Earlier this month TGEFM had the privilege of premiering the new single and video “Drug Bird” by Minnesota punks Toilet Rats. We also pinned down Tommy Ratz last year for a roll of the dice to talk about the upcoming Synth Redux Vol. 1. We rolled an EIGHT. (…and, full disclosure, Tommy has also done a remix of a song by one of my bands, Vempire.)
Hello Tommy Ratz (aka- Tommy Rehbein) of Toilet Rats! Thank you for giving me the time today. Our headitor Jeff rolled an EIGHT so let’s dig deep! I’m going to tear it wide open here with the Synth Redux Vol. 1 release: a handful of your best songs, a majority from the critically acclaimed 2023 album “IV,” but simpler… and synthier? Did I describe this the right way? Dish.
Thanks! It’s a companion piece to “IV” but I must emphasize it’s not a “remix” album. I completely re-worked the material as dark synthpop, with full verses, choruses, etc. The challenge: find an economical way to travel or jump on a last minute bill, but the acoustic singer-songwriter thing isn’t a good fit for what I do. So, I went down to the basement studio, nixxed all of the guitars and live drums, then rebuilt the songs from the ground up with synths and drum machines, leaning hard into the aesthetics of bands like early Human League, New Order, and all of that early Manchester stuff. To my delight, Steadfast and Sweet Cheetah offered to release it. It’ll be available at the upcoming shows in April (and beyond), and it’ll be streaming in May. The pre-order is live AS YOU READ THIS for vinyl, cassettes, and cds at Steadfast Records.
To keep with the “Synth Redux” topic, you’re living the working-class adult life with other working-class living bandmates, so your full-band line-up can’t always show up for road shows. Can you kind of talk us through a live show with a full roster versus the condensed “lite” version that is represented on the new release?
One version of the live Rats experience is a rock band ranging from 4-6 members depending who’s around. That’s really fun because I love fuzzy guitars and explosive drums, and the people who play with me are absolute gems. There’s another version of the live experience where it’s usually me + a friend and it’s like a gothy dance club party circa ’83. Sometimes it’s me and Zaq Baker (synth), or sometimes it’s me and COMPUTERMAN. Computerman is this weird hacker guy who is onstage with a Commodore 64 trying to sell NFTs to audience members and doing other stuff during the set. But let me make it clear, the nu-wave version isn’t “lite”, it’s just a different format. We don’t phone it in. We ask the sound person to play it loud and I often drag a big bass amp around for more stage volume. I’m usually down in the audience most of the time. It’s still punk rock in attitude and energy.
You had mentioned recently that, amongst the known resurgence in vinyl and physical media for indie bands, compact discs are actually something of the ideal format for the working class in our modern economy… can you elaborate on this?
We are going through a time where people are broke, so everyone is driving older cars that have CD players. By providing art in this format, Toilet Rats stand in solidarity with the working class showgoers. Also, CDs are cheap to make, so you can also sell them for a lower cost. A lot of people at shows wanna buy a physical memento and perhaps have you sign it, and you’re providing an opportunity w/out them having to dish out $25 for vinyl. But we have vinyl, too, and I’ll gladly take your $25 and re-invest it into more art.
I own a slime-green copy of “IV,” also put out by Steadfast Records. What can you tell us about your relationship and, aside from general distribution, what an indie label’s role is in the year 2024 and beyond?
I feel incredibly fortunate to work with Steadfast and Sweet Cheetah. I met Matt Traxler ages ago when my old band (Small Towns Burn A Little Slower) used to play gigs with his old band (Brandtson). We’ve kept in touch over the years. I’ll often show him stuff I’m working on because I like getting feedback from trusted ears. When I sent him the “IV” mixes, he called and offered to release it. This meant a lot because, I’m not a legacy artist and it was a risk for him. Plenty of people will pre-order a Zao or Appleseed Cast re-issue. However, releasing something by a new artist, especially with a ridiculous name, is rolling the dice. But he believes in it. I had worked with Tim at Sweet Cheetah to handle PR needs for prior projects. It turned out he and Traxler were already pals, so it made sense to join forces. In addition to PR, Sweet Cheetah has launched a label in more recent times and they’re co-releasing Synth Redux Vol. 1. We all work well as a team, amping each other up. We’re first and foremost fans of cool music and art. We share similar ethics and goals. So anyway, I’m not totally sure what a label’s role is in 2024 in a general sense, but having your team -in whatever way that looks to you- is important. You can lean on each other.
You have a whole zero degrees of separation with Motion City Soundtrack‘s Justin Courtney Pierre. Can you tell us about your friendship and history?
