19 Jan 22nd-Jan 28th, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Herding Cats New rescue founded by local heavy metal rocker and his wife. BY TOM REARDON I f you watched Valley musician Rich Fourmy roll through a strip mall parking lot on his Harley, you might not assume he was heading to the pet store to grab the latest and greatest cat toy. In fact, after seeing the heavily bearded and thoroughly tattooed fifty-something- year-old dude, you might never conclude that he was responsible, along with his wife Irma “Squirmy” Fourmy, for making sure over 400 cats and kittens have gotten new homes since 2019. Recently, on January 10, the Fourmys, along with Rich’s band, Pelvic Meatloaf, celebrated the birth of their nonprofit orga- nization, AzCat Rescue Corp, and 35 years of Pelvic Meatloaf being one of the Valley’s heaviest bands, with a show at The 44. A total of just over $3,000 was raised to support the new organization. “We lived in this apartment, and there were all these feral cats running around. We started feeding them about four of them, and within a year, there were 35 or 40 cats running around. The landlord was not happy about it,” says Fourmy, going back to the beginning. According to Fourmy, it all started with a cat they called “Tommyboy.” “I befriended the main tomcat (who became “Tommyboy”). He was impreg- nating all the ladies, and kittens were exploding like roaches. It was nuts, so we had to get Tommyboy neutered and started working our way down the line,” says Fourmy, who added that Tommyboy was sitting on his lap as we spoke. Apparently, the rock and roller is more like a plush toy than a heavy metal frontman. “My husband is a huge softy when it comes to animals, especially cats. He kept bringing strays & ferals home & taking them to the vet and fostering them until he could find them a good home. The costs just got so high that we decided to start this nonprofit, so the nonprofit will write off some of the expenses, and hopefully serve more cats,” says Squirmy Formy. The couple continued to take care of the neighborhood cats, bringing as many of them into their home as they could, caring for them, and reaching out to their network of friends in the community to find the kitties new homes. “We would tame them, work with them and make them adoptable and get them homes. We started doing that a few years ago, and it kind of turned into a pretty full- time thing, so we just filed for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit so we can do it on a little bit of a grander scale. We just want to help more animals,” says Fourmy. Fourmy has been the frontman for Pelvic Meatloaf since the band’s inception in 1990. He remembers starting the band as a prank on his former high school a year after he graduated. “They would have bands play at lunch- time during spirit week, so I called them up and told them I had a band and we wanted to play,” says Fourmy. Once the school said yes, Fourmy called some friends who had instruments, and a band was formed. “We put on some masks, made some noise until they kicked us out. People thought we sucked so bad,” says Fourmy. Over the next few years, though, Fourmy and his friends started taking things a bit more seriously and if you listen to any of Pelvic Meatloaf’s four full-length releases between 1995 and 2013 and additional singles (including a 2024 single, “Nonconformist” featuring valley resident Roger Miret of Agnostic Front), it is easy to see how the band advanced from masked pranksters to one of Phoenix’s best bands. “We started as a bunch of friends that just liked hanging around, making noise, and drinking beer together. It just kind of stuck around like that. We had the chemistry thing before we had talent, you know, and along the way, we learned how to play. I love that I still get to do this with some of my best friends,” says Fourmy. Most of the current lineup of Pelvic Meatloaf, according to Fourmy, have been playing together for about 25 years. Guitarist Byron Filson, who owns Villain Recording and played in local legends N17, joined the band in 1991. In addition to Fourmy and Filson, drummer John Ogle and bassist Kelly Moore have decades under their belt in the band, as well. The lone newcomer, Mark Fowler, also plays the guitar. The band had something special planned for the show as well. “My whole life though I’ve always wanted a vinyl and we’re finally putting out a vinyl album for this show with just a limited run of 100 copies, but it’s gonna have 11 tracks that we never released from all the way back from songs that we wrote in 1990 all the way up until our newest one that we just recorded,” says Fourmy. The title of the album is “MCMXC - MMXXV,” and it includes a booklet, as well, featuring 12 pages of pictures and band history. “The cover features cavemen and dino- saurs to show how old we are,” says Fourmy with a laugh. Pelvic Meatloaf has always been a band that didn’t take itself too seriously, except when it came to the music and putting on a good show. Now, Fourmy and his wife, Squirmy, have another big project to focus on with the formation of AzCat Rescue Corp, and according to them, events like the one on January 9 will happen from time to time, as well. “Vet bills, you know, they stack up really fast, and it gets crazy. We’ve been doing it all out of pocket for years,” says Fourmy before Squirmy added with a laugh: “I’d like to rescue kitties full-time at some point. As long as I can afford to have someone else clean the litter boxes.” ▼ Music
