The London-based duo Rat Section have played shows at art galleries, in clubs, and in the middle of a boxing ring. In the long art band tradition, their performances are often site-specific; they showcase a conceptual vision that is at once flippant and studied. It's a style that is often elusive to bands who operate fully outside of the purview of the contemporary art world. Today, we are happy to premiere the video for the group’s banging, 2000s rap-inspired new track “0207,” which was filmed in New York City and sees the duo on the street, in full split-screen mode. We sent over some questions to Rat Section; read their responses and watch the video for “0207” below.

Tell us about the new single and video.

Rat Section: Although we currently have a lot of material, this is the first track we are sharing since our release on Halcyon Veil back in November 2023. This is also our first music video which we filmed in New York.

What is "0207" about? How did the beat come together?

Some time ago we produced music under the moniker Diamond Dawgz. Due to some legal troubles a lot of this material never saw the light of day. Around this time we used to visit a shop that was purely word of mouth in a secret location which was quite complicated to access. They had a fantastic collection of shoes, accessories, bootlegs, and even exotic pets. We were talking recently to Valerie Kong, an archivist for Georgio Gediminas about footwear. We reminisced about this space and made this song soon after. It’s an ode to that time and memories we have of this place.  

What is the Rat Section approach to movement, design, and wardrobe?

We operate off instinct and often by balancing contradicting ideas. We usually plan performances based on the venue, set up time, and budget. Choreography is the fun part and comes after we’ve made decisions about sound and what themes we are working with.

Who is your favorite 2000s-era rap producer and what have you learned from them?

Timbaland! That era in general had a lot of stripped back production and a good sense of space and tone.

Any music you are excited about in 2025? 

We would love if Sensational released something this year. 

That's cool you're fans of Sensational, he's a real undersung legend. How did you get into him and what do you like about his music?

Coming across Corner The Market, it was a breath of fresh air. He has such a distinct vocal style and production that feels like his own thing. It’s almost a genre of its own.

You played in a boxing ring once, right? How did that gig go?

It was a fundraiser for Pedro Youth Club, where one of us boxes, a very sweet event and one of our first ever gigs. We didn't have a sound engineer, and the bass was very intense for our set, which made one of the speaker stacks collapse—it was millimeters from crushing our friend. Another band played there soon after, and the crowd vandalized the space, which meant we couldn’t raise money for the community space anymore by doing events. 

What’s more fun, playing in a club or a gallery?

It really depends on the crowd, the soundsystem and our health. Playing at UCLA campus which was not a music venue at all was a very fun gig because the audience was so fun.

Any other shows stick out as being particularly fun?

Another fun and memorable gig was back in 2022 in Ormside, London. We performed in a pool and set up a ceiling installation so that there was a continuous stream of water pouring down on the stage. The microphones were covered in plastic for protection and the show was titled Splash Zone. A song from that show is coming out on this charity compilation raising funds for Congo at the end of this month.

What does it mean to really live the rat lifestyle?

Staying up late, being warm, and snacking on nuts.