Human members of the metal band Hatebeak spoke to Vice about the secret behind their unique sound -- a 21-year-old African Grey named Waldo. Here is a part of the Q&A with band member Blake Harrison:
What is it like collaborating with a bird? Are there animal-specific challenges?You know, there's the old Hollywood trope: "Never work with kids and never work with animals." It can be a little bit of a pain at times. Most of it is getting Waldo to relax. The mimicry is a form of play for him. So, to get him to do anything, he's got to feel comfortable. And then he kind of spouts out whatever. But he likes to bite your ear when he's on your shoulder sometimes. He likes to whistle the Andy Griffith theme song. A lot. And obviously that's cool, but it's not something I can use on a metal record. There are challenges, but I've been in tons of bands, and lead singers typically tend to have pretty big egos. I know because I sang for a band myself. So I would say it's not much different than working with a [human] lead singer because there are still challenges.
Do you put Waldo in a vocal-recording booth?
Yeah, kind of. We don't go to a studio to record this stuff—we do it in Mark's band room or a spare room. We have set up a microphone in front of him, like a studio setting, but it's not really a vocal booth. With modern recording technology, it's a lot easier to get stuff done than it used to be. So it's not like we have to put him in there with a bottle of Jack Daniels and whatever else, like—
A pair of tiny headphones?
Right, no headphones, no pop-screen. That's a funny image, but we don't really have to do that.
