Melodify X The Rats Are Taking Over

Last month me and a couple friends visited a small, free entry festival in Chichester. I loved it, there was stalls with vintage clothes, arts and crafts, circus activities, coffee places and bars, and a whole corner for artists. I thought it was an incredible weekend, with some very talented musicians scattered about the two stages.  

I went both Saturday and Sunday and had the pleasure of talking to 3 artists about motorways and service stations. The rats are taking over, Abs, Gecko and the Bee: three incredible bands. 

The festival was called the Arts Festival, and for anyone in the West Sussex area I would highly recommend visiting next year. 

Now. 2 of the interviews were friendly but structured, with only about 10 minuets of chatting. The rats are taking over, however have an hour of recording time and only about 15 minuets am I allowed to include. 

On stage, they were incredible, playing some originals, and some covers of Midwest emo songs. It's very rare to find a band like this in the UK, especially the south, and I am very glad I have. Off stage, they were very fun to talk to, and our chat took some odd turns. Again, I've been banned from writing some of it. 

I didn’t even ask for an introduction at first. Straight into meal deal. “Not a tuna sandwich”, is the first answer. Specific answer from Phoenix. “She’s vegetarian but she still buys tuna sandwiches but she wont eat haribows so She's doing it all backwards”, Un-named she is Charlie, who tells Phoenix off for the criticism. 

After a 5 second silence, Charlie suggests something “shit that no one actually likes” which is great for a Midwest emo band. 

“Shit naan”, first answer. No idea you could get naan in a meal deal. Snack, a pastry is suggested, croissant specifically. Drink “realistically” is a monster, which was expected. Dan suggests a Pepsi lime. Phoenix suggests vodka if it was an option. Naan, Croissant and a red bull. Lush. 

Next, my fav, would Wallace and Gromit listen to your music, and if not, what brit Com character would. Dan says horrid henry which is a great answer.  I explain anxiously here that all our questions are suited for indie bands, not Midwest emo bands, so a lot of them wouldn't land. They reassure me it's okay. Ralph is also suggested, then Mr bean. Dan shuts down the Mr bean idea very quick. We talk for a bit about how Charlie and Lola's parents were neglectful after this, and I don't know why. 

I ask next about service stations, obviously. Except everyone in the rats are taking over, like me, are 16 and 17, with very little knowledge of service stations.  So, I say corner shop can work. 

“The green one by my house”, is Charlie's answer. Good one that is. Phoenix points out that if they name it no one reads the magazine, so it won't matter, which is a great point. She points out specifically our cynical slogan that says no one reads this. I'm told that Dan and Harry have flashed their tits to get free stuff on many occasions (Harry wasn't here to disagree, so I'll take their word for it)  

This is when I realise that I forgot the introduction, 5 minuets in. There's Charlie, Phoenix, Dan and usually Harry. Louie is there as a replacement, they specify that he's not in the band, which I was told multiple times before as I was not allowed to ask him anything. 

Charlie promotes their new single coming out “I am god”, coming out if they sort out the mixing.  

I ask the motorway one, again now worried this will end up like service stations. The A27 is mentioned (Whey). And now this is the second time in Melodify history someone has said “Fuck the m25”. 

“Can I add to one of your questions, can you ask Dan what his address is?”, this leads to the kitchen. Oh, the kitchen.  

Apparently, dans kitchen is getting re-done, and he talks about it all the time. Charlie begs not to talk about the kitchen, the desperation really adding to the testament that she sheard it too many times. I offer a segment for the kitchen on the website, with a before and after photo – which I genuinely have now and it will be uploaded with the article.  

Boring one boooo inspirations:  Phoenix says just the bands they cover mostly, Charlie says the Dougherty Dozen. I’m asked by Phoenix to ask where she sees herself in the future so she can say professional Splatoon player – this joke had to be explained to me, alongside something else that I promised not to write in here. 

Charlie leaves to go to the toilet and we all talk about Kurtis Conner, Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden. The rest of it is just yap, so I've made an executive decision to cut this off here. 13 minuets in.  

The Rats Are Taking Over were very fun to talk to, and I look forward to seeing them again. The next interview with Abs music will be out shortly!!  

Oh and the kitchen, course.

Before:

Insane camera quality here.

After:

Models name is Dan. Looks really nice mate.

Cheers, Eloise x