Pet Sounds #62: Wolves Bassist Is Obsessed With His … You Guessed It: Cat
Earlier this month, post-rock and post-metal heathens Wolves dropped their latest record, which is self-titled but features snarky artwork referring to the effort as This Is a Record Called Self-Titled by a Band Called Wolves. Issued through Ripcord Records (whose mascot features a cat’s face), it finds the five-piece gnawing at the confines of genre with a ferocity that commands a feral-like instinct to pay attention on both carnal and cerebral levels.
Wolves, founded in 2016, consist of Mark Howes (vocals, guitar); Andrew “Beard” Rodger (guitar, vocals); Ryan Tyrrell (guitar, vocals); Andy Price (bass, vocals); and Robbie Tewelde (drums). They’re based throughout the Coventry in the Midlands County of England. If you just overlooked the fact that four of the five dudes contribute vocals, you won’t when you hear their seismic onslaught of a sound, which will reel in fans of Dillinger Escape Plan hook, link and sinker:
Incidentally, it’s not just Ripcord that’s obsessed with cats; so are the musicians who comprise Wolves. And many of their names are equally colorful and hilarious. Among Tewelde’s cats is Pharrell Williams, Howes’ cat is named Chairman Meow, (nicknamed “The Chairman” or “Mr. Bitey”). Price has one too, and in celebration of Wolves’ new, certifiably and quantifiably insane beast of a record, we invited him to participate in the latest edition of our long-running series, Pet Sounds.
What’s your Tabby’s name and what inspired you to select the name … and the cat, for that matter?
Our Tabby’s name is Tabby, and it’s mostly that because we have little to no imagination. That’s not entirely true; she’s actually named after my father-in-law’s first cat, but even that lacks a bit of imagination, if I’m honest.
How did she enter your life?
I had a cat before Tabby called Lilly (she was pure white, that lack-of-imagination thing rearing its head again …), and she unfortunately passed away after a fight with cancer. The house felt horribly empty without a cat so we were at The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals within two weeks – which, in hindsight, was a bad idea. Anyway, Lilly was quite an old cat when I got her, so this time we went looking for a young cat, so obviously we left with two 8-year-old sisters – Tabby and Megan – which proves that we really are a sucker for a sob story. Megan unfortunately passed away a few years ago. She was a lovely cat as well.
How would you describe Tabby’s personality?
She’s a total sweetheart. She’s quite old now and is going a little senile, as part of that she suffers from a little separation anxiety, she constantly wants to be with my wife or I, which is very sweet. Less so at 4 a.m., to be fair. She likes a routine and gets a little upset when the routine is disturbed, and there’s more than a little mischief in her. One of her (many) nicknames is “Slam,” because she has always been ridiculously clumsy, but she’s most definitely the fluffy little heart of our household.
Your cat has, remarkably, lived in three decades. Which one has she enjoyed the most and why?
The 2010s I think, before she had some of her healthcare issues, but she had the run of the house and two minion humans to wait on her every whim. Her favourite year though was probably 2020 – her humans were forced to stay at home with her, no escape!
Can you recall the most loving moment you experienced with Tabby?
Honestly it’s hard to answer that, if only because she’s so integral to our lives; we’re one big unit and that means the loving moments are pretty constant. When we first got her and her sister, they both kinda ‘claimed’ one of us each. Tabby spent time with my wife and largely ignored me; Megan spent her time with me. They had a somewhat combative relationship! When Megan passed away and relinquished her claim Tabby decided I was just the best thing almost immediately, which was lovely, as I was absolutely heartbroken at the time.
What’s the secret to Tabby’s long-lasting life?
Comfort, pampering and a rigorous regimen of subjugating her humans, balanced with ruling with an iron paw. She’s a firm, but fair furry dictator.
Please regale us with a few anecdotes about the most amusing moments involving your cat.
There’s so many. She’s accidentally destroyed Christmas trees, developed a game of pushing spoons and cups off the kitchen counter to get attention …
She lacks almost any killer instinct, to the point where she used to bring in slugs and when we saw her run away from aeaf she was stalking because the wind caught it and it moved …
As she’s gotten older she’s had some issues with nuggets of poop getting stuck in her fur, which she then proceeds to shake off in random places – last autumn that led to a periodic game of ‘leaf or poo?’ as well as a certain level of caution while walking around barefoot…
My wife and I got married just after we got both of the cats. The morning of the wedding my wife was already at the venue with her bridesmaids and I was at home with my groomsmen, getting ready. Tabby posed for photos – seriously, she’s in the wedding book – and then both her and her sister just disappeared. I couldn’t find either of them. I searched for ages in my wedding suit, to the point where I was going to be late, eventually I had to go. It added a level of stress to the day I hadn’t anticipated, my wife was not happy either! The next day we got home and they both sat on the sofa looking smug. The relief was real.
What do you feed Tabby?
Ha! She’s old so to be honest, pretty much anything she wants. She gets two types of wet food twice a day, plus hand shredded chicken breast – yes, I shred chicken breast for her, like a chump – alongside dry food. She usually gets treats as well, and there’s a particular treat that she loves that she has twice a day so I can get her medication into her – it’s the only thing I can be sure she’ll eat! She will usually still beg for food from me when I’m eating as well, although I’m pretty sure that’s just a power dynamic thing.
Is Tabby friendly toward strangers?
Yes, she’s pretty friendly, albeit a little nervous. She doesn’t leave the house and garden any more, mostly because she’s old but she’s also very deaf, so any visitors she sees are on her turf, which I think helps her feel safe and encourages her to be friendly.
If Tabby could speak, what question would you ask her first?
I’m just writing this, and serendipitously, I can hear my wife in the kitchen with the cat, and she just said, “Why? What do you want? You can’t surely want more food? Why are you constantly shouting? Is everything OK?”
Get your copy of Wolves’ self-titled record here.
Go here for The Bad Penny’s Pet Sounds index.
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