Palm Ghosts Frontman Tells the Truth About Cats and Dogs

Palm Ghosts are no strangers to New Noise, and given the amount of coverage we’ve devoted to our favorite dreamy post punk group over the years, they should be no stranger to you either. Most recently, we premiered the Nashville trio’s new video for “When We Were Young and Life Was Beautiful” in anticipation of Friday’s release of their new EP, Decoder. The short-player is especially impressive given that it’s the fourth one Palm Ghosts will have issued this year alone. Moreover, that same day will mark the release of Facades, a double-album compiling all 20 songs from the four EPs into one tidy package. Like other Palm Ghosts releases, it will be issued jointly by Poptek Records and Sweet Cheetah Records.

While we here at New Noise feel fair saying we’ve done a commendable job keeping up with Palm Ghosts’ steady stream of releases, we felt it was time to switch gears and politely pry into their personal lives via our ongoing Pet Sounds series. Naturally, bassist/vocalist Joseph Lekkas happily obliged, regaling us with details and stories aplenty about Poppy, his 3-year-old female Boston Terrier; and Daniel, a 6- or 7-year-old male, part-Russian Blue, part some-kind-of-long-haired gray cat (his words).

Here’s our pet-centric conversation with Lekkas.

How did Daniel and Poppy enter into your life?

As for Daniel, my wife, Sonja, and I took a trip down to the animal shelter near where we lived. We knew some people that volunteered there, and they had a ton of cats. We weren’t necessarily going to get a cat; we went just to look. Daniel walked right up to us through a herd of some 100 or so skittish cats—some mean, some totally uninterested. He looked at me, meowed, and let me pick him up. I held him in my arms, and he closed his eyes and purred super-loudly. He basically went to sleep.

We decided that he chose us, and so we went home and called the shelter and asked to adopt him. We went back the next day and brought him home. Our eldest daughter stayed home from school to come and get him with us because she was so excited. She was probably around 5 or 6 at the time—and that was four or five years ago. Daniel came with his name. That’s what they called him at the shelter, and that’s what we stuck with.

As for Poppy, about three years ago, Sonja started looking at Boston terriers and sending me pictures over and over again. I kept saying no to a dog. I don’t particularly like dogs, to be honest. Then somehow I found myself driving out to a woman’s house an hour and a half away who breeds “champion” dog show Boston terriers. Why? Because my wife convinced me. I’m sort of a pushover. We saw all the baby Boston terriers, and we picked one. So we put down a deposit on the dog and had to wait three to four weeks for it to be old enough to bring home (separate from its mother).

Our kids came up to see the dog we were going to bring home (they were probably 7, 5, and 3 at that time). However, in the interim, the dog was crushed by another dog who slept on it, and it died. The breeder felt so bad that she gave us another dog that someone else had ended up not wanting after they had initially claimed it. So we ended up with Poppy. She got her name because our 7-year-old had made a countdown chart to keep track of how many days were left until we got our new puppy. She misspelled “puppy” as “poppy”—so we named her Poppy. I agreed to get the dog as a pet for my wife and for the kids. I would not have gotten a dog if it weren’t for their incessant nagging.

Did Daniel and Poppy click instantaneously, or did it take awhile for them to learn how to coexist?

The dog and cat got along pretty well at first–meaning the cat stayed pretty far away from the puppy, and the puppy couldn’t catch him. He would sometimes swat at her. She was so little when we got her, and she wasn’t a threat, just a nuisance. That said, she bugs the hell out of him now. Boston terriers have a lot of energy. Our cat is an outdoor cat, meaning he comes and goes as he pleases (or as we open the door for him to leave or come inside).

Whenever Daniel tries to come inside, Poppy is waiting to “greet” him with playful moves and nipping … He just runs in and jumps up to the counter where she can’t reach him. However, the two find some common ground when they’re outside. She will come over and lick him sometimes, and he will greet her and rub up against her outside. Outdoors seems to be their truce area. Truthfully, Poppy just wants to play with Daniel, but Daniel, being a cat, does not understand dog play and couldn’t be less interested.

What does a fun Poppy and Daniel tussle look like?

To follow up on that, Poppy stays on the main floor of the house and outside. Daniel has free rein to go anywhere in the house. So at nighttime, he comes to our bedroom and curls up on our bed or one of the kids’ beds. Poppy sleeps in a crate. It seems cruel, but she likes it. It’s like her own den. I will find her sleeping in there during the day sometimes, too.

We had to crate her when she was young, and she just got used to it. She goes in and goes right to sleep and sometimes doesn’t come out when we open it up in the morning. We don’t let her upstairs, because I don’t want doggie smell all over the carpeting in the bedrooms (among many, many other things). Being a dog, she gets into almost everything. Bathroom garbages where a kid left a Band-Aid and tissues from blowing their noses, etc. So no dogs on the second floor. We also got an invisible fence for her, so she can roam around the yard and chill without a (physical) fence.

Have they ever injured each other, accidentally or otherwise?

Not really. I think Daniel has scratched her a few times, but it’s very few and far between.

Does Daniel try to steal your breath from your mouth when you sleep? Does he try to do the same to Poppy?

Haha, no, but he does drool on me when I pet him at night. It will literally just drip out of his mouth while he sits on my chest. Sometimes I have to push him off to go somewhere else. He’d normally groom himself and use his paws and spit … I think the salivation is activated by a human petting him.

Does Daniel get jealous when you go out for a walk with Poppy?

No, he really couldn’t care less. He just wants to go outside—and he will normally just come along until we leave the yard … then go his own way for hours.

If Daniel and Poppy suddenly transformed into people, which would you rather spend more time with?

Having a dog is like having a toddler. So it would be fun for a minute with Poppy if she turned into a toddler, but I would rather spend time with Daniel. He doesn’t need much; he’s intelligent, and I know he’s got secrets. He’s a killer of birds, mice, etc.

Poppy is pretty funny. She follows everyone around the kitchen hoping to find scraps or that you drop something. What’s funniest is that, when any of us are sitting on the couch with a blanket—’cuz we like to cozy up—she will come over, dig at the blanket until we lift it up, and she’ll crawl under the blanket and get between our legs under the blanket and go to sleep. That is where she used to sleep when she was little and we first brought her home … She would curl up between my legs when I’d have them outstretched while sitting on a couch or lounge chair. It’s her comfy spot. She paws at you until you let her under the blanket.

But if you are wearing shorts or no pants, she will lick your legs incessantly until she falls asleep. So I always wear pants or PJ bottoms ‘cuz it’s not that awesome when she does that. Don’t get me wrong: I love her. But having a dog lick your leg incessantly is annoying if not sometimes just uncomfortable/gross. Daniel and Poppy can sit in the same room, but Daniel will take the top of the couch (behind your head) and Poppy will take the spot where you’re sitting. She’s kind of a lapdog. Daniel is not a lap cat except when you’re lying down to go to bed. Then he wants all the attention, and it’s his turn to drool on you.

What is the single most important piece of advice you would tell someone who is considering bringing a cat and a dog into their home?

If you want to ever be able to chill and not worry about another living being for a minute, don’t get a dog. That’s what cats are for. They’re super-low maintenance and pretty chill. They don’t want to hang out 24/7. Dogs never leave you alone, whether it’s for companionship or food. And if you leave them alone and go upstairs during the day to do something without them, they cry.

Also, be prepared to pick up dog shit. If your wife or kids say they’ll take care of the dog to convince you to get one, don’t believe a word she/they says/say. You’ll be doing the training ‘cuz they don’t know how. On that note, train your dog often and early—having an untrained dog is a nightmare. They need guardrails and boundaries, just like kids.

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