{"id":1300,"date":"2010-12-27T11:29:24","date_gmt":"2010-12-27T18:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=1300"},"modified":"2014-08-01T20:52:57","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T03:52:57","slug":"cage-the-elephant-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/?p=1300","title":{"rendered":"Cage the Elephant Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Cage The Elephant is a young five-piece from Bowling Green, KY, \u00a0<\/strong>Matt Shultz<\/strong> (vocals), Brad Shultz<\/strong> (guitar), Daniel Tichenor <\/strong>(bass), Lincoln Parish<\/strong> (guitar) and Jared Champion<\/strong> (drums). They accumulated 80 songs worth of ideas during a 2-year period touring around the globe and living abroad in England supporting their eponymous debut album. \u00a0As they began sorting through their arsenal of songs, they returned to Kentucky to record album two.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We had the good fortune of catching up with members Lincoln Parish and Daniel Tichenor prior to a performance at the 2010 Voodoo Festival in New Orleans.\u00a0 They are currently promoting the upcoming album, Thank You Happy Birthday<\/em>, to be released January 11, 2011, and their new single Shake Me Down.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>:\u00a0 I appreciate you guys taking the time to talk to me. \u00a0I was interested in you guys because I\u2019m from Clarksville, Tennessee which is very close to your hometown of Bowling Green.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lincoln Parish<\/strong>: Yeah an hour away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: The local connection. I know you guys have the new album coming out soon, Thank You Happy Birthday<\/em>. What\u2019s the story behind the title?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: There\u2019s not one I don\u2019t think.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Daniel Tichenor<\/strong>: Not one. We just couldn\u2019t\u2026 I just think titles at times are\u2026 I don\u2019t think they\u2019re really necessary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I hate titles.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: But your last one was self-titled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: It\u2019s one thing if you\u2019re doing a concept album.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: But we were asked to come up with a title. So\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Amy<\/strong>: Was it somebody\u2019s birthday?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: There\u2019s gonna be a picture of a cupcake on the front of the album cover.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Like Cake?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: We don\u2019t know yet but it will be my proposed idea.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: You guys have been touring with STP right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Yeah we did for about a month.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Were you guys there when Scott fell off the stage in Cincinnati?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Yeah we were. I didn\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: That was a crazy night. That stage is really high. It\u2019s like six feet tall. I think that usually the speakers are right up on the stage and he\u2019ll jump on them and go out and sing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Yeah, they usually build a platform but I think they didn\u2019t think he was going to go over that far. And he did. He expected it to be there and it wasn\u2019t. He kept singing though.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: He did. I talked to the security people the next week and they\u00a0talked about pulling him\u00a0out of the wires and they said he was pretty beat up. They said he sang the whole time. The band didn\u2019t even miss a beat. I think if you\u2019re lead singer fell off you guys might look for him right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tichenor<\/strong>: The thing is when you\u2019re playing you\u2019re really not paying attention. If somebody\u2026 If something happened to someone in the band you really don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: You really wouldn\u2019t notice for a while?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I\u2019ve fallen off a couple times.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: Yeah, Lincoln has fallen off and I didn\u2019t even know he fell off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: You just keep going. I guess the only person who can\u2019t fall off is really the drummer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: If he falls off, we\u2019ve got big problems.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Have you guys been here just today? Were you here yesterday?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: We got in yesterday afternoon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Did you catch any of the shows?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: No<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: We had rehearsal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: We had rehearsal. We haven\u2019t played in a couple weeks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: What\u2019s your favorite track on the new album and why?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Mine\u2019s probably Indie Kids<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: And why?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know. I just like it. There are a lot of different elements I like about it. But it\u2019s got a cool vibe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Do you guys write most of the music?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both<\/strong>: Yeah we write all of it. We write together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy:<\/strong> And you do it together in the same room? I know a lot of bands write separately then they come together to put it all together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I mean sometimes there might be an idea that starts off where there\u2019s one person who has a guitar rift or a melody idea or something but usually\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: You\u2019re all together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: It\u2019s all collective.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The band actually locked themselves away in a remote Kentucky cabin and, after just two weeks, emerged with Thank You, Happy Birthday, <\/em><\/strong>a set of songs that blasts through your speakers with ferocity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: So you\u2019re still friends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Yeah for the most part.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: I think my favorite song would be our first single that we\u2019re going to release. It\u2019s called Shake Me Down<\/em>. The reason I like it is because I\u2019m kind of glad it\u2019s going to be our first single because when it comes out people are going to be really surprised.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: It\u2019s a lot of growth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: So how is it different? I loved the first album In One Ear\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Maturity and growth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: It sounds a lot different. I mean you can still tell it\u2019s us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Do you guys have any ballads?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: There\u2019s quite a few. It\u2019s all singing harmonies and\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: It\u2019s singing, harmonies and reverb. I love reverb.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: The first album was more talky. This one\u2019s singier.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Well there are some songs on this new record that are a lot heavier than the first record. Then there are some songs that are a lot softer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: It\u2019s a big mix.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although Cage The Elephant<\/strong> has sold more records than most recent bands on their debuts, they have engaged in indulgences that took them off track and battled their share of demons and creative doubts. Their adversities forced them to take a fresh approach with their new album, and their lives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: So when you guys are touring, what do you miss about home? You guys live in Kentucky when you\u2019re not touring, right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Nashville<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: I miss my bed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: It\u2019s like the simple things.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: Bed and some isolation. Sometimes you just want to do your own thing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: It\u2019s kind of cool to have a little bit of stability for a little bit. Day to day kind of stuff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: I hear that a lot from people. They just like doing their laundry and doing normal things they can do at home versus on the road where everything is hard. You have to find logistically where we are going to eat. Are we washing our clothes in the sink today?