Hello, Matt. What are the five most important facts about Cage The Elephant? You can make one or two up if you like.
Well, we haven't released our first album but we're ready to go into the studio to record our second. We are all friends from the same hometown and have known each other for years. Our bassplayer was born in a Christian hippy commune – which both my father and his father lived on. It was a cult, basically. We recorded some of the tracks from the album in our studio naked. I don't think I have any other facts to tell, other than we call Daniel Tichenor from our band 'titch' because he is the shortest guy in the band. That's all there is to us really!

What are your opinions on keeping animals in captivity?
It depends on the situation. We're pretty fortunate where I come from to have lots of countryside to let our animals run free. I'm not big on the captivity of animals unless it is in order to save a species. A house dog is happy being kept but keeping elephants or any kind of animal, they're just money making machines for whoever owns them.

Do you ever wish you'd picked a band name that took a bit less explaining?
Sometimes! Maybe I should just tell people a different story every time they ask? There were a bunch of stupid names we would always go through; we wanted to call ourselves Dixie Normous – as in dicks enormous – but that was never going to work. A name has to come to you and not just something you've forced. If you try too hard thinking of your name you end up calling your band something like 'Passionate Thunder' and something like a kids cartoon.

Coming from something of a Christian background, why do you think the Christian music scene in America exists in a way it doesn't anywhere else?
It goes back to the foundation of America; we were taught in school that the pilgrims left to escape religious oppression or whatever. Our country was founded on a strong Christian allegiance – from what happened on the mount and 'in God we trust'. It is ingrained into the people, especially where I come from, which is right in the middle of the Bible belt. We went to church every day. When we were young, me and my brother weren't allowed to listen to anything other than Christian music, even in high school. That wasn't the way for everybody, most people were normal but my parents were really hardcore into church and it wasn't until I was about 16 that I started listening to rock 'n' roll.

Last year Radiohead let their fans choose the price of their album. What would you estimate the value of your album to be?
It's up to the individual and their convictions as to what the work is worth and what it's not worth. I think it would be a bit different for young bands coming out to try something like that though, since Radiohead are already uber rich and could afford to lose a bit of money. I don't think people should pay a lot for our album, if I was to put a price on it I'd say about nine pounds.

A very Christian price. Thank you very much, Matt from Cage The Elephant.

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