The Lab Rats

Artist Information

Biography

Multi-instrumental musicians from Columbus, Ohio; making genre-bending music that has rap, beats, grooves, keyboards, guitars, scratches, riffs, jams, feedback, sweat, laughs, beers, blues and truths. The Lab Rats are defined by a Rock and Roll mentality and a blue collar reality; explained within the realm of hip hop, blues, rock & electronica; determined to make new music.

Coming from the lower-middle class land of suburbia, lyricist/guitarist, Brian Brown delivers observations taken from his life and the world around him. With 30 menial day jobs under his belt and the loans from his unfinished community college days almost paid off, he has chosen the pen as his weapon to combat the doldrums of a Midwestern, working class lifestyle.

DJ KW is the beatmaking part of this duo. Deeply experienced in the making and DJing of electronic music, KW is steeply entrenched in a multi-instrumental world of keyboards, laptops, guitars, hand percussion. KW loves technology and loves it equally in his studio and on your stage. In addition to blazing his pedal steel guitar, he uses two Numark CD-X digital turntables and KORG synths.

This is the second offering from this Columbus based Hip Hop duo. It’s front porch stories of ghost trains that visit you in the night. It's an existential exercise that explains the purpose of your nervous system. It's a guide to stretching pennies and the art of scratching lottery tickets. It's a deadbeat dad story that would make Oprah Winfrey weep. It's a conspiracy theory from a delirious lyricist. It’s half full ashtrays and half empty glasses. Everything you hear on this record (beats, clinks, riffs, skronks, booms and bips) were performed by the Rats themselves and are the result of a self contained effort. No classic recordings were harmed in the making of this album.
Their first record, "Short Order EP" was called one of the best five releases in 2004 by their hometown, weekly arts paper.

www.Myspace.com/LabRats

Instrumentation

Brian Brown, MC - electric guitar.

Kelly Warner, DJ - two Numark CD-X turntables, Show-Bud pedal steel guitar, keyboards, backing vocals/MC.

Discography

"Short Order EP" Released October 2004. Art by Craig Dransfield.

"Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses" Released October 2006.

Audio

• "Float" from Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses
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• "What You See Is What You Get" from Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses
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• "Some Day You'll Fade Away" Unreleased.
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Lyrics

• “Ritalin”

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Thursday's must see: Midpoint Music Festival 2006 [+ Show ]
  

  It's easy to tag Columbus-based duo The Lab Rats as hip-hop, but it's so much more. On the group's u...It's easy to tag Columbus-based duo The Lab Rats as hip-hop, but it's so much more. On the group's upcoming release, Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses, you'll hear jazz, funk, big beats, quirky samples and atmospheric soundscapes. It's the push and pull between musicians Brian Brown and Kelly Warner (DJ KW) that makes it a collaborative - we're constantly critiquing or supporting each other's ideas," Warner says. Expect a dynamic live show, but have it your way. "I don't tell people to get your hands up - it's not an aerobics class," Brown says. "I try to let the songs do the talking." - by KARI WETHINGTON

• CityBeat previews MPMF 2006 - Critic's Pick: The Lab Rats [+ Show ]
  

  Talk about your cool hybrids. The Lab Rats work an amazing groove informed by the jammed-out Riff Ro...Talk about your cool hybrids. The Lab Rats work an amazing groove informed by the jammed-out Riff Rock of MC Brian Brown on electric guitar and the mad breakbeats and electronic touches of DJ Kelly Warner, a multi-instrumentalist with two turntables and a microphone (and a pedal steel and keys and congas). With Brown's suburban-weary songs of everyday frustration and Warner's broadly whacked musical accompaniment, the Lab Rats will be your new favorite experiment, particularly with their about-to-be-released new album, Half Full Ashtrays, Half Empty Glasses.
  Dig It: Local H and the Beasties kickin' it with Jay-Z and Eminem. (Brian Baker)
  

• Recent Show Preview [+ Show ]
  

  The Lab Rats, Chris McCoy and the Gospel, Salvage; 10 p.m. Saturday; O’Hooley’s, 24 W. Union St. — ...The Lab Rats, Chris McCoy and the Gospel, Salvage; 10 p.m. Saturday; O’Hooley’s, 24 W. Union St. —
  
  What a shame that three fine Columbus acts should share a stage together with no local support, and on the night before Easter no less. Let’s hope that not everybody is going home like me, as these bands are worth your attention.
  
  The Lab Rats are a duo making “thrift shop hip hop,” featuring DJ KW, who adds the keyboards and percussion while Brian Brown raps with a guitar in his hand. Though the band’s recordings don’t show off its instrumental prowess, it showcases a first-rate hip-hop pedigree: infectious beats under intelligent rhymes, especially on “Get Your Shit Together.”
  
