Former Guns N’ Roses drummer files to Japan to protest against dolphin hunt

Matt Sorum is currently holed up in a small fishing village protesting against its annual dolphin hunt. Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum has flown to Japan to join a protest against the annual dolphin hunt held in a small fishing village. Sorum arrived in the village of Taiji on Sunday (September 1), the day of the hunt, during which dolphins are rounded up into a cove before being speared by local fishermen for their meat. The Taiji hunt was the subject on an Oscar-winning 2009 documentary film called The Cove.

Speaking to Billboard shortly after watching the hunt, Sorum said: “Like a bad nightmare, I’m watching it almost like a twilight zone, surreal, looking into my eyes in complete disbelief – what’s going on in front of me.” He has also tweeted extensively about the hunt in recent days, including this message from yesterday (September 2):

“This is tragic , dolphins are stressed and one is drowning in the net. Underwater there are screams @Dolphin_Project pic.twitter.com/WRVThfmMNt”

Sorum served as Guns N’ Roses’ drummer for seven years from 1990-7 and also played alongside Slash and Duff McKagan in supergroup Velvet Revolver. He now has a new band called Kings Of Chaos.

Sorum also revealed that he is planning to organise a rock concert in Tokyo with a “celebrate the dolphin” theme. “I’m going to bring a bunch of heavyweights, big rock stars. The main thing is to get the Japanese kids,” he explained. However, the Japanese fishermen insist that the annual hunt is a village tradition and call out Western critics who eat other types of meat for being hypocritical.

Source: NME