Cage the Elephant

Published 11:16 am Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Drummer Jared Champion has described Cage The Elephant as a mix of grunge, rock n roll and punk. 

The band burst onto the scene in the UK after being noticed by an English producer at SXSW in 2007.

Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked off their self titled debut album became their first hit – Top 40 in UK and placing on several Billboard charts including: #92 on Hot 100; #3  Alternative Songs chart and #8 on their Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.  The song also was the featured iTunes free download of the week in April 2009, was performed live on David Letterman in August 2009 and was featured on the Borderlands video game trailer in October 2009.

Lead singer Matt Shultz has been compared to Mick Jagger for his stage presence on more than one occasion.  The group was heavily influenced by late 60’s and early 70’s music from the beginning.  Likewise their PR from the start linked them to wild sex and drugs and rock n roll rebellion as a reaction to a strict religious upbringing.  Videos, blogs and articles are readily available where the group discusses their wild side. 

Their last.fm bio for example describes Matt Shultz as “an Axl meets Iggy savior”, quotes Brad as saying “Our parents were kind of Jesus-freaks.  At first they were like a bunch of hippies, and then they found God when they were on Acid, and became really hardcore Christians”; and concludes “Like other holy-rollers before them, Cage The Elephant signed their pact with the devil and haven’t looked back. These trailblazing hell raisers have clocked up over 50 convictions between them in their home town Bowling Green.”

Cage the Elephant has always been supportive of other local bands.  In the summer of 2009 they set up a show at Mercy Lounge in Nashville: Cage the Elephant Presents: BOWLING GREEN INVASION with: Sleeper Agent, The Merlins, Downtown Handshake, Thee Japanese School Girls, Canago, The Karmadons, Natty Bumpoe w/ DJ WICK-IT, Lee Harvey, Mc’D by Big Fella, and Dirty D and DJ Sets by Cage the Elephant and Autovaughn. 

In 2010 they had several of these bands back as well as national acts when they helped secure bookings for the Bowling Green’s Starry Nights Music Festival.  At the festival they performed as well as served as backing band for Daniel Webster.  Sleeper Agent joined them on tour at the end of the year and for several shows in 2011.

Members:

• Matt Shultz – vocals [Cage the Elephant, Perfect Confusion]
• Brad Shultz – guitar [Cage the Elephant, Perfect Confusion]
• Daniel Tichenor – bass [Cage the Elephant]
• Lincoln Parish – guitar [Cage the Elephant, The Dirty Lie]
• Jared Champion – drums [Cage the Elephant, Perfect Confusion]

Previous Members:

• David Kem – bass [Perfect Confusion]
• Thomas Bullen – lead guitar (2001-2006) [Sleeper Agent, Perfect Confusion]

Discography:

• Cage the Elephant: Thank You Happy Birthday (2010)
• Cage the Elephant: Cage The Elephant (2007)

Affiliations: Label Relentless/DSP, United Kingdom, Perfect Confusion (evolved from)

Influences: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Beatles, Ramones, Led Zeppelin, Chuck Berry, Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Pixies

Trivia:

• Matt and Brad are brothers.
• In 2010, 14 year old Daniel Shultz, brother of Matt and Brad formed his own band, Peace of Mind.
• After signing with DPS in the U.S., they recorded their album in Nashville in just ten days with producer Jay Joyce
• Name origin – In Indian philosophies, the elephant is a symbol of strength and goodness. The Hindu god of wisdom, Ganesh, has an elephant’s head. “It’s strong and it’s honest and it’s loyal. And our name kind of stands for people, the whole of society, the people we all are by nature — it seems like people want to cage the elephant. It seems like they want to cage all the good in the world. It’s not just the government or the media, it’s everywhere. But you turn on the news and hear ‘today 26 people got gunned down, and one guy got his head chopped off, and here’s a picture of it. It’s like there’s no hope, and somebody’s caged the elephant. But you can’t do that.”
• Cage the Elephant grew out of the band Perfect Confusion which featured David Kem – Bass, Matt Shultz – Vocals, Thomas Bullen – Left hand guitar, Brad Shultz – Right hand guitar and Jared Champion – Drums & Percusion.  Perfect Confusion formed in 2001 and released one self titled album at the end of 2004 before reforming as Cage The Elephant.
• All five band members graduated from Greenwood High
• Though the name origin above was given to the Amplifier at the time the band changed from Perfect Confusion to Cage The Elephant, in 2010 stories began to appear in national and international publications citing the origin of the name as being a unhinged person running up to Matt shouting “You have to cage the elephant, you have to cage the elephant”. (Spin: Why They’re called… Cage the Elephant)
• Their first album garnered comparisions to the Pixies, Beck, Nirvana and the White Stripes but Lincoln Parrish told guitar world that the main influences at the time of writing it were Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

Off Site Articles:

• Spin March 2011 – At Home with Cage the Elephant’s Matt Shultz (video)
• Spin November 2010 – Cage the Elephant chats with Spin at Voodoo Fest (video)
• USA Today July 2010 – Cage the Elephant stampedes to fame
• Rolling Stone August 2009 – Breaking: Cage the Elephant