Been a long time since we've posted anything.  We are still alive and well though!  I (Nathalie) have been living in Illinois and teaching physics full-time at Knox College, so I've been busy.  However, we recently recorded a new 7 inch that is going to be released by PROFANE EXISTENCE, IFB RECORDS, and REALITY IS A CULT.  It was recorded by Carl Byers of Clandestine Arts and Coffinworm fame... so it will surely sound chrushing!

Recording vocals in the dark dingy basement at Full House

It will be #12 in the Profane Existence 2013 Single Series and we are really excited to be a part of that.  Profane Existence is an institution in politically active punk and hardcore, and we are honored that they will be helping release our music.  Right now, PE has been doing a lot of collaborative releases and getting involved with a some great, very active, Midwest hardcore bands that deserve your attention, so you should check out all the rad stuff they are doing right now!  (Including records for our friends in WMDAT, Boddicker, Kata Sarka, and This is the Enemy).

We'll give you more details on the upcoming 7" as we get them figured out, but we can say for right now that there will be a special cover and vinyl color for 150 copies that will be distributed through PE.  The other copies will have an equally special (but different) cover and vinyl color.

We ALSO are planning a winter tour.  The details still need to be worked out, but we'll keep you posted through here about that too.  Plus new tour = new merch... soon.

Up the punx, fuck the system, stay weird.
Nathalie

(Oh I also moved our merch to a bigcartel - so, there is that if you are interested ratstorm.bigcartel.com)

Rat Storm/Chaotic Neutral Split 7"

Our split with Chaotic Neutral is now out on Reality is a Cult Records/Get Better Records/Dead Rodent Records. 

You can buy it from us any of these labels or us directly (in person, through email, or through our webstore).  Also can be found at Landlocked Music (Bloomington), TD CDs and LPs (Bloomington), and Vibes Music (Indianapolis). 

If you don't know Chaotic Neutral, you SHOULD.  So, listen up! http://realityisacult.bandcamp.com/

Rat Storm Winter Tour Nov. 29 - Dec. 8

Our winter tour is all set and ready to go!  If you live in the area, come check us out - we want to meet you!

Nov. 29th - Nashville, TN - @ The Owl Farm - http://www.facebook.com/events/395144297223264/
Nov.30th - Athens, GA - @TBA House Show - More info soon
Dec. 1st - Tallahassee, FL - @Providence Haus - http://www.facebook.com/events/382467411829438/
Dec. 2nd - Tampa, FL - @ The Holdtight House
Dec. 3rd - Miami, FL - @Eve Event Space - http://www.facebook.com/events/388552314548238/
Dec. 4th - Ft. Myers, FL - @TBA w/Autarkeia + more info soon
Dec. 5th - Atlanta, GA - @ Wonderroot more info soon
Dec. 6th - Greenville, SC - @ Cabin Floor Records - http://www.facebook.com/events/347103255385793/
Dec. 7th - Huntington, WV - @ Funky Towne - http://www.facebook.com/events/126615137490513/?fref=ts
Dec. 8th - Louisville, KY - @ Nelligan Hall - http://www.facebook.com/events/172505512888475/

Email us - ratstormcrust@gmail.com - if you have any questions or anything. 

Wow, we have been neglecting this blog - sorry!  Things were in a bit of a lull for a couple months, and then all kinds of things happened in a big hurry. So here is some updates on what is going on:

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 #1 - We've undergone another line-up change. Micah recently relocated to Pittsburgh, PA and has been doing well, but is no longer playing bass with us. He already has been working on starting up bands in Pittsburgh, so I'm sure you'll be hearing from him again soon! While we will miss Micah and all he contributed to Rat Storm, we are also happy to welcome our new bass player Joel Henline. Joel is great and you will all get to hear his bass playing very soon! He has been playing in Bloomington bands for years and is currently playing guitar in Humans and bass in Buttonhoof - both of which I highly suggest checking out.
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#2 - We recently played Plan-It X fest here in Bloomington, and it was an amazing experience. We met so many great people from all over the US and beyond and were able to play for the largest crowd any of us have probably ever played for. If you saw us or talked to us there, please feel free to keep in touch.
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#3 - Big updates on the online-store! We have added new shirts, buttons, and patches. We also are now totally sold out of the split cassette with Chaotic Neutral. It is scheduled to be pressed on 7" very soon, but has hit a couple delays that will hopefully be cleared up in the next couple weeks and it will be off to the plant to be pressed!
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#4 I have kicked off a new record label - Reality is a Cult. My first release is the Closet Burner 12", and is being co-released with No I in Punk and IFB records. Feel free to check it out if you are interested.
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#5 Finally - SHOWS SHOWS SHOWS! We have lots of upcoming shows:

