Chad Ernest Chapin (born June 11, 1975) is an American drummer. He was the drummer of the Christian rock band Tait with his older brother Lonnie Chapin, who played bass guitar.
Chad and Lonnie were raised in a musical and Christian family in Bend, Oregon. When Chad was a young boy, he saw "The Animal" Muppet by Jim Henson's The Muppet Show and decided that was what he wanted to do—play the drums. That is how he got his nickname, "The Animal" and also why he has a picture of "The Animal" muppet on his drum set.
Chad has been friends with Michael Tait since they met in 1996. They've played together since then and that evolved into TAIT. He is married to Teryn Koloff.
Chad is currently the touring Stage Manager and tambourine player for Ben Folds. His part of the show usually consists of him walking back and forth across the stage while shaking the tambourine in songs such as Landed, Losing Lisa, and Effington. He also appears in the DVD that was released alongside Way to Normal called "Normal People Do It Too" both playing the tambourine and the synths, as well as interviews. During which he claims that Folds had a dream of him playing the tambourine during a show, and so he did so during a later show, and "Tambo-Man" was born. There is also a YouTube series of "Tambo-Tips" which currently only has one episode.