We met Jordan Cardy, known as Rat Boy, and his band a few minutes before their latest Parisian gig. After releasing a mixtape online in 2014, he rapidly signed a record deal with Parlophone UK and released in 2016 his latest EP Get Over It which is a mix of messy punk-pop-rock-rap songs. When catching them on stage, we clearly understand that Rat Boy and his friends are the type of guys your parents warned you about.
Firstly, why Rat Boy as stage name?
It’s a story which began when I was in college. It was a name that my friends gave me as they think I looked like a rat. So automatically, I used Ray Boy for my first release on Soundcloud so now I’m pretty happy of this stage name.
You are a little bit like the Pete Doherty of social media, which means you put whatever you want even some awkward stuffs, how you feel about this?
It’s the best way to get close to our fans. I want to share the things that represent us even the most stupid things. Rat Boy is a normal guy with those awkward stuffs so yes i like the fact i can be myself and that people like me for that!
Even being signed to a major, you still feel free?
The part of the deal is that we provide them the stuffs and we get involved in the music videos and artworks. So yes, we have been totally free till the beginning.
You seems to have a particular attachment to the visual aspects, what about your references?
Yes totally! For example I’ve imagine the video for Get Over It from the beginning to the end. Every single detail was cool to manage so yes for me it’s important to own your own visual stuff as it’s you. I create a history and i wanted to bring it alive with this music video.
What the next step after this EP now? An album?
Yes the album is getting mix. We’ll work on an artwork and a next video. We want to have a pretty cool concept for this record so we’ll see in 2017 how all this will happen. And we’ll be touring too. As we like being on stage. It’s like a big fucking party.
Interview and 35mm photos by Ivica Mamedy