  Chris McCoy and the Gospel and Salvage complete an utterly diverse bill. McCoy’s band, featuring guitarist Matt Wagner of Athens regulars The Bygones, crafts heartfelt Americana tinged with the occasional lap steel and accordion.
  
  Salvage doesn’t mess with any of that extraneous instrumentation, presenting straight-up three-piece hard rock that encompasses everything from Slayer to Nirvana.
  
  —Chris DeVille
  

• 'To Do List' CityBeat Recommends [+ Show ]
  

  "Unlike the expected hotbeds that developed around mainstream Hip Hop (Atlanta, L.A., New York), the..."Unlike the expected hotbeds that developed around mainstream Hip Hop (Atlanta, L.A., New York), the rise of "Indie Hip Hop" is making for some interesting, unanticipated new breeding grounds. Along those lines, Columbus, Ohio, looks to be becoming a hot spot, producing acclaimed artists like RJD2 and Blueprint. Next on that list could be C-Town duo The Lab Rats, whose EP, Short Order, throws back to olld school Hip Hop and adds a deft comedic touch that would make the Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest and Biz Markie smirk in approval. Rapper/guitarist/songwriter Brian Brown is a clever wordplaya, blending pop culture and social observations seemlessly into his droll, banging lyrical concoction, while Kelly Warner holds it all together with his imaginative soundscaping (warner blends DJ-ing with keyboard grooves). Think Eminem (without the faux gansta-isms) getting high and jamming with Dan the Automator and you're in the ballpark. The twosome will play a show at The Comet this Thursday." -- MIKE BREEN
  

• Mall Rats - Abercrombie & Fitch Gives Props [+ Show ]
  

  The Lab Rats drop the hip hop like they ain't just two white guys from Ohio. With their debut releas...The Lab Rats drop the hip hop like they ain't just two white guys from Ohio. With their debut release "Short Order EP" you can expect DJ KW's classy grooves and MC Brian Brown's juiced rhymes to bounce your mall-shoppin' a$$ right out the back seat of your best friend's spinner rimmed SUV.
  
  
  

• CityBeat previews MPMF 2005 [+ Show ]
  

  A kaleidoscope of Pop culture touchstones informs The Lab Rats' imaginative soundscapes (their bio n...A kaleidoscope of Pop culture touchstones informs The Lab Rats' imaginative soundscapes (their bio name-checks everyone from Joe Walsh and Eminem to Freddy Krueger and Dan the Automator). Hailing from the surprisingly fertile Hip Hop hub of Columbus, rapper/guitarist Brian Brown and multi-instrumentalist DJ Kelly Warner's crafty take on the genre moves one's ass as well as one's mind.
  Dig it: A funkier MC Paul Barman, MC 900-ft. Jesus, more imaginative G-Love (JG)
  Http://www.citybeat.com/2005-09-21/cover9.shtml

• CityBeat reviews The Lab Rats @ MidPoint Music Fest 2005 [+ Show ]
  

  "MidPoint Music Festival overwhelms downtown with independent, original music... ...Rushing back ..."MidPoint Music Festival overwhelms downtown with independent, original music...
  
  ...Rushing back to Main, I find Jekyll and Hyde's second floor filled up considerably. Columbus' Lab Rats don't disappoint, their amusing, atypical setup and musical approach gradually drawing more and more fans closer to the stage as their set moves on. The duo is kind of like a two-man five-piece band, as they jump to guitars, bongos, keyboards, turntables and microphones kinetically throughout their creatively mischievous performance." (MB)
  
  BEST BEATLES REFERENCE
  Columbus Hip Hop twosome The Lab Rats kicked off their set with a trippy, funkily scratched-up "Strawberry Fields Forever," which had many of the audience members singing along (horribly). (MB)
  
  Http://www.citybeat.com/2005-09-28/cover.shtml

• Top 5 Best Local Releases of 2004 [+ Show ]
  

  Best Albums The Lab Rats, Short Order EP. Columbus has a huge underground hip hop scene, and The L...Best Albums
  The Lab Rats, Short Order EP. Columbus has a huge underground hip hop scene, and The Lab Rats could make the same national impact as RJD2 if they get the right breaks. Sounding like a more laid-back Beastie Boys - complete with pop culture references and samples from classic rock songs - they're the perfect soundtrack for sitting back and simply doing nothing.

• Top 10 Editor's Pick [+ Show ]
  

  Editor's Review: Some music brings back memories of your friend in your hometown and The Lab Rats g...Editor's Review:
  Some music brings back memories of your friend in your hometown and The Lab Rats give you the feeling you've known them since high school. MC Brian Brown, who adds guitar to some tracks, comes with witty honest wordplay from an everyday man's perspective. DJ KW lays down raw chunky drum breaks filled with crusty but funky rhythms that complete the down to earth package of hip-hop.

Setlist

All original, alternative hip hop from the Midwest.

www.Myspace.com/LabRats

Basic Requirements

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