Clink Music Magazine | Rat Attack Interview

Rat Attack Interview

Feb 25th 2010
No Comments
respond
trackback

Interview with Charlie Gaskin of Rat Attack

Words by Ian Dickinson

Rat Attack have started 2010 with a sizable bang. If you haven’t heard Exeter’s hard rocking quartet yet you are in for a treat. Their ferocious and besieging punk rock has seen them in the BBC Maida Vale Studios recording a session for the world famous Radio 1 Punk Show with Mike Davies and a UK tour since the year began. Clink spoke with Rat Attack Guitarist, Charlie Gaskin, about thieving rodents in Amsterdam, what a Rat Attack cocktail would consist of, an anonymous dog and lots more!

So how, when and why did Rat Attack form?

We had a Hardcore band called ‘Holding Out’ with myself, Drew and James and it was fun but pretty generic and rubbish so we kicked our singer out, our bassist left and Wilson came in on bass as we wanted to play slightly more rocking stuff rather than just double speed and breakdowns

Where did the name come from? I hope there was an incident with a malevolent rodent involved.

Well James and I went to Amsterdam a few years ago and we stayed in this rather rundown hostel and when you went to go upstairs there was a drawing of a rat on the wall with ‘ATTACK’ written underneath it ‘Don’t leave food in your rooms!’ (laughs) and at first we were gonna start a reggae band and call it ‘rat attack’ but we started this and didn’t have a name so it stuck!

If Rat Attack was a drink (or a cocktail of different drinks or a combination of drinks in a row) what would Rat Attack be?

Ermmm beer, fags, Jaggermiester & Sailor Jerrys all mixed up

Who are the bands that influenced Rat Attack as a collective?

Probably The Bronx, Refused, Hope Conspiracy, old AFI

Who are the bands out there at the moment that really stand out for you?

Brutal Knights are pretty rad from Canada, and Vultures United.

There are some great UK Hardcore bands around at the moment. What makes Rat Attack different from the rest?

Well we probably consider ourselves more punk rock but just making sure we make our songs different and progressing with everything we do

If you could put together a fantasy super group who would be in it?

David Sandstrom on drums, Joe Lally on Bass, Jade Puget Guitar, Glenn Danzig on vocals.

What is the scene like in Exeter?

It’s good, but not as good as it used to be, well there’s amazing bands but more people need to come out to the smaller shows!

Do you ever feel that bands are forgotten about outside of the larger cities?

Ermm well it’s definitely harder for bands coming out of shit little places, but not as hard as if there wasn’t the internet!

Is there any particular country that you would like to tour?

We wanna tour everywhere apart from Iran and Zimbabwe

Whats the best thing about playing live/touring?

The best bit is playing live when everyone gets involved and there’s some mental piss head doing insane things and meeting loads of cool people!

What should people expect from a Rat Attack gig?

Hearing damage, soaked with beer & piss and a good time

Are you going to any festivals this summer?

Oh yeah, probably Reading festival and I would like to go to a European festival like Benicassium

Are there any plans or desires to play festivals?

For sure! Well not plans but desire

Have you started work on a follow up to This Is Art yet?

We are in the process of writing a full length right now, should be out this winter

Some bands are veering towards releasing 7s and EP instead of LPs have you got any personal preference?

Ermm well we would like to but it’s all about time and money

The cover of This Is Art is rather different compared to the usual artwork of Hardcore bands where did the idea come from and who’s dog is it?

We wanted to get something different because lots of hardcore bands are so cliché with their grainy, can’t really see what the picture is off, front covers. Sorry to disappoint you but we don’t know who’s dog it is.

The track This Is Art, what was the catalyst for this track?

Well just the fact that you can have an unmade bed put it in a gallery and call it art, which will then be worth thousands of pounds but in fact it’s all bullshit, but fair enough why would Tracy Emin or whoever stop doing it when there’s so many morons willing to pay for shit like that!

I see you have a pretty spooky video for Southern Lights. Was that filmed in the Cavern?

It was indeed

Looks like you had fun making it. What was the process like?

Yeah pretty long but it came together beautifully

Do you still think that the music video is important for bands?

Oh yeah, I think for sure! It’s good to put the music to some visuals and helps get the message of the song across more.

You did a session at Maida Vale for the Radio 1 Punk Show. How did that come about?

Yeah, well Mike Davies had played us a few times on his show and mentioned about he was thinking about having us play live on his show, and I emailed him and said yes please that would be dope, he got back to us and sent us to Maida Vale.

Did you notice the views on your Myspace page shoot up after the air play on the Mike Davies show?

Yeah we get quite a few people looking over the week, when it’s on the I-player but its on quite late so only the hardcore fans stayed up I think (laughs)

I am a fan but has anyone ever taken offense to the “Get Your Fucking Rat Out” shirt?

Yeah my girlfriend Lucy doesn’t like it and well mostly girls just don’t like it, for some reason?

Is there anything at all you want to talk about, discuss, mention. Feel free to say what ever you want.

Ermm make sure you vote in the next election because hardly any young people vote and it’s us that it affects more than anyone really. If I can quote a genius line ‘ With your silence we vote for continuation’ Dennis Lyxzen

What can we expect from Rat Attack in 2010?

Lots of tours, videos, parties and another album! x