RATS

 

Rats is the collaborative musical trio of Jonathan Silberman (tenor saxophone), Eric Kiersnowski (baritone guitar), and Kelly Kawar (bass guitar).

Jonathan and Kelly started Rats in 2007, inspired initially by John Fahey’s The Portland Cement Factory at Monolith, California and the Paul Motian Trio’s album I Have the Room Above Her.   Eric, who had played with Jonathan previously in the Los Angeles experimental quartet Godzik Pink (1996-2002, 5rc/Kill Rock Stars),  joined in on guitar shortly thereafter and the three began writing music as Rats.  Originally conceived as a composer’s workshop/ensemble, early experiments with other instrumentalists eventually led to a more stripped down, intimate instrumentation.

In 2007, Rats composed the soundtrack for filmmaker Joanne Nucho’s short, experimental documentary, We Have No Name, Strange Woman, which was an official entry at the 2008 London International Documentary Film Festival.

Rats released their first album in September 2010 in cd digipak and digital formats, recorded & mixed with Los Angeles-based musician and engineer John Wood.