Rat Bastard talks boring music, liberating noise and cutting handmade records — a III Points music profile

Courtesy Teajay Smith

Miami Beach’s Rat Bastard has parlayed obscurity into a sort of personal success. Born Frank Falestra in 1958, in the small town of Ellenville, New York, he has been a stalwart of South Florida’s music scene since at least the mid-70s when he was in a punk band called Myrin and the 2 Wotz. Like a lot of punk from that era, it evolved. By the early ‘80s he was the mind behind a post-new wave project called Dengon.

Musicians speak to the power of Frank Zappa’s music — an unscientific IndieEthos survey

In the documentary Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words, the film’s subject sometimes comes across as a bit frustrated by his cult of personality. One thing he bemoans more than once is that most people know his name but few buy his music. The film itself is also more focused on his interviews than his performances. It didn’t even take day after I published my review (Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words highlights the mind behind the music … and the ideology — a film review) before a friend texted me to ask “Who is Frank Zappa?”