Rattus Interview
by Vote/P.Tuotanto - taken from Barabbas zine, 1985
Translated from Finnish by Markku
Vote: Tomppa, what does punk mean to you?
Tomppa: Musically it means very little to me now. But the most important thing is the feeling, the politics behind it and that's what I've still kept inside.
V: TOMPPA, your lyrics are the most political lyrics that Rattus has. You deal with so called "bigger things" in your lyrics. Do you hope to have an effect on people with those lyrics?
Tomppa: I put in my lyrics my own feelings and emotions about the subjects I'm currently thinking about. It's my way of getting rid of the anger inside myself, the same goes for making music.
If I could force some conservatives and rednecks to think... but that kind of people already have a certain picture of us before they even hear the music, they think that we are criminal faggot commies and they won't think a minute about what we have to say.
V: Why do you think people get less radical with their thoughts and appearance when they get older. What changes a person??
Tomppa: Well, no one HAS to change themselves, if they don't want to. It doesn't really matter how you look. What you do and also think inside is much more important. In fact I haven't done much myself lately, I'm much more layed back these days because of the marriage. I also think I'm also like a normal guy with a family. But on the other hand I'm not, I can make choices that necessarily won't help my in my life, but at least I'm capable of choosing my own way.
V: Are you still planning to do more songs about Reagan??
Tomppa: Who knows, maybe if he makes more of those stupid mistakes with his national-security advisers. The on-going situation in Central America is still making me very pissed off, because those countries are not given a choice to be what they want to be, to choose their own government. Everything should be done as Washington says, just like in Vietnam, Poland, Afganistan, Middle East [Translator's Note: Well, look at the situation now, how different is it??? .markku.]
V: So VELLU, what are you doing nowadays, any plans for the future? What are you going to do with the compulsory military service??
Vellu: I'm working in a factory now. I should go to military service in October 1985, but I'm definitely not going.
V: Did you start playing drums when you formed Rattus or did you play even before that?
Vellu: I thnk I played about half a year before we started, I can't really remember anymore...
V: What are the Rattus-songs you like most?
Vellu: There so many songs... Reaganin joululahja, Maailma ilman vihaa, Sodan tragedia... Though there are also songs that I don't like.
Tomppa: I also like Sodan Tragedia, Kun pommi on pudotettu, Maailma ilman vihaa, WC2...
Jake: Keppiä Ronaldille, Miks haluat tapella, Järjetöntä vihaa, Rumia ruumiita, Maailma ilman vihaa, Sotahullut... and 5 new songs too that we haven't released yet.
V: Jake, what are the good recordings and bad recordings of Rattus in your opinion?
Jake: There's 6 records out now. I think "Khomeini-rock" is ok, when you think that it was the first one. "Fucking disco" is kind of more developed punk-pop. It's kind of funny, but it has some relevant points in lyrics.
"Rattus on rautaa" is really crappy. Really low quality sound on the record, it's done really quickly. It was supposed to be released by ourselves, but it wasn't. [Translator's Note: It's on Poko Rekords. .markku.]
I think that "Rajoitettu ydinsota" is a really tight packet. With that record everything went as planned.. The sound on the record, the songs, the lyrics, the vocals, everything. That's the best record so far. I'm sure about that.
"WC Räjähtää" has thinner sound than that "Rajoitettu..." 7". The other guitar is recorded really low on that one. It would have been a really good 8 song EP, but there's no difference in prices of the records, if there's 8 or 12 songs, so we decided to include those 4 songs too...
Then there's "Uskonto on vaara" record... It came out really late, a year after it was recorded, that's why it's shit. There are some really good songs on it for sure, but those songs won't work anymore. That's because I think that the whole record was dead and gone already when it came out... I don't like it.
Now we have recorded 5 new songs. I really want that one to be out soon, because it's really hot stuff! It has fucking brilliant recording and the songs are really raw. It all works great!
V: What have been your best shows so far?
ANNIKKI: The best show ever was definitely in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. I think that the whole European our was excellent, soem really good shows like Leeds, Bielefeld, Arhus.
V: Do you think that Rattus could be an even bigger band? What would it take to become bigger than now?
Annikki: I think it could be possible, but that would demand so much more work. We should practise like hell all the time, we should make more records. We should get this "Ihmiset on sairaita" record out! It's good that Vote is now taking care of the mail for us. We should get Vote drunk and make him sign a deal that he will release all the records for us.
V: What will happen in the future of Rattus?
Jake: We haven't been practising lately, but we still have 5 or 6 new songs that are really good. I believe that future for Rattus looks bright.
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