Bands with Cats – Â Max Ley and Penny Lane
– by Cheena Jean Normandin
Your name:Â Max Ley
Your band(s) and role(s):Â No Island. Drummer. Provider of oranges for the tour van.
What’s your cat’s given name?
Penny Lane. Her friends call her, “Penna”. She doesn’t have many friends…
What’s your cat’s origin story?
Her litter was found in a cardboard box in a dumpster. The litter was given to a local shelter, and Penny was the runt of the litter.
What’s its breed?
Some might say “domestic short-hair” but she truly is a “box-cat” having been found in a cardboard box.
If your cat sees a large spider, what is her course of action?
Feigned indifference with a dash of cruelty. A slow, methodical approach leads into a manic frenzy of torturing the spider, all the while producing an extraordinarily strange clicking sound instead of meowing.
What is your cat’s theme song?
“Maneater” by Hall and Oates.
If your cat had a super power what do you think it would be?
Anything sneaky or that could help in a murder spree. Think invisibility, super speed… Basically whatever a vampire can do.
What does your cat listen to when it’s getting ready to prowl?
“In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins.
What is the most formidable feat you have ever witnessed your cat accomplish?
I once heard her hunting a mouse in the middle of the night in my washroom. I eventually collected the poor murdered mouse, and had to clean the washroom the next day of all the splattered mouse blood. I remember cleaning below the sink and seeing a streak of blood splattered on the underside of the sink. It was almost as if she had flung the mouse up and against the sink in a bizarre mouse/cat wrestling match.
What is the last thing your cat murdered?
My bare arm.
What do you think your cat does while you are asleep?
Holds court with the neighbourhood cats while simultaneously imbibing in Jack Daniels and cigarettes. When either one or both run out, so does her patience with the other cats. The poles in the neighbourhood are plastered with “missing” posters.
If your cat threw a house party, what are the top three songs cued up?
“Monster” by Kanye West.
“I’m Real (Murder Remix)” by Jennifer Lopez Feat. Ja Rule.
“Cold Hard Bitch” by Jet.
If you woke up in your cat’s body, and your cat woke up in yours in a weird Freaky Friday style switch-up, what is the first thing you and your cat would do?
I would seriously start enjoying a life of sleeping on the couch and getting adored by people just for being cute, cuddly and soft. Also, the advantages of being the local cat bully of the neighbourhood must have its perks. Penny would probably just behave as she normally does, just within my body… So you’d see a big, hairy drummer guy just laying down on couches, swatting birds out of thin hair and biting and clawing at passing ankles.
You can catch No Island May 16 at the Railway Club (north stage) with the Seattle electro-pop group HARPS and alt-folk songstress Che Aimee Dorval. Doors at 9:30, music begins at 10. Cover is $7.
You can also hear the band’s album Better Days at no-island.com.
No Island’s new album, the vintage-inspired and harmony-fuelled Better Days, was released last week and is currently available at music.no-island.com and on iTunes.
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