Ratbag

Sophie Brown (born 2002), She received her first guitar at age 7 as a Christmas present, but did not pursue music until age 15, when she began writing songs in her bedroom on her father's ukulele.

Career Brown began making art and music as ratbag in 2021. A second single, "exit girl", was released the following September with an accompanying music video. Her musical influences include Pixies, Broken Social Scene, David Bowie, Declan McKenna, and Billie Eilish. Brown has said she enjoys experimenting with sounds in her music: "I like to take normal sounds and make them really weird – I’m really into reversing. I like mucking around with the little pieces of vocals and cutting it up. It’s almost like I’m dissecting things in my computer."

The music of ratbag is often accompanied by surrealist drawings and animations created by Brown. These typically feature her fictional band of animated monsters: Deemo, a devil-like bassist; Fritz, a crocodile-clown hybrid keyboardist; Slug, a guitarist in a mohawked bird mask; and Eugene, a purple octopus-headed drummer. According to Brown, each of the four monsters represents a different part of her personality. These visual elements have been compared to those of Gorillaz, Dethklok, the children's book Where the Wild Things Are, and the art of comic book writer Neil Gaiman. Brown herself has cited Jack Stauber, the shows Don't Hug Me I'm Scared and Adventure Time, and A24-produced horror films like Midsommar and Hereditary as inspiring the visual and narrative aspects of her work.

Brown has a substantial following on TikTok, where she posts digital art and stop motion animations of her "band" and the story surrounding them, as well as showcasing her love of sculpture, claymation, photography, fashion, and other artistic mediums.

Discography Extended plays +List of EPs, with release date and label shown Title EP details Why Aren't You Laughing? Released: 7 December 2023 Label: Mischief, Universal New Zealand Formats: Vinyl, digital download, streaming Kissing Under an (almost) Full Moon Released: 8 May 2025 Label: Mischief, Universal New Zealand Formats: Digital download, streaming

Singles +YearTitleAlbum or EP2023"Rats in My Walls"Why Aren't You Laughing?"Exit Girl""Dead End Kids"2024"Pinky Boy" "Pinky Girl"2025"Look What You're Doing to Me"Kissing Under an (almost) Full Moon"Juliet & Juliet"