 July 20th - Harrison House, Ft. Wayne, IN 8pm - w/Republic of Dreams, Shitlist, Parasitic Twins, and Closet Burner

July 21st - Ghost House, Bloomgington, IN 8pm - w/Republic of Dreams, Itch, Canid

July 27th - Snake Pit, Champaign, IL - w/Bailout + more

 July 28th - TBA Bloomington/Normal IL or Peoria IL

August 3rd - International House of Pitting, Indianapolis, IN 8pm - w/Disobey, We Must Dismantle All of This, Boddicker
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Take Care!
Nathalie

Ordering stuff

Hey everyone!

We have been a bit quiet, but we are still doing all sorts of stuff!

We just opened an online store at storenvy - you can check it out here.
We did this to make it easier to order stuff from us online. However, if you are interested in anything you don't have to go through the storenvy. We are totally willing to deal with you directly through email (ratstormcrust@gmail.com), snail mail (213 S. Clark St, Bloomington, IN 47408), or the phone (812-6oh6-5one8one).

The new 7inch is also available directly through IFB records, Blackheart Mountain, and Plan-it X - as well as distros all over the world, including Ebullition if you interested in getting it at wholesale prices.

We have been taking it a bit easy on shows due to work and other general business, but we have an upcoming show in Indy and will likely have a few more similar things coming up - so keep an eye out!

TAKE CARE!
<3 Nathalie

Back From Tour, Loads of New Stuff

We are back from tour, and we had an awesome time. We played a lot of great shows with a lot of great bands and met even more amazing people! Can't wait to get out on the road again soon. Speaking of, we are currently making plans to hit the road for a long weekend with Heartless from Pittsburgh who are an amazing band that just put out a new LP on Southern Lord... you should check it out.

With the help of a lot of amazing people we managed to get our 7 inch and the split tape with Chaotic Neutral out for tour!

Our 7 inch was released be IFB records, Blackheart Mountain, and Plan-It X Records. 400 were pressed on black vinyl and the covers were screen-printed on dumpstered paper. We have plenty of copies that you can get from us at shows or we can mail you one if you want to contact us at ratstormcrust@gmail.com. Each of the labels will also have copies available and for mailorder I highly suggest going to IFB - Nevin has put out a lot of other amazing releases that you should check out.

Below is the artwork for the 7 inch:



You can listen to it, or download it in its entirety from http://ratstorm.bandcamp.com (as well as Blackheart Mountain and IFB).

In addition to our 7 inch, we recorded 4 other songs in October that we just released on a limited run split cassette with Chaotic Neutral. We are basically sold out of these at the moment, but should be getting more soon. In the meantime, Chaotic Neutral should have some, and you can order them via the internet from our friend Matt at No I in Punk, who put the tape out for us. Our friend at Brood X also has some copies!


Once the tapes are gone, they are gone - but this split is going to be put out on a 7 inch very soon.

Finally, we got shirts made for tour, and we have a limited amount of M and L left, but plenty of S and XL!
The shirts are printed on American-Made Bayside T-shirts. Below is the design:


Email us (ratstormcrust@gmail.com) if you want to snag one up. We'll also have them at shows!

7 Inch, Split w/Chaotic Neutral and Upcoming Tour

Hey - all kinds of news!

First of all - our new 7 inch "Fractured" is coming out on Nov. 23rd on IFB Records, Blackheart Mountain, and Plan-It X. We are super-excited and really owe a lot to Nevin at IFB Records for helping us make this happen. You should go check out all the records he has put out, because they are awesome! ...and we are super-stoked to be a part of it.

You can listen the entire B side at ratstorm.bandcamp.com

In addition, we are putting out a limited run cassette version of our upcoming split 7 inch with Chaotic Neutral. We also have a few songs from that posted on our bandcamp.

Both of those will be up for free download once they are released.

And.... we are leaving on tour in just over 3 weeks!