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: You have to get in your car and drive with stuff like that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: So how long have you guys lived in Nashville?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I\u2019ve been there for about a year and half.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tichenor<\/strong>: Two years<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Which part of town do you live in?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I live in West End.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: I\u2019m in Germantown. It\u2019s cool. It\u2019s nice. It has that small town vibe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: People are nice but there\u2019s tons of music. Doesn\u2019t it blow you away with all the talented musicians that are there that are never going to make it? It\u2019s kind of depressing. They are super talented.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I have a friend who works at Trader Joe\u2019s now on the side. He was in a band called Warrior Soul<\/em>. After he quit Warrior Soul<\/em>, he went on to write an album with the guy from Ministry<\/em> and went on to do a lot of other stuff. But he\u2019s working at Trader Joe\u2019s now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Do you guys play locally there a lot?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: We haven\u2019t played Nashville in over a year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: Our booking agent is very selective of when we play. You don\u2019t want to overdo it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>:\u00a0 There was one point and time where we played Nashville like every weekend for a while.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: I think it depends on where you\u2019re at and what you\u2019re doing and promoting. If you weren\u2019t playing music, what would you be doing?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: I worked at Lowe\u2019s. So I\u2019d still probably be working at Lowe\u2019s and hating life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I don\u2019t really know what I would be doing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: I think it\u2019s cause we started so young. There\u2019s no telling what we would do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I don\u2019t know. I really don\u2019t<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: This is all you ever wanted to do?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: It\u2019s hard to even like imagine not doing music. Even if the band was to break up now I still feel like I would do something in music.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: At least try. There\u2019s somebody you can always play with.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I think if you really love it, you\u2019ll always do it no matter what.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: So how do you define success?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: If you\u2019re content with the happenings of your life then you could be considered a success. There\u2019s stuff from the outside that could be considered success, but if you\u2019re not happy at the end of the day then what\u2019s the point of doing it. That\u2019s the way I see it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Most people don\u2019t say money, fame, or fortune. It\u2019s usually about family or just being happy or love playing music.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: If you\u2019re happy and content with what you\u2019re doing, that\u2019s success to me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Obviously the record\u2019s coming out\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: January 11th<\/sup><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Are you going to support it with a tour? Do you have anything line up yet?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: We don\u2019t really know what we\u2019re doing after it comes out. It\u2019s kind of up in the air right now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: We\u2019re definitely going to be promoting it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: I\u2019m hoping you guys come through Cincinnati and are at Rock on the Range next year?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Hopefully, we\u2019ll get back over to Europe right when it comes out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: You guys lived there for a while right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Yeah<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Did you like it?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: London\u2026 I liked it. It\u2019s a different pace. It was all new to us.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: At the time it was kind of weird. We didn\u2019t really know what to think about it. But now looking back, I miss it a lot.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: It\u2019s uncomfortable a little bit. You\u2019re out of the country. But when you get back and you reflect on it\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: It\u2019s good life experience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>:\u00a0 But then you miss the little stuff. The kebab shops.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Exactly, I miss the accent from London. I think they have the best accent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish:<\/strong> I have an English wife.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: So that was your souvenir from the trip?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: It\u2019s so weird. I had a girlfriend from England and you get so used to that accent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: I don\u2019t have a huge southern accent but a lot of people who aren\u2019t from the U.S. think the southern accent is similar to the English accent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Every time we go to Chicago, for some reason in Chicago everybody thinks we sound so southern but I guess we do have the accent maybe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: A teeny bit. Any guilty pleasures?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: That\u2019s not too guilty<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: I think he likes that Bulletproof <\/em>song by LaRoux<\/em>. I don\u2019t mind that song either.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor<\/strong>: There you go. That\u2019s our guilty pleasure, LaRoux<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy:<\/strong> Is there anything else you guys want to say or promote? You talked about the first single. When\u2019s it going to hit the radio?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tichenor:<\/strong> Shake Me Down <\/em>in a couple weeks around Thanksgiving time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: I\u2019ve been listening to your other stuff for so long. I\u2019m ready. I\u2019m sure you guys are ready to play something new right?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish:<\/strong> The first album was like four years ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: Are we going to hear new stuff today?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parish<\/strong>: Yeah, we are actually going to play the new single tonight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amy<\/strong>: I look forward to it.\u00a0 Thank you so much.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When the band played Voodoo Fest later that day after my interview on the main stage they proved to be one of the highlights of the day. Lead singer Matt Schultz was electric and did more stage diving than I had seen in a long time into their devoted legions of fans. At one point he even climbed up the scaffolding surrounding the sound booth and dove directly into the crowd. His Superman stunts and the band\u2019s rebellious sing along lyrics got everyone excited for the second day of Voodoo Fest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget to checkout their new album, Thank You Happy Birthday<\/em>, in stores January 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cage The Elephant is a young five-piece from Bowling Green, KY, \u00a0Matt Shultz (vocals), Brad Shultz (guitar), Daniel Tichenor (bass), Lincoln Parish (guitar) and Jared Champion (drums). They accumulated 80 songs worth of ideas during a 2-year period touring around the globe and living abroad in England supporting their eponymous debut album. \u00a0As they began […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[570],"tags":[572,1720,573,575,574,571,577,576,158],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1300"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1302,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1300\/revisions\/1302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefirst3songs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}