Rat Skates - BORN IN THE BASEMENT DVD

I'm sure all the old time Overkill fans out there remember Lee "Rat Skates" Kundrat, the band's original drummer. He's gone into indie film and video production over the years, and he's just released a DVD called "BORN IN THE BASEMENT" about the early days of not only Overkill but the east coast metal/thrash scenes in general. I was lucky enough to score a copy to review for Detritus e-zine, and I loved it!! It's a very cool, funny video, kinda like a home made "Behind The Music" episode. You get TONS of insider info about the early days of Overkill and how much Rat busted his ass to get their name out there... not only was he the drummer, but he designed & built their early stage sets (out of milk crates and styrofoam "bricks" no less!), did the silk screening for their T-shirts in his basement, designed the Overkill logo and much of their early art work, etc., etc. So then why did he walk away from all his hard work, just as the band was FINALLY starting to break out of the NY/NJ circuit? (I'll leave that for you to find out for yourself)

The vid includes lots of rare photographs from Rat's personal archives... this guy saved EVERYTHING, so you'll see pieces of Overkill merch from twenty five years ago! (wait'll you see D.D. Verni's high school yearbook photo...bwahahahaha!) There are also interviews with the original guitarist of Overkill (a fella who went by the name "Riff Thunder!") and the lead singer of DD and Rat's first high-school punk rock band ("The Lubric*nts") not to mention tons of fascinating video clips of early Overkill performances from their unsigned cover-band days (when they were a little more, er, "theatrical" looking than they were later on).

Highly recommended viewing for Overkill fans or anyone who grew up in the NY/NJ area during the early 80s! This thing brought back a lot of memories!

Check out the BORN IN THE BASEMENT trailer at: http://www.ratskates.com/trailer.htm

glad you enjoyed it

Saw this a week ago. Very informative but Mr. Kundrat makes the other guys seem like they were just hapless dumbasses that he had to direct. I think he's embellishing a bit, but the old footage of the band pre-Feel The Fire was well worth admission.

I want to see this. Sounds interesting.

SpectreFate wrote:

Saw this a week ago. Very informative but Mr. Kundrat makes the other guys seem like they were just hapless dumbasses that he had to direct. I think he's embellishing a bit, but the old footage of the band pre-Feel The Fire was well worth admission.

Yea, ole Rat's got an ego on him don't he? There were a few moments in that vid where I kinda rolled my eyes like "oh puh-leeeeeeeze Rat. Toot your own horn a little more why don'cha?"

Rat wasnt that bad in his parts on get thrashed. Thats another good film.

Need to pick this up sometime.

Just ordered a copy the other day.

After watching this DVD for the 3rd or 4th time a few weeks back, I loaned it to my brother over the weekend (he'd never seen it). He reported to me yesterday that he'd watched it and though he thought it was "really cool," the way Rat portrayed himself throughout the film as one of the Founding Fathers of Thrash Metal got old after a while. He said by the halfway point he was saying to himself "Someone should tell this guy that he was in Overkill, not the frickin' Rolling Stones."

It's a cool movie but the sound cuts out on a few spots... it's probably just a defective dvd.

I own this dvd and love it.

I watched it on Netflix while still in California. It is was it is. Informative and entertaining. They always say that history is written by those who won and more often then than not, the losers/forgoten have a different tale to tell. Not calling dude a loser by no means, I admire what he did by giving ALL to his band it it's formative years and his plying style. Funny thing is that I can't remember what he said about why he walked away.

James B. wrote:

Funny thing is that I can't remember what he said about why he walked away.

Rat was a "hands-on" guy that took care of most, if not all, of the band related business when they were still unsigned. But once they got signed to a label and had "real" management, all of the day-to-day band stuff that he usually handled - answering fan mail, filling merchandise/t-shirt orders, promotional stuff, booking gigs, etc. -- fell to other people, so he had nothing to do on the road but play drums for one hour a night and drink the other 23 hours.

It's a great DVD and I tend to agree with Rat's analysis of metal music and OVERKILL's career. I really like his drumming style too.

I thought he left because he didn't like touring and wanted a family.

nevermore wrote:

I thought he left because he didn't like touring and wanted a family.

Well, yeah, that's part of it too. In addition to the stuff I mentioned above, he also sez something about how while he was on the road, bored out of his mind and making no money, he finally realized that he didn't "want" the musician's life style as much as he thought he did.

Rat Skates must be sitting on a pile of unsold "Born in the Basement" DVDs. Click here to get one for FREE (only pay for shipping).

http://ratskates.com/free/

Fat Freddy wrote:

Rat Skates must be sitting on a pile of unsold "Born in the Basement" DVDs. Click here to get one for FREE (only pay for shipping).

http://ratskates.com/free/

I got mine yesterday!

Fat Freddy wrote:

Rat Skates must be sitting on a pile of unsold "Born in the Basement" DVDs. Click here to get one for FREE (only pay for shipping).

http://ratskates.com/free/

Thanks for the heads up. Just ordered a copy.

Free is always good!

Thank You Freddy! I just ordered mine!