For fans of “plink-plink” indie sounds, local music, folk-punk, and banjo, Ratbaby comes as a pleasant, and unexpected surprise. The folk punk "duo," as joked on the Bandcamp page as "consisting of a banjo and its human companion," is actually just Billy October, a 19-year-old from Peterborough, Ontario (who prefers gender-neutral pronouns and will be referred to as “they” throughout this piece). Ratbaby has a distinct sound, hovering somewhere between acoustic hardcore and folk/country. Their first full album, Something About A Cold September, is a short listen at only six songs, but embodies their distinct sound. The finished result is clean and organic, coming from the more honest of places.Recorded and mastered by Sean Conway, another Peterborough musician, Something About A Cold September has a grassroots folk-punk feel to it. Billy's current instrument of choice is the banjo, which they play artfully— sometimes softly, sometimes accelerated and accented. Billy is incredibly talented, both in playing their instrument and in singing. Their soft, slightly sad-sounding melodies are accompanied by a lulling voice, creating an original sound that manages to strike a perfect mix between folk and punk, retaining the balance between the two genres. “Sad-sounding” is definitely one way to describe their music, but not all the songs are sad—only the best ones.Peterborough is a small town an hour and a half away from Toronto with a tiny, independent folk punk rock scene. Growing up in this close-knit community helped Billy feel comfortable and “inspired.” After a brief stint at Humber College in Toronto studying mortuary sciences, they realized that school wasn’t the right place for a musician. They travelled to Kelowna, British Columbia, but were disappointed to discover the lack of punk music. A month’s stay later, they had only gone to one show, and soon after, realized that Kelowna wasn’t where they wanted to be. Billy returned home to Peterborough, citing the city’s independent punk community as the perfect fit for their musical aspirations. “This is where I belong, musically.”Surrounding themselves with positive, encouraging people helped Billy's music grow. "I don't think I have a friend who isn't playing something," they said. When Billy was first starting out, they just tried to get as many shows as possible— a route many young musicians are familiar with. But something different happened with Ratbaby— people really, really liked them.Selling their album for only $7 and with handmade patches as merch (which are often just given away at shows), Ratbaby is the poster child of what DIY punk looks like, and they’ve received a great response for their music locally. The college dropout is smart and well-spoken, and has a smooth voice that translates well from speaking to singing, and back again. We spoke about musical inspirations, the importance of live music, and money troubles.
Noisey: First of all, why the banjo?
Ratbaby: My parents always forced me into music, and I always played guitar. It just seemed like the logical next step, and it was a really easy transition.When was your first show as Ratbaby?
October 8, 2013. My good friend, Dahn Mirabelli, who co-founded We Live Here Too, a youth outreach organization, was putting together an all-ages show and asked me to take part. Then he asked me what name I'd like to perform under, I said Ratbaby. I grew up with a dog, and my mum would shave him down in the summer, and he would look so scrawny—because he was previously so fluffy— that'd I'd call him my little ratbaby.How did you start working on your latest album, and how long did it take?
I had been doing shows around Peterborough for a while, and I was approached by my friend Sean Conway about recording a couple songs on his equipment. One thing lead to another, and a few songs turned into six, and I had Something About A Cold September. Sean and I finished the album over the course of a month or so, meeting up every week or every other week and messing around with sounds and mics.What was the main idea behind your album? Any themes?
The album wasn't a planned thing, so I didn't necessarily have a theme behind it. The most important thing was getting my favorite original songs out to the world. A lot of the songs have to do with love, both platonic and not, with my emotions surrounding my struggles with gender, sex, politics, feminism, and so on. Every song was written at points in my life that were very independent and unique of each other, so the themes surrounding them vary drastically. But they are all very important to me, in so many different ways. "Something About a Cold September," the song that the album is named after, was written about when I was with a Cisgender white male partner, when I was figuring out my issues and I lashed out at him.What's the folk punk music scene like in Peterborough?
The folk-punk scene in Peterborough is actually pretty non-existent, but we've got a very large, wonderful batch of local musicians in various different genres around the city. For a city of just under 100,000 people, the arts scene is alive and thriving. You can catch a great show almost every night of the week, I try to frequent as many as I can possibly afford to attend. I love and appreciate almost every genre of music, so I always enjoy myself and enjoy the talents of the countless local acts. Peterborough also has all these great little venues, like The Red Garnet and The Spill that are host to many all-ages events. I grew up in Peterborough, and I probably get to attend the same amount of shows now than I did when I was 16. Live music, at least in my experiences, is extremely accessible and I have not found any city with comparable size to have Peterborough's energy. I feel that this city nurtures me, and in turn, nurtures my art.Cheesy question time: Where do you get your inspiration and how often do you play?
