“I really wanted a cat. Truth be told I’m a bit of a boring cat person, but my boyfriend is highly allergic. So obviously, the natural progression was to get a lizard. We drove all the way to Tauranga to pick her up. She was tiny and just fit in the palm of my hand.
“Her name is Kanda, like Panda. She is named after our favourite visual artist Jesse Kanda, so it was a bit of an ode to him. He’s worked a lot with Bjork (the visual for Utopia is his work) doing these really grotesque, malformed, sort of 3-D animated people and creatures that are kind of morbid.
“We recently gave her a slug to eat and the slug slimed up her face and she started choking. She’s a measly little being unfortunately; she wouldn’t have a chance in the wild. Obviously, we’re looking after her well and we keep her warm and well fed, but there is also part of me that knows it’s a selfish desire to have a pet.
“I feel more emotionally attached to her than I had initially expected. Sometimes I have bad dream that she gets hurt and it makes me feel guilty. I feel an obligation to protect her and look after her. She’s relatively helpless and quite slow and can’t really fend for herself. I do feel this sense of motherhood towards her. I’ve definitely fallen in love with her. I wouldn’t change her for the world, she’s very sweet.”
• October will be touring the country in the spring, playing four dates in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
