INTERVIEW MONSTRE - CIVIL RATS : "...I guess it’s too on-the-nose to say “Ratatouille”
Cela fait toujours plaisir quand des groupes nous contactent. Cette fois le mail venait de Philadelphia. Les Civil Rats viennent de sortir "Get Outta Here!" et ont répondu aux questions de notre Interview Monstre.
Taste question: Which artists have influenced you the most, and what can you tell us exemples about this influence? Who is the artist you dislike and why will he/she never influence you?
We have a wide range of musical tastes, but as far as influence goes, we take a cue from bands that perfect simple, straightforward punk- the Ramones and Wimps come to mind as two of the more directly impactful artists on our writing. I won’t name artists we dislike because we don’t want to bring that negativity into our lives, but we will never, ever go ska. Especially 3rd wave ska.
Intellectual question: Which 'non-musical artist (filmmaker, writer, painter...) played an important role in the way the band evolved...
We’ve bonded over the film “Moonstruck” on multiple occasions. I wouldn’t say this film shaped our music, but it certainly cemented our friendship and made me realize Dale and Isaac are the two most perfect people to be in a band with, if only for our mutual ability to quote “I ain’t no freakin’ monument to justice!”
History question: Can you sum up the life of your group?
We formed in late 2021 and started playing shows in the spring of 2022. Since then, we’ve released two EPs and one LP, started a cassette label, visited two cryptozoology museums, and drank entirely too many shots of tequila to count.
Champollion question: What is the meaning of the band's name?
Dale just thought it was really stupid, and really funny because of how stupid it was. That’s kind of our vibe.
Buddy question: Who has helped you most in your band's adventure and without whom you wouldn't have had the same evolution?
Wow, that’s a loaded question and I feel like I’m inevitably going to forget someone, so I’ll just say the local scene in general. As large as Philadelphia is, it’s a very small scene in which everyone knows everyone else. And even if you don’t know someone, you can probably find a common link very easily, like their cousin’s best friend’s sister went to your high school or your former band played with their former band 10 years ago at a bowling alley. So making these natural friendships over the years, everyone helps everyone out and that mutual support has enabled us to keep going all these years.
We nicknamed ourselves Civil Flats, because we got two flat tires in a very short amount of time. One was coming home from a show in New York City around 3 a.m. We were about 60 miles from home and had to make it on a spare tire that wasn’t supposed to exceed 40 m.p.h. A couple months later, in a different car, we had just finished a weekend tour in New England and got another flat as we were on the way home. We had a rental car and ended up having to drive to Newark Airport to switch out the car. They upgraded us to a super nice SUV, but the whole thing added an extra 2 or 3 hours onto what was already a very long drive.
Question Happy Few: What's the biggest benefit you've derived from your band, and can you tell us about it?
Speaking for myself, but I hope also Dale and Isaac, the biggest thing I get from the band is just getting to hang out with these guys every week. It’s a place to be silly, be stupid, even be sad and mopey if I want. There’s never any judgment and I think that’s why our writing is so relevant to other people. We can talk about whatever we’re feeling in the moment and that usually translates to a pretty decently relatable song.
Well, I already talked about “Moonstruck”, so I won’t harp on that any further. There’s so much good music out there, and we have a playlist of our favorite bands, current and older, that we play to get hyped up on our way to shows: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1XQfE6scbq4HZtgot0YaER?si=c6d5c581565b4764 I highly recommend checking it out. It’s got everything from Panic Shack, one of our all-time favorite bands, to Weird Al to Randy Newman to Yelle. We’re a varied bunch, what can I say?
Funny question. What's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you?
We played a show at a record store and, unbeknownst to me, Dale and Isaac arranged for their friend to come out mid-set in a full-body rat costume and dance around for a song. I was completely caught off guard and had to keep it together to keep singing and finish the song. The guy ended up staying in costume the entire set and no one knew what to make of this giant rat bopping around. It felt like that scene in Rock n Roll High School where the giant punk mouse goes to the Ramones show.
Camembert question: What's France to you, apart from the land of wine and cheese?
I guess it’s too on-the-nose to say “Ratatouille”. France produced some of our favorite bands, like Les Lullies and Alvilda, and served as the influence for others, like April March. France is effortless and beautiful and cool, which we may not directly relate to, but we try to emulate in our own way by being authentically us.
Sponsorship question: Who can you sponsor for Les Monstres Sacrés, and how can you convince us to talk about them?
I realize you did a small mention of them in 2022, but I still wanted to recommend an interview with the Out-Sect, since it’s been a few years and they band has expanded to be a five-piece now. At the very least, their drummer, Romain, is French and he’ll have an easier time with the questions than I did ;)
Thank you the Civil Rats :)
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