3 minute read
Meet RATS
Scouse RATS swap busking for festivals
Four lads from Liverpool have traded playing small venues and busking for festivals and record deals. They’ve sold out the Cavern Club and they’re hungry for more
Advertisement
When RATS got the call a week before the Isle of Wight Festival to be told a band had pulled out and they had been selected to play the Big Top Stage, they could barely believe their luck.
“My first thought was ‘someone’s on the wind up’” said Lowell Carragher, the 25 year-old bassist from Maghull. Having just signed a professional development deal subsidised by Warner Music, and selling out the cavern club, the venue famous for housing the most successful band of all time, Carragher could be forgiven for not believing his luck.
We know we’re ’ going to be the next best thing, and we know how to get there. ‘
Their rise to where they are now has been break-neck. The band have gone from hopeful to excited, where they used to have to ask their friends to buy tickets for their shows, they now have fans.
While the band used to play small, unexciting venues, they are now booked to play Alexandra Palace with DMA’s.
“We know we’ve got a long way to go still, but this is a good start.” Said Carragher when asked about what was next. “We’re gonna be the next best thing. We know that, and we know how to get there.”
Those wondering why RATS’ stock has risen so quickly need only visit one of their shows fronted by an electric figurehead in Joe Maddocks.
The music is innovative; it’s not just rock and roll. “Jack” is an intense song about a working-class lad who succumbs to selling drugs to make ends meet, but Maddocks raps about his struggles for the last quarter of the song, it’s fresh and it’s exciting.
Joe Maddocks performing for RATS photo: RATS promotional poster
RATS are performing across the United Kingdom next month.
RATS have their own signature sound and with each new release they embrace their own identity more.
The band often perform songs about the struggles and pleasures of the working-class, often choosing to steer into the skid of stereotypes that may be surrounding four lads from Liverpool who are wearing tracksuits on stage.
Maddocks sings in a thick scouse accent about the woes of supporting boyhood club Everton or being unfairly stopped and searched by the Police and has collaborated with Hash Cartoons: a Liverpool based Animated show.
They vow not to forget where they come from and their fans appreciate that they don’t pretend to be something they’re not.
“There’s no bells, whistles or frills. They don’t apologise for being who they are.” Said Michael, a fan of the band since their inception in 2017.
“Just keep your eyes peeled. 2021 has been our biggest year yet and let’s just say 2022 is going to be even bigger.”
Carragher is not afraid of showing the world how confident he is, and with good reason; the bravado and confidence of the band is what helped them get where they are today.
The entire package is there for RATS and they hope to continue their growth to fly the flag for Merseyside across the world.
You can catch RATS on tour across the country next month.