Here is our current schedule:
Nov. 23 - Detroit, MI - Commonwealth House
Nov. 24 - Buffalo, NY - Sugar City
Nov. 25 - Albany, NY - TBA (NEED HELP)
Nov. 26 - Somerville, MA - Starlab
Nov. 27 - Easthampton, MA - Flywheel Arts Collective
Nov. 28 - Keene, NH - Kitty City
Nov. 29 - Hartford, CT - Whitney House
Nov. 30 - Providence, RI - TBA
Dec. 1 - Montclair, NJ - The Meatlocker
Dec. 2 - Pittsburgh, PA - TBA
Dec. 3 - Columbus/Cincinnati, OH - TBA

Big Weekend! Plus recording soon!

Hey everyone - we have a big weekend coming up.

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On Friday (Sept 16) we will be playing a show in Des Moines, IA with In Defence. In addition to the show we are speaking with, Martin Roth's First Year Seminar class at Drake University. Martin is a friend of ours who has designed a class about understanding punk, and we are totally stoked to be a part of it! Us and In Defence will be talking to the class and then playing a show for them (and all else who want to attend) later that night, it's gonna be great!

The show is at Vaudville Mews, it is all ages, and the doors open at 5:30pm!

More info about the show here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=249038891784434
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then we are gonna haul our asses over to Wisconsin to play an awesome show on Saturday night. We are going to with Protestant, Enable, and Shock Value... all amazing bands that are not to be missed! The show is Protestant's new 10" release show also.

The show is at Ground Zero in Milwaukee, WI, it is all ages, and it starts at 7pm.

More info here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=204436072954382
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Finally we have finally set up a time to go into the studio and record some tracks! We will be rerecording everything that is on the demo tape we have out right now as well as a whole bunch of new stuff. The material we record is planned to be released on a 7 inch and a split 7 inch with Chaotic Neutral in the next couple of months.

We are super stoked, you should get stoked too!
-
Stay posi, stay weird.

Shows in MI this weekend!

We are playing a few out of town shows this weekend


Saturday, August 13 @ The Thunderdome (6 Jefferson St.) in Grand Rapids, MI w/ Xtra Vomit + more!

Sunday, August 14 @ Justice Records in Mt. Pleasant, MI w/ Xtra Vomit, Cloud Rat, + More

We are are super stoked to be getting out of town and playing shows - come hang out if you live in the area.

Dudefest After Show and more!

Hey everyone - we are playing a cover set at the All-Ages Dudefest after show on Thursday night. Here is the flyer:



It's gonna be rad, we are doing all kinds of awesome covers including Born Against, Antischism, Bastard, and Project X... our friends in Parasitic Twins are doing an all Negative Approach cover set so there will be sing alongs all night! Also you can watch us play in standard tuning. (Probably the only time that will ever happen.)

Then on Sunday, there is this rad show happening in Bloomington:




And then next Saturday, Closet Burner (a new band that features Nathalie and Jon) is playing in Bloomington, with some rad people from Peoria, Illinois that are in this rad band called Sad Family:



And Rat Storm will be playing with Sad Family the next night in Cincinnati (more details soon).

We then will be doing two shows in Michigan in August with Cloud Rat:

August 13th
@ Justice Records, Mt. Pleasant, MI
with Cloud Rat and Failed

August 14th
@ TBA, Grand Rapids, MI
with Cloud Rat and TBA

And also will be playing the Protestant record release show on September 17th in Milwaukee - more info soon!

Shows in July/Aug

We have a bunch of upcoming shows, here is the info on some of them - more to come soon!

--

July 28th - Dudefest Locals Showcase After Show - ALL COVERS
Free - starts... after the Dudefest show is done, probably around 11pm
@The Murphy Arts Center (building that housed Studio 8) 1043 Virginia Ave, Indianapolis

Joey Molinaro - One man, violin+foot stomping Discordance Axis covers... pretty gnarly!
Parasitic Twins - All Negative Approach all the time.
Rat Storm - More 90's hardcore covers than your head can handle (Born Against, Unbroken, Bastard, Infest Rorshach, Blatz...)

--

July 31st


--

Aug 7th
TBA in Cincinnati w/Sad Family

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Aug 13th & 14th
in Michigan w/Cloud Rat

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August 16th
@ The Dojo (21st and College) Indianapolis
7pm $7

Humiliate - Hardcore/thrash from SPAIN
Chaotic Neutral - Brothers in punx
Cancers - young fast hardcore from Indy
Rat Storm - yep.

