Exotic Animal Petting Zoo

Exotic Animal Petting Zoo is an experimental/progressive rock/mathcore band from Crown Point, Indiana that was formed in 2004 by brothers Brandon Carr and Stephen Carr. Their initial sound combines the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Smashing Pumpkins, Deftones, and Sigur Rós. They recorded a 5-song EP of different musical styles while in search of a bass player able to play them all. Scott Certa was recruited for bassist in '05 and played local shows around the region.

They recorded a 5-song EP of different musical styles while in search of a bass player able to play them all. Scott Certa was recruited for bassist in '05 and played local shows around the region. It wasn't until the spring of 06' when the band recorded their first 4-song EP which got them opening up for national acts such as Kaddisfly (Sub City Records), As Blood Runs Black (Mediaskare Records) and Brazil (Immortal Records). With the growing number of online music communites, Exotic Animal Petting Zoo were quickly turning heads all over the country, eventually capturing the attention of Mediaskare Records, which later signed them to their label.

Exotic Animal Petting Zoo recorded their first full-length debut record I Have Made My Bed In Darkness released in August 2008 and has gained huge attention immediately creating a universal sound appealing to most everyone, but still in genres including mathcore/ambient/progressive rock because of their technical riffs, downtempo songs and time signature changes. In October 2008 the band was invited by Fear Before The March Of Flames to do a fall tour entitled Dudestorm Part Deux also featuring I Am The Ocean and Dameira. Steve Radakovich joined the band as their new guitarist on this tour giving the band a new and inventive element to their sound. After Exotic Animal Petting Zoo and Loom toured in October 2009, things quickly started to fall apart. EAPZ returned home with no money or a place to live only to head back out on the road on a DIY run of dates to try to make a profit. This allowed EAPZ to rent a practice space, which they also lived in, and begin to refocus on the band. The band then heads out on another tour and is forced to bang on their instrument cases on the street to make gas money and ultimately part ways with their guitar player Steve Radakovich.

Exotic Animal Petting Zoo then returns to playing as a three-piece and still find more problems. Low on cash (and morale), the band is on the verge of breaking up until they get a random call from an interested musician and add guitarist Jeff Zampillo to their ranks. The band quickly connects with Jeff and their writing reaches new peaks. The band is finally ready to return to the studio and begin work on their next record, but total their car (full of equipment) during a treacherous drive through a snowstorm between their homes in Indiana and the studio in Portland that they were set to record at.

The band manages to escape the accident unscathed and finally make it to Portland; commencing work on what would become ?Tree of Tongues'. What you hear is channeled aggression and a band that reaches new heights on this truly epic album. It is a story of survival and, for Exotic Animal Petting Zoo, a form of catharsis. Their second album Tree of Tongues was originally set to be released April 24, 2012 but was pushed back to May 8th, then to June 19th, and finally to July 17th when it was finally released.