A Quick Chat with RATSALAD

Tune In / Zone Out taps into that feeling of mental overload — what sparked it?
If only we knew man, if only we knew. There’s a lot happening in the world lately, and in our personal lives too, so it’s easy to find yourself in the spot where you’re just nodding along but your brain has fully left the building. Sometimes it's easier to just shut down mentally and emotionally to save yourself from exploding from just being really fucking overwhelmed. Physically, it may look like we are at the pub, or the supermarket or beach or at work, but mentally it’s a battle between wondering if you remembered to hang out the washing, if Trumps latest genocidal tweet will start World War 3, or how many stomachs a cow has??? They only have one by the way. But it's broken into four sections. Now you know.

The chorus feels super relatable — is that line from real life?
It's inspired by a combination of real-life experiences, like when your boss is telling you to do something you have no idea how to do and you're having a mini freak-out instead of listening; or being stuck in a confronting conversation when you'd rather be literally anywhere else; or when you’re talking to someone but you're distracted by other thoughts and just nodding away, saying something like “haha yeah, not wrong, totally”. Next thing you know, you just agreed to helping someone move house.

Q: How does it feel launching this era at home in WA?
Honestly, it feels amazing to launch the next chapter of RATSALAD to Geraldton and Kalbarri first. They are our hometowns, and are the backdrop of all our songs. We love the people here and they’ve been so supportive. Geraldton is small (32,000 population) and Kalbarri is tiny (1500 people). These are where the best weird ideas start. And we have a Perth launch show of course because we'd be silly not to. Perth has been great to us and we've got a lot of love for the music community there.

What do hometown shows mean to you now?
It’s why we do it. It’s amazing who comes out of the woodwork for it. Your grade 9 maths teacher. Ya mum. Ya mum's wine-drunk besties. A bunch of underage kids sneaking in for their first band. It’s the best. Also if you mess up, you get to hear about it for the next 10 years.

Why is Europe connecting with you guys?
Weirdly enough, Aussies yelling about small coastal towns seems to translate over there. I don’t know why but I’m happy to see it happen. Plus trumpet. Never underestimate the power of a rogue trumpet.

Regional WA to European festivals — how do you switch?
We got in trouble last German tour for taking off our shirts (it was about 50 degrees in the venue with no aircon). We don't ever want to make people feel disrespected or uncomfortable so we will be keeping our shirts on this time, that's for sure. I think that’ll be the only change. Whether a tiny basement show or a massive festival stage, we just try to be the most RATSALAD band we can be!

RATSALAD Australian dates

Fri 11 Apr 2026 – Wintersun Hotel – Geraldton, WA
Sat 2 May 2026 – Kalbarri Open Air Festival – Kalbarri, WA
Fri 22 May 2026 – Foreshore Hangout – Geraldton, WA (Album Launch)
Sat 23 May 2026 – Milk Bar – Perth, WA (Album Launch)