Rat Bath gleefully plays with genres that seem like oil and water (“dirt Americana” and “melodic hardcore,” for instance).
Yet their music mixes them easily and triumphantly. The band pairs this irreverent, glitter-bomb sound with narratives borrowed from queer-coded pop culture villains from their childhood, whom they now reclaim as heroes.
Vocalist Fred Kenyon explains how the magic is made.
Where do all these influences come from?
Cora [Bequeaith] is a classically trained bluegrass mandolinist – she now plays five-string bass. Nikki [Straling, drummer] was a cover artist. Róisín [Shields, guitarist] was a folk and then a skramz [’90s screamo] artist, and I have a background in folk punk.
Your song “I Eat My Enemies” is based on a poem you wrote about impostor syndrome. When did you feel that?
My whole life. I wrote this poem last winter, and it’s actually a sequel to another poem I had written years ago. … When I rewrote it to be about me, it was about never feeling like I’m the best version of myself or measuring up to my peers. It’s this metaphor of wanting to swallow people who trigger impostor syndrome while also letting it consume you.
The interview is available via the “State of Sound” podcast at radiomilwaukee.org and podcast platforms.
