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 furbabies. We caught up with Stormbound as they revealed their pets’ favorite types of music include Norwegian black metal, Arch Enemy, and In Flames.
Tell us more about your pet(s) and their names?
Rotem Sadia, keys: I have two female dogs – a white one named Ivy, a black one named Anubis and a black male cat named Kiwi Shazam de Puss.
Shani (GTR) & Ofer Friedman (GTR and back vocals): We have the amazing couple of dogs, Jimi & Lucy. The name Jimi has nothing to do with Hendrix or Page, we just thought it’s suitable for him. Lucy is just short for lucifer because she was one hell of a terrorist when we first brought her.
Pavel Kleiman, Bass: Our family dog is Milky, she’s the cutest ever.
Yael Horwitz, vocals: I’m hoping to adopt a dog real soon. I will most definitely name him Freddie, after my favorite singer Freddie Mercury.
Yuval Partush, Drums: Unfortunately, I don’t have any right now. I used to have a dog and her name was Jinjer.
Have you ever taken your pet on tour?
Yuval: We wish we could bring them to a single concert, let alone a tour. Maybe Pavel’s dog, which is the smallest, could be smuggled into a concert hall, but it’s gonna be way too loud for her.
Who looks after your pet while on the road?
Shani & Ofer: We either hire a doggy-sitter or send them to a vacation at their “Grandparents”.
Rotem: My wife. She will magically handle all three pets and our baby, WAY TO GO ARIELLE!
Pavel: Milky stays with my wife and three kids:)
What’s your pet’s favorite song or album?
Pavel: That’s a really good question… Milky seemed more interested when I was listening to “Child’s Play”.
Rotem: The dogs like everything, Kiwi the cat only listens to the Norwegian black metal.
Ofer: Jimi would sing along when he hears somebody singing high notes, so he prefers Yael’s voice regardless of the song. He also digs “Beast in Black” and Gamma Ray. Lucy is well into growling herself, and is a big fan of Shani’s other band, Structural. She also seems to be fond of In Flames and Arch Enemy.
Shani: But even so, she’s pretty much daddy’s girl.
How did you introduce your pet to metal?
Pavel: Her first band was Iron Maiden. I was watching a live concert and you could really see Bruce Dickinson caught her eye.
Shani: Lucy sat next to me the entire time I was practicing a Meshuggah song on the guitar.
Ofer: Maybe it’s my imagination but Jimi seemed to like it when he heard Avatar.
Rotem: I can’t put my finger on it, they’ve been hearing it since day one.
What animal charity means most to you?
Yael: It means a whole lot to us! Shani and Ofer have been vegans for many years and donate to animal charity and pro-vegan organizations. Our song “December” has a verse about human cruelty towards animals.
