Ratas en Zelo, an all-female accordion punk band from New York, joined DJ Blackcat on Sleepless Nights to discuss their 11-year journey in the punk scene. Known for their energetic performances and unconventional sound—punk with accordion and no guitar—the band reflected on recent shows in California, including a massive arena gig with comedian Felipe Esparza. They also shared excitement about opening for punk legends Subhumans on a Manhattan cruise and teased a possible collaboration with a major Argentine band. With a new Texas tour, Ratas en Zelo continues to bring humor, defiance, and danceable chaos to stages across the country. (Interview: 5/1/25)
DJ Blackcat: Welcome back to KGNU. You’re listening to Sleepless Nights, and I’m your host, Black Cat. We are joined over the phone by Ratas en Zelo, a band out of New York. Say hello, y’all.
Maria: Hello.
DJ Blackcat: Hey, go ahead and introduce yourselves and what you guys play.
Maria: My name is Mariam. I’m the drummer.
Gabby: My name is Gabby. I’m the vocalist. We play accordion punk—so it’s punk with accordion, no guitar—and it’s an all-female band. We’ve been around for—it’s gonna be 11 years this summer.
DJ Blackcat: Yeah, that’s crazy. Y’all’s first album came out in 2017, which seems like I’ve lived a hundred lifetimes since then.
Maria: Yes.
DJ Blackcat: Y’all bring up the accordion—that’s actually how I found you guys a couple of years ago. I’ve got a huge background in Northern Soul and Jamaican ska and stuff, and a huge interest in that. Your accordion player’s dance channel just came up in my reels, and that’s how I found you guys.
Like, love your band—and y’all are so active and tour a whole lot. I absolutely admire that. Where are some of y’all’s favorite places to play?
Maria: We have played California twice, and we had a really good time the first time—and then again in January. We also did like four shows there. That was a lot of fun, and we have a lot of friends over there too.
DJ Blackcat: Man, that’s awesome. I saw y’all just played in San Diego with Felipe Esparza. That must have been pretty awesome as well.
Maria: Yes. The stage was huge—thousands of people. It was our first time playing in an arena, you know? So it was a next-level experience.
DJ Blackcat: Yeah, I’ve played on a couple of big stages, and it sounds like the sound is way different.
Maria: But exciting at the same time.
DJ Blackcat: Yeah, absolutely. The energy of all those people—it must have been awesome.
Maria: We were laughing, because we have some funny songs and stuff. So yeah, I guess the crowd was laughing at the same time, and we believe they enjoyed the music. The feel was absolutely great.
DJ Blackcat: Yeah. I really think people are stressed out and a lot of crazy stuff is going on in the world, and I think people are really latching onto any opportunity they can to just laugh and dance and have fun.
Maria: Yes. I mean, we have to continue. We feel the hit of everything that’s going on, but we still have to keep going—working, making music, trying to make life worth it somehow.
DJ Blackcat: I also saw that you guys are opening for the Subhumans coming up here in a couple of weeks. Subhumans have been one of my favorite bands since I was like 14.
Maria: Yes! We got connected with an all-female band from Texas, from San Antonio. We’ve known them for a few years now, and I think they just finished a tour with Subhumans. This is the second or third time, I think, that they’ve toured with them.
So they connected us, and we are going to play on a boat—a cruise that’s going around Manhattan. So that’s also going to be a new experience.
DJ Blackcat: Oh, man. There’s gonna be a lot of confused tourists watching y’all.
Well, that’s really cool. I’m glad y’all are doing that. Subhumans are obviously legends. Where do you guys draw your inspiration from?
Maria: I wouldn’t say that I directly get inspired by them, but they definitely marked our childhood—or, you know, our early years in punk music. I would say a lot of bands from Spain that are also very sarcastic, very fun, with just crazy lyrics. Very out-of-the-box lyrics. Controversial, I would say.
DJ Blackcat: Love the Misfits as well. They’re from New Jersey too, so kind of the same area. They’re from a weird part of Jersey, actually. I’ve driven through there a couple of times. I’m a delivery driver, so I’m in Jersey like four or five times a month. And they’re from a pretty weird part of Jersey—I’m not gonna lie.
Maria: Yeah. I’ve never been.
DJ Blackcat: You’re doing just fine.
Maria: Yeah, I know there’s a lot of high school love for the Misfits.
DJ Blackcat: Yeah. So we’re about to listen to one of your songs off your new album, Año de la Rata. It kind of is the year of y’all, pretty much. What else do you guys have going on that y’all are looking forward to?
Maria: We have a Texas tour coming up, and we’re very excited about that. There’s also a band—I’m not gonna say the name yet—but it’s a big band from Argentina. We’re hoping the show happens because we’ve been told about it, but we’re not sure yet. And of course, we’re writing new songs and new music.
DJ Blackcat: Alright. Hey, thanks for taking a few minutes to talk to us. If you guys make it into Denver, definitely come into the studio and perform for us—we’d love that.
Maria: Yes, we will.
