names?
My dog’s name is Barbara or Barb. She is a chihuahua/miniature pinscher.Barb’s an old girl and super lazy. She just loves sitting on a pillow and we have to put a little sweater on her in the winter cause she shivers. She’s got the nicest temperament of any dog I’ve ever had. She’s happiest when she’s sleeping under the covers with us. Barb got her name cause my wife and I used to say “they’re coming to get you Barbara,” from the opening scene of the original “Night of the Living Dead,” movie. It’s just a funny sounding name for an animal that kinda suited her. We like human names for animals. A lot of people will say “that’s my mom’s name.” That happened with Simon, our drummer actually. We introduced him to Barb and he said “that’s my mom’s name.”
The cat’s name is Oliver or Ollie. We call him Ollie balls sometimes. He’s our daughter’s cat. I was never a cat person but she really wanted one, so I relented. He’s a very confident male and can be kind of a dick to Barb sometimes. He likes to climb and get into everything. Anyway, he’s kind of grown on me and I like cats now. We think he’s a British shorthair. He just gives zero fucks and does whatever he wants and sometimes sprawls out on the floor like that picture of Burt Reynolds from Cosmo so we called him Burt for a while.
Have you ever taken your pet on tour?
Barb doesn’t even like going for a walk. She’d hate going on tour. Do people take their cats on tour with them? That sounds difficult. I remember the Butthole Surfers had a dog named “Mark Farmer of Grand Funk Railroad,” that they used to tour with and Sublime had that Dalmatian. Both those bands were kinda maniacs though. It doesn’t seem practical to me.
Who looks after your pet while on the road?
My wife and daughter would look after the animals anytime I needed to go anywhere.
What’s your pet’s favorite song or album?
Barb is super chill, so I’m thinking she’s more of a Brian Eno – Music For Airports type of gal. Ollie prefers “the sound of running water,” by “the kitchen sink.” Great album. You should check it out.
How did you introduce your pet to metal?
Probably in the car. If I want to listen to music that’s loud and noisy, it’s usually while driving. But then if we’re in the car together, it’s often to go get her nails cut and she fucking haaaaates that. She cries like a baby, so we have to have someone else do the deed. I’d like to say something cool like vol 4. Is her favourite Black Sabbath album and she barks along when she hears “snowblind,” but that’s just bullshit. Barb likes pillows and snuggles and snacks and tolerates other humans and some other animals. She couldn’t care less about music.
What animal charity means most to you?
I’ve spent most of my time working for human charities, so that’s more of my frame of reference. I’m gonna have to just say the humane society. They have a branch here in Thunder Bay and do good work.
