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It\u2019s fitting that 2020 was the Year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac, as it brought with it both massive challenges and unique inspiration for the members of Chicago-based indie rock quartet Ratboys<\/a>. Since no musicians were able to tour as usual, band founders and romantic partners Julia Steiner (vocals, guitar) and Dave Sagan (guitar) filled their days early in the pandemic by demoing new songs, some of which would ultimately appear on their new, critically acclaimed album,\u00a0The Window<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n But they also had another focus: tending to a homegrown cannabis plant nicknamed Little Dave. \u201cDave grew a plant in our backyard,\u201d Steiner says. \u201cIt started in a plastic shot glass on our windowsill, and it grew to be five feet tall.\u201d Raised from March to September that year, Sagan says he was content to let the plant grow without aid of special fertilizers. And, later that fall, the two rightfully enjoyed their just rewards. \u201cWe smoked it!\u201d Steiner says triumphantly. \u201cWe harvested it, and it was\u2026wonderful<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n In many ways, cannabis has long wafted in the background of Ratboys\u2019 creative output. After they first met as freshmen at Notre Dame University, Steiner fondly recalls the nights she and Sagan spent sharing a joint and driving around the country backroads of northern Indiana and southern Michigan, just listening to music. \u201cThat was one of the main things we bonded over,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was one of the things that helped us get to know each other so well and so quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Reflecting on the type of long, shifting songs they\u2019d often gravitate to during those rides, Steiner namechecks Wilco\u2019s \u201cSpiders\u201d and Chalk Talk\u2019s \u201cMemo: Sploof.\u201d Those songs would soundtrack a period that Steiner acknowledges today as \u201cone of the most formative experiences of my time as a music listener.\u201d Now, nearly three years after smoking Little Dave, Steiner and Sagan\u2014along with Marcus Nuccio (drums) and Sean Neumann (bass, vocals)\u2014are finally enjoying the fruits of their latest musical labors as well.<\/p>\n The Window<\/em>\u00a0has earned lofty praise from Pitchfork<\/a>, which called it Ratboys\u2019 \u201clevel-up record,\u201d and Stereogum, which hailed it as \u201cone of the absolute best albums of 2023.\u201d Among the record\u2019s highlights is the sprawling, epic \u201cBlack Earth, WI.\u201d Clocking in at a hefty 8:34, the track\u2019s sonic turns feel right at home with the type of fare that once populated Steiner and Sagan\u2019s car stereo. In another fitting twist, the title itself, though not a THC-inspired invention, was conceived when the band was stoned and driving around and happened to stumble upon a road sign for the real-life town of Black Earth. \u201cIt was just such a beautiful, strange name for a town that it really caught our attention,\u201d Steiner says.<\/p>\n Serendipity serving as inspiration is a common occurrence for Ratboys, who also enjoy a penchant for giving their songs surreal-sounding titles including \u201cElvis in the Freezer\u201d and \u201cAlien With a Sleep Mask On.\u201d While those specific examples are, rather incredibly, both inspired by real-life events, Sagan shares his belief that the band\u2019s collective affinity for cannabis manages to inevitably feed their creative output. \u201cIn a sense, it\u2019s like you have stoner ideas living next to very profound, sober ideas and then they all just mix together,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n That\u2019s how drummer Marcus Nuccio sees it, too. \u201cI like the idea of the \u2018stoner\u2019s mind,\u2019 where you\u2019re not high all the time but you know what it\u2019s like to be high,\u201d he says. One memorable example of the latter? The day of January 1, 2020, when the band decided to celebrate the birth of legal adult-use cannabis in Chicago by seeing\u00a0Cats<\/em>\u00a0while very, very stoned. \u201cEveryone in the theater was so high,\u201d Steiner said. \u201cIt was the most joyous movie-going experience I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n As the foursome pivoted to their current tour<\/a> supporting\u00a0The Window<\/em>, Sagan says their itinerary includes the chance to visit a few cannabis retailers along the way. \u201cWe definitely have our short list of places that we have to stop at,\u201d he says grinning. \u201cAnd, yeah, there are some dispensaries are on that list, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n It would appear that\u00a0The Window<\/em>\u00a0is open, once again.<\/p>\n This story was originally published in issue 50 of the\u00a0print edition<\/a>\u00a0of Cannabis Now.<\/em><\/p>\n The post The Return Of The Rad Ratboys<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s fitting that 2020 was the Year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac, as it brought with it both massive challenges and unique inspiration for the members of Chicago-based indie rock quartet Ratboys. Since no musicians were able to tour as usual, band founders and romantic partners Julia SteinerContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":380,"featured_media":76082,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,2544,85,17725,89],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/380"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76083,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76081\/revisions\/76083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Ratboys-The-Window-cover-artwork.jpg\")
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