Bands with animals in them?

January 13, 2016 9:35 AM

Please tell me about bands (or one-off projects) who have one or more animal members, or composers who use animals in their compositions. Especially interested in animals performing/touring live, but purely recorded animals are okay too.

I realize this is a goofy question, but I'm asking as broadly as possible and am looking for serious answers. For instance, compositions determined or instruments controlled by animal behavior. I can't think of any but I'm sure there are some.

Thanks!

posted by hapticactionnetwork to Media & Arts (16 answers total)

Best answer: Seeing Tuna and the Rock Cats was one of the highlights of 2015 for me.
posted by slenderloris at 9:42 AM on January 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: OK, here's a one-off from the world of classic rock: The only live version of Pink Floyd's Mademoiselle Nobs (originally titled "Seamus", from the album Meddle).

From the above's YT description: "This version on the "Live at Pompeii" film released in 1972 was named after the Russian Wolfhound named Nobs, which belonged to Madonna Bouglione, the daughter of circus director Joseph Bouglione.

This version is minus the lyrics, Nobs provides the vocals, David Gilmour plays harmonica, Roger Waters plays David's Stratocaster, and Richard Wright is on keyboards."
posted by mosk at 9:43 AM on January 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Hatebeak, featuring an African Grey parrot.
posted by Ampersand692 at 9:44 AM on January 13, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Pit bull grindcore, Caninus.
posted by marshmallow peep at 10:05 AM on January 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Thai Elephant Orchestra
Jingle Cats (sorry)
posted by stefanie at 10:11 AM on January 13, 2016

Best answer: Birds play electric guitars.
posted by gregr at 10:20 AM on January 13, 2016

Best answer: Meow the Jewels!
posted by Maecenas at 10:29 AM on January 13, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Does performing with pre-recorded/synthesized cat sounds ok?
posted by mikepop at 10:33 AM on January 13, 2016

Best answer: Lil Bub just released an album.
posted by mollywas at 11:45 AM on January 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Royal Quiet Deluxe? MeFi Music link
posted by Hoopo at 11:49 AM on January 13, 2016

Chumbawamba used to count their dog as a member for the purposes of sharing band income, not sure what its contribution was though
posted by runincircles at 12:05 PM on January 13, 2016

Best answer: Bernie Krause recorded an album called Gorillas in the Mix in the late '80s. Every sound on it comes from an animal.
posted by kindall at 12:06 PM on January 13, 2016

Best answer: Birds on the Wires
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:26 PM on January 13, 2016

Didn't someone once do Flight of the Bumblebee using the sounds of actual bees?
posted by themanwho at 8:13 PM on January 13, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks everyone these are all great! Special thanks to slenderloris because Tuna and the Rock Cats are performing near me this weekend, now I'm going to go see them.
posted by hapticactionnetwork at 9:52 AM on January 14, 2016

Have fun! (I hope you were able to tell from the website that they don't really play "music," per se. It's still awesome.)
posted by slenderloris at 11:02 AM on January 15, 2016