I try to play every day. I always bring a pen and a paper to shows because if it inspires me, I want to be able to write it down. One time, I was sitting in this dark, dingy bar, watching this show, and I'm thinking, 'I'm so inspired,' and I wrote a whole song— that's "The Dark," it's on the album.Seven dollars is pretty cheap for an album. You don't often see prices like that, except in the discount rack at HMV. Why are you selling your art for so little?
I'm very much poor. I live off of banks and my job working part-time in a coffee shop, and I know that a lot of my friends that are interested in buying my album are all in the same boat. I just want to share my art with the world. Money is secondary to me, except that I need to eat. I want someone in my position, who wants to buy the album, to be able to. Most people have paid $10, and one person has paid $25. I don't think anybody has ever paid just the $7 anyway. I've made about $100 from Bandcamp so far, and that's really good.Any plans for the future?
I am going to keep going with Ratbaby. I'm just super stoked on the good reception. I'm doing what I love and people are enjoying it, and that feels really good.Sofie Mikhaylova is a writer living in Toronto - @sofiesucks
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Ratbaby: My parents always forced me into music, and I always played guitar. It just seemed like the logical next step, and it was a really easy transition.When was your first show as Ratbaby?
October 8, 2013. My good friend, Dahn Mirabelli, who co-founded We Live Here Too, a youth outreach organization, was putting together an all-ages show and asked me to take part. Then he asked me what name I'd like to perform under, I said Ratbaby. I grew up with a dog, and my mum would shave him down in the summer, and he would look so scrawny—because he was previously so fluffy— that'd I'd call him my little ratbaby.
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I had been doing shows around Peterborough for a while, and I was approached by my friend Sean Conway about recording a couple songs on his equipment. One thing lead to another, and a few songs turned into six, and I had Something About A Cold September. Sean and I finished the album over the course of a month or so, meeting up every week or every other week and messing around with sounds and mics.What was the main idea behind your album? Any themes?
The album wasn't a planned thing, so I didn't necessarily have a theme behind it. The most important thing was getting my favorite original songs out to the world. A lot of the songs have to do with love, both platonic and not, with my emotions surrounding my struggles with gender, sex, politics, feminism, and so on. Every song was written at points in my life that were very independent and unique of each other, so the themes surrounding them vary drastically. But they are all very important to me, in so many different ways. "Something About a Cold September," the song that the album is named after, was written about when I was with a Cisgender white male partner, when I was figuring out my issues and I lashed out at him.What's the folk punk music scene like in Peterborough?
The folk-punk scene in Peterborough is actually pretty non-existent, but we've got a very large, wonderful batch of local musicians in various different genres around the city. For a city of just under 100,000 people, the arts scene is alive and thriving. You can catch a great show almost every night of the week, I try to frequent as many as I can possibly afford to attend. I love and appreciate almost every genre of music, so I always enjoy myself and enjoy the talents of the countless local acts. Peterborough also has all these great little venues, like The Red Garnet and The Spill that are host to many all-ages events. I grew up in Peterborough, and I probably get to attend the same amount of shows now than I did when I was 16. Live music, at least in my experiences, is extremely accessible and I have not found any city with comparable size to have Peterborough's energy. I feel that this city nurtures me, and in turn, nurtures my art.Cheesy question time: Where do you get your inspiration and how often do you play?
I try to play every day. I always bring a pen and a paper to shows because if it inspires me, I want to be able to write it down. One time, I was sitting in this dark, dingy bar, watching this show, and I'm thinking, 'I'm so inspired,' and I wrote a whole song— that's "The Dark," it's on the album.Seven dollars is pretty cheap for an album. You don't often see prices like that, except in the discount rack at HMV. Why are you selling your art for so little?
I'm very much poor. I live off of banks and my job working part-time in a coffee shop, and I know that a lot of my friends that are interested in buying my album are all in the same boat. I just want to share my art with the world. Money is secondary to me, except that I need to eat. I want someone in my position, who wants to buy the album, to be able to. Most people have paid $10, and one person has paid $25. I don't think anybody has ever paid just the $7 anyway. I've made about $100 from Bandcamp so far, and that's really good.Any plans for the future?
I am going to keep going with Ratbaby. I'm just super stoked on the good reception. I'm doing what I love and people are enjoying it, and that feels really good.Sofie Mikhaylova is a writer living in Toronto - @sofiesucks