2006-Matthew ShultzVocals2006-
Lincoln ParishLead guitar2006-2013
Brad ShultzRhythm guitar2006-
Daniel TichenorBass, vocals2006-
Jared ChampionDrums, percussion2006-
Nick BockrathGuitar, keyboards2017-
Matthan MinsterGuitar, keyboards2017-
You wouldn't guess it from their indie rock sound, but Cage The Elephant formed in Bowling Green, Kentucky. After being discovered at the 2007 South-by-Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, they signed with the UK label Relentless Records and relocated to England, where they built a fanbase and released their self-titled debut album in 2008. That album earned them a US record deal with Jive, which issued it there in 2009. That year, they moved back to America.
The band have made up different stories about how they got their name, sometimes saying it came from a fortune teller and other times from a strange man with a shaved head. We spotted another explanation early in their career on their MySpace site, which is probably true but not something they wanted to keep repeating in interviews. They said the band's name comes from Indian Hindu philosophy where the elephant is the symbol of strength and goodness.
They explained: "It's strong and it's honest and it's loyal. And our name kind of stands for people, the whole of society, the people we all are by nature – it seems like people want to cage the elephant. It seems like they want to cage all the good in the world. It's not just the government or the media, it's everywhere. But you turn on the news and hear 'today 26 people got gunned down, and one guy got his head chopped off, and here's a picture of it. It's like there's no hope, and somebody's caged the elephant. But you can't do that."
In 2011, Cage the Elephant drummer Jared Champion's appendix suddenly burst while the band was on tour in support of the Foo Fighters. Champion required immediate attention and was forced to miss several of Cage the Elephant's shows. Luckily, Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl stepped in and played the drums in Champion's absence.
Cage the Elephant's song "Shake Me Down" features drummer Jared Champion playing on a set of toy drums. The guitar riff of the song was taken from a different song written by bassist Daniel Tichenor's father. The bass line of the song was inspired by The Shins.
One of Cage the Elephant frontman Matthew Shultz's favorite books is Of Mice and Men. Shultz says the book is "so sad yet so beautiful." The singer also likes reading Jack Kerouac, C.S. Lewis, and fellow musician Leonard Cohen's poetry.
When talking about his brother and fellow band mate Matthew Shultz, Cage the Elephant guitarist Brad Shultz says "he loves to push boundaries." This includes stage antics such as painting his whole body red, wearing skimpy underwear onstage, and swinging off chandeliers when possible. Shultz says when the band played in England, his brother's confrontational stage presence "scared some people away."
Cage the Elephant band mates and brothers Matthew and Brad Shultz grew up in a very religious household in Kentucky. The family didn't have a lot of money but they went to church together every Sunday. Guitarist Brad Shultz says their dad played Christian music in their lifetime but was also in a rock 'n' roll band before that.
Cage the Elephant lead singer Matthew Shultz played football in high school but quit because his mother started dating the coach. After his parents were divorced, Shultz moved into a trailer with brother and band mate Brad Shultz and the two began writing songs to pass the time. When the boys played in a talent show together and came in second, they realized they had something worth pursuing.
Matthew Schultz likes playing chess. "I'm always challenging our roadies to chess matches and also other band's roadies to chess matches," he told Spinner. "I play Risk, too. I guess that's kind of nerdy."
Brad and Matthew Shultz have been writing songs together since they were young. Matthew Shultz told American Songwriter magazine: "We didn't grow up in a financially stable household, so there wasn't much money - there was no money, really - so we'd write songs or do other things like that to keep ourselves entertained when we were younger. We started a band and started really writing songs when we were about 13."
Asked during a Reddit AMA about his lyric writing process, Matt Shultz replied: "Usually it starts with a random stream of consciousness and once I figure out what I'm trying to say, I then try to narrow it down to a specific item/sentiment."
Matt Shultz had a scary psychotic breakdown in 2020 that was triggered by his ADHD meds. For the next few years, he suffered delusions, a feeling that someone "hijacked my mind." He finally got treatment in 2023 after he was
arrested for possessing illegal firearms. He spent nearly three months in a hospital and more in an outpatient program. The band's songs "
Neon Pill" and "
Beaches In Tennessee" deal with his psychosis and treatment.