A lifetime ago, MCS was starting to gain traction regionally and I very briefly played Moog for them. I’m a tiny footnote in their history so let’s not get carried away. I wasn’t really sure if they were gonna make it ‘cuz at the time; (young) Justin was bouncing off the walls and Josh was quantum leaping trying to keep the band from derailing amidst unsteady line-ups and general chaos. So, I made my exit after a handful of gigs. As fate would have it, they ended up getting their shit together, got a solid line-up, and got huge. But I wasn’t part of that (although I came up with a cool Moog riff that got worked into “Don’t Call It A Comeback”). Anyway, we remained close friends. They’d let me hop in the van and tag along to SXSW or they’d play a ridiculous show in my basement and 150 people would show up. When I got my own band going, they helped a lot with advice, introductions to industry people and took us on tours as an opener. Those guys have always been good to me.
Justin and I are in many ways cut from the same weirdo cloth. We are both anxious and disorganized but highly creative and silly. Get us together on a road trip or in the studio, it’s fun pandemonium. We did a band called Farewell Continental together, made records, videos, and did a little touring. Later on in life when he made music as a solo artist, I was enlisted to produce a couple of his EPs and play in the live band. I’m also in the music video for “Firehawk.” We’ve also done some fly-out gigs with just the two of us. He’s one of my favorite people to make art with because we just get to be unhinged and laugh a lot. As we age and different responsibilities set in, the collaborations happen less often, but I know we both enjoy and admire each other’s minds.
I have good life talks with Josh. He’s a smart dude and he’ll spare you the bullshit. It’s important to have friends like that. I enjoy when we get to connect and take the dogs for a walk or go grab some food, or tinker in each other’s’ basement recording rooms.
Matt, Tony, and Jesse are super cool, too. I dunno, man, Just decades of friendship and support. What else can I say?
As a huge moog/synth collector nerd, what do you consider to be the holy grail of synth band gear? Is there a white whale synthesizer out in the wild somewhere that you’ve always dreamed of owning?
I like things that are easy to play and sound great. What I mean is, I don’t like to go menu-diving or have a bunch of wires and laptops and stuff onstage. I want to turn the thing on, tweak a few sliders, and play the song! In that sense, the Moog Rogue is an ideal synth for my live shows. It’s basic AF but it’s a classic. The Roland Juno 106 is great, too. I used to want a lot of synths, but I’m happy with what I have. It would be cool to perhaps have a vintage string synth, though. I subscribe to the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) methodology of gear. I recently bought a Korg ModWave so I don’t have to lug vintage stuff around to shows and the thing is too complicated. It’s just sitting in the corner of my basement because I don’t have the patience to program the damn thing. But if I could get JUST ONE MORE WHITE WHALE VINTAGE SYNTH, I’d like an Arp Odyssey.
As somewhat of a godfather of the modern DIY and underground Minneapolis/Twin Cities music scene, what can you tell us from deep inside the rat traps? Any up-and-coming bands that are worth a plug?
Godfather is a bit overstated, ha! Don Rat offers his protection. In no particular order here are some MPLS bands that I think are totally worth checking out: Another Heaven (doomgaze), She’s Green (dreamy shoegaze kinda Slowdive-ish), Enemy In The Sky (synthpop), Wolfbabycup (shoegaze-adjacent synthpop), Upright Forms (Angular post-punk/rock), Ghosting Merit (bedroom pop), Daisycutter (melodic hardcore), Pageant Dress (new wave), Bird Cop (hardcore punk), Mary Jam (party garage rock/punk), many more. There are like eleven million GREAT bands in MN right now.
We had a fascinating conversation once about how struggling musicians only get more talented and confident in their old age, while sadly that pendulum traditionally falls when virtually everyone around you is giving up on their creative outlets. What can you say as an aging songwriter with such a “top of your game” vantage amidst a discography of punk rock tunes about zombies and vampires?
Aside from the occasional imposter syndrome or intrusive thoughts, I just try to not listen to bullshit negative self-talk. I’m not really struggling because I literally wander down to the basement, knock out some sick jam about a cryptid, and it makes me laugh. It’s important not to take myself too seriously. Look at the band name for crying out loud. I think we creative types get into trouble when we take ourselves too seriously and forget how to have fun. Even some of the most astute creators I know have a pretty wild sense of humor. You have to. I mean, being in a band is ridiculous. Like, hi, I’m just gonna drive 7 hours and play for 25 minutes to strangers while yelling about vampires and zombies. WTF? It’s absurd. Embrace it! You don’t fit in with the normies, and chances are people who come watch you yell at some hole-in-the-wall venue don’t, either. And you’ve found each other! THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!
Synth Redux Vol. 1 coming 25 April on Steadfast Records & Sweet Cheetah Records. Preorder on digital download at the Toilet Rats Bandcamp, or on green cassette, CD, or vinyl at Steadfast.
Host of “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?,” punk rock dad, OILER from the future, oh and my biggest fears are cold poo on my face when I’m sleeping, and spiders that walk on water. Jacket enthusiast, astrological sign.
