Hear No Evil, See No Evil: An Interview with Ratatat

Chances are you’ve never heard of these two Caucasian men who specialize in esoteric instrumental hip-hop. But you’ve definitely heard them. Since this New York-based duo of Mike Stroud and Evan Mast came together as Ratatat in 2004, their odd blend of synthesizers, live instruments and strange sound effects (read: panther cry) have been featured in a hodgepodge of places – from news radio and indie flicks to car commercials, the catwalk and video games. Despite it all, they don’t seem to take their success – or themselves – too seriously.

Before their Beijing gig at Mao Livehouse, Evan Mast shared a few insights with the Beijinger ...

the Beijinger: What's your live set-up like? How many instruments/extra people will you be packing?
Evan Mast: At the moment we're touring as a two-piece. Mike plays guitar primarily and I play bass, but we also have an autoharp, some samplers, some drums and keyboard on stage and we switch to those instruments at different times during the set as well.

tbj: What is your main philosophy for live shows? To keep people dancing?
EM: We try to keep the energy high for a lot of the set but there are also a few slow moments as well – resting points. I usually try to design the set list to build in intensity as the show goes on.

tbj: Which songs do you think work best live? (In particular, which tracks from LP3?)
EM: Shempi seems to work really well live. It's one of the most fun songs to play each night.

tbj: Do you guys feel pressured to play mostly bangers at your live shows rather than some of your more introspective tunes? How do you decide your setlist?
EM: I don't feel pressure. We really design the setlist for ourselves as much as for the audience. If there's a song we don't feel like playing, we won't play it. Fortunately I think the audience likes to hear most of the songs that we like to play.

tbj: What will be the set list for this tour?
EM: Don't know yet.

tbj: What are some of Ratatat’s personal favorite Ratatat tracks?
EM: All the new ones. We're playing a few songs from our next record on this tour. The newest songs always seem to be the most interesting to me.

tbj: Is there a song that has topped “17 Years”?
EM: "17" years has a unique quality to it. We made it very early on when we started working together and we didn't really know what we were doing. I think we've made better songs since then but its not possible for us to make a song with that naive quality to it anymore.

tbj: What are you guys listening to these days?
EM: I've been listening to loads of Bach. Some African guitar music too.

tbj: Got any more remix projects in mind?
EM: Not really. I'm more interested in creating new original tracks than remixes at the moment.

tbj: What are your favorite MCs – both to work with and/or of all time?
EM: Ol Dirty Bastard, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Ghostface, Devin the Dude, Beanie Sigel

tbj: Do you guys ever work live with an MC (rather than just making remixes)?
EM: We've made a bunch of beats for Despot. He's on tour with us right now in the US and we've been making tracks on the bus together.

tbj: What are your favorite instruments?
EM: Harpsichord, Korg mono/poly, Zarb, Flugelhorn

tbj: Who are some of your favorite guitarists?
EM: Brian May, Jimi Spandex, Eddie Van Gravy, Pierce Bronson

tbj: What are your major influences?
EM: Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Bringe Belushi

tbj: How did you come up with the band name?
EM: Rolling dice

tbj: Ratatat’s mission statement in five words o less:
EM: Avoid jazz

tbj: Favorite cartoon rat:
EM: The one on the cover of doggystyle

---

Catch Ratatat at MAO Livehouse on May 20, with support from Re-TROS and Zigzag. RMB 120, RMB 100 (advance). 9pm. MAO Livehouse (6402 5080)