KRAAK FEST 2026 HIGHLIGHTS: La Rat
This year's closing act is Amsterdam/Berlin sound scavengers La Rat! Carelessly dribbling our vulnerable hearts with their hella compelling stories, these ever-so-charming rodent troubadours from Amsterdam hip-hop their way through life, spitting funky beats while they mop up all the catchy trash they can find. Here we get a glimpse of their process before they hit the garage this Saturday!
How did the idea for your La Rat project come about?
Goya: Me and Tobias (TBZ) met playing a South of North night in Antwerpen. We became friends playing ping-pong on this metal table, talking about jazz and joking around. I recorded the sound that night and it’s actually in the first song we made, "Metal".
We read that you’re influenced by a quite wide-ranging group of artists (like Georgia O’Keeffe, MC Hellshit and DJ Carhouse, Pauline Oliveros and Rammellzee…). Are your musical interests similarly varied?
Goya: Yes, we both like a lot of different genres of music and art. I specifically feel inspired by women/queer people in music and art and feel it’s important to raise those voices for a new generation of femme music creators.
Since your lyrics have such a narrative quality, are you also influenced by any writers or works of literature?
Goya: As a dyslexic person I have a love and hate relationship with reading. Because clearly I like words, but sometimes lack the patience to deal with them. I used to read short stories quite a bit though. Stories that cast glimpses into "normal" suburban, but often absurd and surrealist homes.
I guess I look for storywriting within music too, and therefore love songs with double entendres and symbolism. But I think a horn melody can have that same effect in that way. It’s more about context and attitude.
Mike Moonen’s music video for your song “Dribble” perfectly captures the La Rat spirit. How did you approach working together with him?
Goya: We actually went to the same art school and shared a studio space in Maastricht. We shared a lot of similar interests in music and art + he is a big sweetheart. Obviously being very familiar with his work, and us being friends for a few years, I knew he understood the rat mentality. It seemed like a natural fit and he nailed it.
Could you offer us a glimpse into “the mind of a cut ‘n’ paste lyricist”? Do your raps mainly come from using cut-up and fold-in techniques or is there also improvisation involved?
Goya: I only used this cut-up technique for one song haha, now the bio is haunting me. I write most of the lyrics chronologically, from start to finish. It’s more like a train of thought for me, the next sentence always derives from the previous one. Some improvisation comes into play here and there, but I mainly write.
More La Rat:: Instagram // Bandcamp
La Rat will round off KRAAK Festival 2026's live acts with a smoky garage set ~ this Saturday 14/03 at Het Bos, Antwerp! Last tickets here ~
