Rat Strikes Back

Ratty wrote a small biography to accompany the interview in may 2002. It's well out of date, but here it is anyway:

I'll start at the end of the Damned...
I'd opened a small, slightly damp recording studio underneath Kew Bridge. Lee Mavers of The La's was ready to have another go at the music business, so, after a couple of fateful meetings, he moved into 'Arch 8' and started to try to get himself and a band together for that difficult second album. Lee can turn his hand to most instruments, and we often jammed. He was always a gent and a true star, and someone I'll always show a big lump of gratitude and respect to. Anyway, life was nicely taking care of itself, Offspring had just covered 'Smash It Up', The La's were paying the rent, so with a few quid in me bin, I fucked off to Hollywood and set up a licensing deal for The Damned's 'Not Of This Earth' album.

Rat does Hollywood
While drinking my way round Tinseltown, I met Joe Strummer at a Ministry gig. Timothy Leary was there, welded to a wheelchair and looking like a frail Tim Burton caricature, while buried deep beneath Al Jorgensson's ridiculous top hat. Joe and I both figured Mr Leary wouldn't have much longer to go, so we blagged our way backstage to meet him and the band. We even got invited back to the hotel for a social. Once I'd loaded Timmy into the limo, we spent the rest of the night talking music, religion, Star Wars, conspiracy theories and some of the goriest, unimaginable political gossip I've heard before or since. Needless to say, Mr. Jorgensson was the perfect host in every way.

The last thing I'd have thought of doing ...
Joe and I started working on 'Grosse Pointe Blanke' soon after that. I loved working with Joe in every sense. He was free thinking and has a sense of humour I'd kill for. He turned me onto so much great music and just when I thought I'd done it all, he turned up and gave me a much needed shot of adrenaline. Even though we never did pass go, I still hold a deep admiration and respect for the man that showed me how Hollywood really works. While it was good, we planned to form a new band, Electric Doghouse, with my old mate Segs from The Ruts, and currently the Alabama 3. We recorded one live track, Generations, and eventually found our way back to England, where me and Segs started a production company with Steve 'Dub' Jones.

St. Ockwell or St. Reatham?
We went under the name SDS, which I always thought sounded like a cleaning firm from Streatham. I wanted us to be called Cow, then we could at least have called the album 'It's Curtains For Beef'. Vincent 'Segs' Jennings and I performed with the legendary Stompy the Bastard Clown. SDS did some film score and remix work, The Rolling Stones and Dubstar, to name but two, as well as recording our own brilliant, but as yet unreleased, 'Space Hoppa' featuring Derwood (Generation X) on slide guitar and Darren, my old friend from the US, on vocals.

Meanwhile Back in Kew
By now the Thames and its spring tides had made the studio too waterlogged for even the hardy La's to put up with. So once they'd moved out, I mopped up, put the kettle on and began to suss out Macintosh computers and digital recording.

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