Ups and downes

Fast becoming a Dublin Fringe Festival institution, the excellent Spiegeltent venue is highly regarded for its ornate, otherworldly qualities. For Chuzzle’s frontman Daragh Downes, it’s the perfect backdrop for his band’s artful show.

“The whole setting feels very Chuzzle-esque, what with the whole theatricality of it and the sense of occasion,” he explains. “We’ve played some very incongruous venues and we’re like a fish out of water in them. That’s why I like playing places like the Sugar Club. I don’t need the ‘theatrical’ setting as such, but definitely it’s a bonus when it’s there. We’re not trying to be Marlene Deitrich; we’re a rock band first and foremost, but there is something kind of fanciful about those kind of venues.”
In a city oversubscribed with anonymous, everyman-type acts, Chuzzle are striking out as a band who pay as much attention to their on-stage persona as their sound.
“For me, it’s a big deal to ask people to come to a gig, and I don’t take the crowd for granted,” he maintains. “A gig should be memorable, for all the right reasons. I love the Ziggy Stardust tradition, or Elvis’ shows in Vegas. There was a real sense of occasion when he did those gigs.”
As you might have deduced, image rates fairly high on Downes’ list of priorities. The Chuzzle look has been carefully considered, which is something that Downes maintains is an important part of any musical artist’s package.
“As long as it’s not compensating for a lack of musical unoriginality,” he notes. “If it doesn’t distract people from the music and the music resonates with the image itself, it can be a great thing. With someone like Bjork, you can’t separate the image or the music at all, or even look at the cover of (The Beatles’) Sargeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club…I can’t disconnect the music and the visual. Best of all, it’s not image in a marketing sense, it’s in an artistic sense.”
In a nod to their positively Dickensian moniker, Downes makes sure to dress the part. Despite this, he is keen not to let the band’s retrospective sartorial sense overshadow their modern-day sound.
“I often start the show on a stool sitting in front of the stage, I’d be wearing a top hat and red coat and would smoke a pipe…well, in the good old days I did!” he laughs. “I’ve no interest in being bracketed as an effeminate, fey, dandyish character. It’s not what I’m about. There’s a band behind me who have a really muscular sound. We really rock out and there’s a variation in style. The goal is to surprise people with every new song; it’s like when you put on the White Album, you never have any idea what’s coming next.”
You may or may not have already guessed that the 1960s have left an indelible mark on the band’s musical sensibilities.
“Yeah, I never saw the ’60s, but I feel kind of nostalgic for them,” admits Downes. “What was happening in the mid-’60s was very rich musically. You had Jimi Hendrix and Lulu fighting in the charts…the kind of thing where anything goes. The 1990s were about rhythm, but it was a disastrous decade for melody. Even listening to the Thrills now, I think melody is on the way back. I hope so anyway.”
Like many of his musical heroes, Downes has something of a predilection for the paranormal, and it in turn has shaped his music and lyrical bent in the most delicious fashion.
“It’s more spiritual than religious, I’d be worried that people would think I’m a bible basher, which couldn’t be further form the truth,” he notes. “I’ve always been obsessed with parapsychology. It’s been my guiding obsession in the last few years. It’s hard not to let it creep into the lyrics. Some of the big questions really do interest me, like ‘is there life after death’ and ‘where do we go?’”
Downes maintains that some unusual experiences have given birth to this obsession.
“It’s usually seeing some strange things in the middle of the night,” he admits. “One very strange experience I had was in Germany a few years ago, where I was in this underground bar, which was actually part of a monastery. The bouncer was a monk…it was really the most amazing place. A woman came up to me and told me things about myself that nobody knew except for me. It totally freaked me out. Normally I’m quite sceptical of it, but when life throws these things at you without you looking for them, it’s hard not to be intrigued.”

Chuzzle play the Spiegeltent on September 28 as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival.