Meet The Band: Rat Motel
Welcome to “Meet the Band,” a series where I interview local bands and help you discover your new favorite artist.
In our very first installment, we will be interviewing the Ohio-NY-based band Rat Motel.
December 29th, 2022, Jersey City, NJ: the weather is oddly warm for this time of year and we still can't find the path. The show is at a distillery in some hidden pathway that is easily missable but we made it right on time. The lineup for the show was Yo! Kinky, Rat Motel, Sir Synthesis, and Tula Vera. The goal was to get as many interviews as possible by the night's end but this was proven to be more difficult than anticipated.
Rat Motel
Rat Motel is an Ohio-based band consisting of two brothers, Seth aka “Izzi Sleep” Peacock on guitar & vocals, and Clayton Peacock on drums.
Me: Hello we are a part of Lexington Line, a Fashion/Lifestyle/Culture magazine under LIM College!
Seth: Cool, cool—hello.
Me: Alright so, in the intro of your set you mentioned you are partially from Brooklyn.
Seth: Well we are not from Brooklyn but we are partially based in Brooklyn.
Clayton: Weaning I moved there a couple of years ago.
Seth: Yeah and I still live in Ohio, we are originally from Ohio.
Me: And how long have you been a band?
Izzi: I think 6 or 7 years.
Clayton: Yeah we're brothers so before this we were in another band for 4 years. And before that, we did a Christmas CD on piano for our family haha.
Me: So where do you guys see yourselves in the next 5 years?
Seth: I think solidifying ourselves in the cities we are now. We are mainly playing in 5 cities in the Midwest: Columbus, Cincinnati, Athens, Cleveland.
Clayton: I would hope to be somewhere else besides those cities.
Seth: Yeah, solidifying there and flooding everywhere else as well.
Me: So mainly touring and putting your name out there.
Seth: Touring and we’re about to release an album over the summer and 5 years from now.. 2 more albums?
Clayton: Yeah 5 albums deep in the next 5 years.
Me: Alright that's great, and who are your biggest musical inspirations?
Clayton: Nick Cave and the Backseats, Tom Waits…
Seth: We had a Tom Waits cover in our set…I like Arctic Monkeys! *laugh*
Clayton: I like Cage the Elephant, those guys—all the indie guys… Oo Jack White.
Seth: I don't really listen to Jack White.
Clayton: No?
Seth: Qh? I will say there was a “Seven Nation Army” cover on that Christmas CD.
We all giggled at this.
Seth: So I won't say that I've never listened to Jack White. I have definitely been through many phases... we even did cover of “Blue Orchid”!
Clayton: The Raconteurs, we've also covered some Raconteurs songs.
Seth: Ah I do like The Raconteurs! .. okay I do like Jack White... I have nothing against Jack White.
Me: I definitely heard a little Cage the Elephant and some early Arctic Monkeys influence!
Me: well, since we are mainly a fashion magazine, what are some of your style inspirations? Because I did check out your Instagram and you guys definitely have some looks!
Seth: That's actually a much harder question.
Clayton: For me, I believe it’s more of the bands we play with [that they get inspiration from.]
Seth: Yeah definitely and for me personally my friend in Ohio, when we go out I get inspiration from them. For the longest time I was a jeans and t-shirt kinda guy on stage and then they all kind of just made fun of me until I started thrifting.
Me: You were bullied into being stylish.
Sethi: Haha exactly!!
Me: And in all honesty, style IS very important. Fashion and music go hand in hand.. If your style doesn't match the music then I and many others won't pay attention to you.
Seth: Right like I've been to shows where I’ll see someone who kinda standing out from the crowd and you think “oh cool that's an interesting person” and that turns out to be the front person of the band and you think “oh yeah… that makes total sense.”
Photo taken by author
Me: Alright. Where did the name “Rat Motel” come from?
Clayton: oh that's a question for him [Seth].
Seth: I have no idea... I was like 15, briefly, it was gonna be Dead Ram… which is not as cool.
Me: NO! *laughing*
Seth: But it was in the same sorta realm. It was where I wanted to be you know, animals…something grungy, dark.
We all agreed.
Seth: I’m glad we switched to Rat Motel.
me: Yeah definitely. I will most definitely remember Rat Motel and the artwork is amazing we are obsessed.
Seth: I would like to shout out the artists we worked with for our merch... Sylvie Mix, John Martino and Isabella Latel.. They are all from Columbus!
Me: That's amazing. Lastly, do you have any parting words?
Clayton: we have a website where you can find us!
Seth: you can also get our merch online at theratmotel.com
Kaylyn: and when is your next album coming out?
Seth: Spring!
Clayton: Summer!
Me: 2023!
Seth: 20 23!
We all laugh.
Me: alright well thank you!
Both: Thank you!!
Now that you got to meet the band, it’s time to check out their music!