TRAVIS from TRAVIS by Wolfugue
A song sampling the 911 call placed by Sandra Herold, as her 200-pound pet chimpanzee Travis (who had previously appeared in television commercials and media) mauled her friend, Charla Nash, in February 2009.
Any proceeds from this release will be donated to organisations working in primate welfare, sanctuary care, and the protection of chimpanzees from captivity and exploitation.
Herold can be heard screaming for police to shoot and kill the chimp, stating, “He’s eating her!” and “He ripped her face off!” The chimpanzee was later shot and killed by a police officer after advancing toward him while badly injured.
The Travis incident later entered American true-crime folklore. Travis was previously referenced in the song “And Then She Bled” by Suicide Silence, and more recently inspired the chimpanzee subplot involving “Gordy” in Jordan Peele’s film Nope (2022). I felt that And Then She Bled did not sound monkey-like enough, so I added cuíca percussion to exaggerate the primate presence.
This is a satirical song. Following the attack, Sandra Herold reportedly attempted to acquire another chimpanzee. This track is a warning to anyone who thinks it is acceptable to drink wine with a chimpanzee, medicate it with Xanax, and attempt to domesticate a great ape as a surrogate companion.
Tracklist
| 1. | TRAVIS | 5:05 |
Credits
This work stands in opposition to the captivity of great apes and the tragic consequences of mistaking control for care.
License
All rights reserved.
An experimental music project spanning decades of sonic oddities, gritty textures, and genre-defiant mashups. Lately, Wolfugue has become the musical engine behind Stephen Prime—a self-professed Post-Truth Poet. Together, they conjure tracks that weave philosophy, dark humour, and lo-fi grit into hypnotic pulses. It's part collab, part alter ego, all vibes and no moustache.