Even though the Rat Bastards never made a big slash in the United States, they sent title waves throughout Asia, with the exception of China, where their music was banned. The Rat Bastards credit Napster to their big successes in countries like Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines. A stunning 85% of all Rat Bastards record sales come from Asia, with Europe following second with 12%, and North America sharring only 3% of all Rat Bastards record sales.
The road proved to be a rough one for the band. Faulty equipment and Joe playing most of their shows with a broken triquetral bone were to blame. The Rat Bastards took one of their shows to Toronto, Canada in March of 1997, but were kicked out of the music venue before they could even play. Joe and Dave got into an argument, which resulted in Joe slapping Dave in the face, knocking his glasses off half way across the room. The promoter of the show told the band that their ghetto American ways would not be tolerated in a civilized country like Canada.
Upset that their luck in North America was not taking off like they had planned, they started to focus their attention to Asia, where they were gaining in popularity everyday. The group planned the Asian Wrap Tour, which was to last for three months.
Misfortune took place however. On October 13, 1998, Matt Bott broke his snare drum in the middle of an otherwise amazing set. Rather than end the show, Matt replaced his snare drum with a large gas can. The group thought the problem was solved, but Matt and Ryan were both heavy pot smokers, and sometimes they liked to light up the bong in between songs. When Matt lit the bong after the band finished playing a cover of the Diff'rent Strokes theme song, he dropped his lighter. There was a huge explosion that followed and Ryan was thrown offstage by the blast and collapsed into a coma. Even though Joe and Robby continue to record music, but they are holding off releasing any of their new material until Ryan awakes from his coma. Ryan shows no signs of recovery any time soon.