--

September 16th
Des Moines, IA
Details TBA

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Check back!

Stuff coming up

We now have copies of our demo on tape available for a mere $3. Send us an email, catch on the street, or catch us at a show!

We are going to make patches/shirts/all that good stuff soon too... promise!

In the last month we had a show canceled and had to unexpectedly back out of a show which were both big bummers, but we have some stuff coming up and hopefully will be getting out of town for some short "tours" during some weekends in August.

We are playing June 18th at 4810 E. New York Street, Indianapolis, IN ($5 7pm) with Iafrate and the Fury Swipes.

Also we are playing the local night of Plan It X Fest local night at the Bishop in Bloomington on June 23rd.

Micah is going to be out of town for most of July, but we will be playing another show in Bloomington on July 31st and hopefully recorded a really nice recording soon as well.

Shows Shows Shows!

Tomorrow! (Bloomington, IN 4th and Walnut)



Saturday! (Indianapolis, IN College and 21st)



Sunday! (Bloomington, IN 430 N. Hopewell (near Vernal Pike & 8th)

New Demo

So we've had a new line-up for quite a while now, and we finally recorded some new stuff! We recorded it ourselves, so the recording is nothing special, but we will be doing something that sounds goooood soon! For now, we are just doing this to get our music heard and maybe raise a little money for putting something good out... and making some shirts and such.

You can listen or download here: ratstorm.bandcamp.com

The download is a "name your price" but you can put $0 and download it for free if you want to. We are broke, anything you donate will just go toward making shirts and paying for future recordings. But we know a lot of you are broke too - so if you want to download but can't afford anything, it's no problem! Don't feel bad for putting $0. We are just happy that you are listening.

We'll have some tapes of this for sale soon too!

-Nathalie

Shows this week!

I meant to update this earlier... sorry about the delay. We are playing tonight at the Melody Inn with Fuck the Facts and Kenmode, also show this weekend in Bloomington!!!

Come hang out, it will be a good time.

All the info is here.

Matinee Show with Thou on Sunday!!!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=132730063462323&ref=ts

Do not! Miss this!

Cloud Rat/Disconnected/Rat Storm/Chaotic Neutral - Feb 6th!

This show is gonna be great, don't miss it!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=171738022856632

I'll post a flyer soon.

Show on Friday - last few copies of the demo!

Hey, we are playing a show on Friday night at the Dojo with Xerxes, who fucking rule. Be there.


Facebook invite

We have a couple new songs we are gonna be rocking for this show and are working on more that should be ready soon. Also we only have about 10 copies of the demo left for sale - there are a few at some local record shops and shit but other than that... they are almost gone.

See you on Friday!

New Songs, New Shows, New Stuff!

Hello everyone!

So as you may have noticed Rat Storm went through a lot of changes in the last few months (new drummer, added a bass player, Zach's equipment doubling in size). As a result of this slew of changes we also went a long time with no new songs! However, we have good news because we are back to writing songs at full force - and with our new lineup they are more exciting than ever! We already have two written and more on the way, but as a result we are gonna take it a little easier than usual on shows for a few weeks so we can get some new material to play you the next time you see us!

We are playing with Xerxes on January 14th at the Dojo in Indianapolis, and have a few other things that we are possibly playing at in the near future as well. Hopefully we will have a slew of new songs for you then :)

We also are planning to record all this new stuff (as well as rerecord the demo) and possibly put out a 7", a split, or something of the sort early next year. I'll keep posting, so keep coming here to read them!

Show tomorrow night!

I have been really bad about posting in this thing! We have all kinds of news!

I first of all want to welcome Micah, our new bass player, to Rat Storm. We have played one show with him thus far and we'll be playing our second show with him tomorrow night. So come check it out. We are playing in Ft. Wayne with some really kick ass bands. In addition we have a show coming up in Bloomington on Nov. 20th and one in Indianapolis on Nov. 27th. I'll post more info ASAP!

Here for the flyer and info for the show tomorrow:

Saturday, November 13th
Harrison House
1624 N. Harrison St., Ft. Wayne, IN

Kata Sarka
Parisytic Twins
Rat Storm
Raw Funeral

Come smell bad with us!