Interviews

Cluas - Interview with The Chalets, June 2005

Mark hooks up with the Chalet's drummer Dylan Roche...

Dublin band The Chalets are certainly one of the most image conscious Irish bands around at the moment. Speaking to The Chalets drummer Dylan Roche, I am delighted to learn that their distinctive fashion sense is not at the expense of musical substance.

Where did you get your name The Chalets?
There are two stories behind that. One is made up and the other is very boring. We saw the name written in gothic font and we thought it looked really heavy metal but it wasn't a heavy metal name. We decided The Chalets had a nice ring to it and that it sounded like a really 60s girl group sort of name.

How long have you been together for?
We played our first gig in Connolly's of Leap (County Cork) in early 2002. We had been rehearsing for around four months before that. Me, Chris Judge (chief songwriter/bassist) and Enda Loughman (guitarist) were jamming prior to that in 2001. Chris started working on songs that were sort of arguments between boys and girls. We knew the two girls (Caoimhe Derwin and Paula Cullen) and asked them to join. Lyric wise a lot of the songs were conversation-based (between both sexes).

What are your influences?
We all listen to all sorts of music, from electronic music to 1960s girl group music. We all have our own personal influences. One band I really respect is Le Tigre (three girls who play feminist style electro punk.) We have been compared to them. I saw Le Tigre play when we played the Camden Crawl Festival in London. They were by far the most interesting and stood out a mile.

What common themes crop up in your music?
Lyrically, boys and girls, the politics of relationships, and Saturday night on the pull. We have all sorts of weird songs: some that focus ultimately on domestic violence it could be said. Some people have thought some songs such as Love Punch are a reference to this.

You have just finished a music video. Tell us about it?
It is almost finished. Frankly I think it's brilliant. Enda is involved in a collective called Daddy. They have made videos for Bell X1 and David Kitt. The video is for our new single 'Feel the Machine' which is released on June 3rd. Lyrically it is about being in love with your computer.

When are you going to record your debut album?
It's recorded and will be out in August. It will be called 'Check In.' It is all mixed and we are just about to send it to LA to be mastered. The artwork is almost done and will include a 1950's style portrait of the band. The new album will include fourteen tracks including 'Feel The Machine,' 'No Style,' 'Theme From Chalets,' 'Beach Blanket' and 'Love Punch.'

How did you feel when you won a Meteor Award?
It was very weird. We had been on tour supporting Art Brut in the U.K. at the time. We only heard about being nominated the day before the awards ceremony. So we flew back the next morning. At the ceremony we didn't win the award that we had heard we were nominated for. But to our surprise we found we had been nominated for a second award. Then we ended up winning the best newcomer award.

Do you think the award will benefit the band?
Realistically it is a nice accolade to have. Maybe more people will know us now. It got us lots of mentions in the press. These things are brilliant for raising your profile.

What are your future plans?
We are heading off on June 6 to tour around the U.K. with the band The Cribs. In August we are back in the U.K. to support Maximo Park and then we will be back in Ireland to play Electric Picnic.

How do you find being in a band with two girls?
It is totally torturous! You can be in a rush from A to B in London and the girls want to look in shop windows. Only Joking! It's fine. If we didn't have the girls in the band we wouldn't be who we are today. I also reckon we get a lot more girls at our shows because there are girls in the band.

Dylan Roche was interviewed by Mark McAvoy

Hot Press - At home with Paula Cullen

December 9 2004

It used to be a dentist’s surgery and the interior décor might generously be described as “quixotic”, but The Chalets’ Paula Cullen wouldn’t dream of departing her well-populated Walkinstown residence.

Black wallpaper with prints of Oriental people on it, a rocking horse, teeth mouldings, and designer shoes in the shed? Welcome to the weird and wonderful home of The Chalets’ Paula Cullen.

As one of the city’s most sartorially-savvy musicians and a well-documented shoe lover, one would think that Paula might have a walk-in wardrobe to rival that of Imelda Marcos. Not so.

“I share a bedroom, so I’ve half a wardrobe and half a chest of drawers,” she admits. “I’ve a lot of stuff on the floor. Most of my stuff is in my parents’ house. I brought over to this place the stuff I wear all the time. In my parents house there are about 100 pairs of shoes and 100 bags, and over in this house I’ve about 20 of each to keep me going. Some of my shoes are in the wardrobe, some under the stairs, some are in the kitchen and living room, and some are in the shed.”

As an avid music fan, Paula also had to leave most of her CD collection behind too when she made the move to Walkinstown.

“I have most of my CDs still in my mum’s house,” she notes. “I have a terrible collection of bad ’80’s music. At the moment, I am listening to Steely Dan, Le Tigre, Peaches, Misfits and Devo. I have a manky load of CDs because I used to work in the music industry, so I used to get hundreds of free CDs. About 4 of them are worth listening to.”

The other half of Paula’s room belongs to Jenny, a workmate of Paula’s; an arrangement that appears to work well.

“It’s grand, we get on really well,” she insists. “Jenny’s very quiet so I have her shoved into one little corner! She’s very tidy, and I’m very not, but it tends to work out okay.”

How does it work when someone needs a little ‘privacy’?

“We’re both celibate, so it’s not a problem!” she laughs. “She goes home to Waterford every weekend, so I do have the place to myself on the weekends, but I’m really never there, so it’s not an issue. I practically live out of a bag!”

Co-habiting with two girls and two guys, one guesses, at least she has a ready-made focus group for new Chalets material, right?

“I could if I wanted to, but I don’t have any instruments in the house,” she admits. “I can’t see myself playing the Casio while Jenny’s in bed...it wouldn’t go down too well!”

If it all sounds a bit claustrophobic, there’s always a couple of backyard sheds and a dentist’s surgery attached to the house for sanctuary. No, seriously.

“Our house used to be a dentist’s surgery,” she explains. “There’s teeth moulds and stuff like that. There’s a dentist’s chair in there I think. The house belongs to an old couple who are related to one of the guys in the house, and the husband used to be a dentist. They’re in an old folks’ home now.”

If the décor is anything to go by, the previous owners of the house were certainly dedicated followers of interior fashion. About 30 years ago.

“The living room looks like it was decorated by someone who went senile just before they decorated,” she says. “The wallpaper is black with Chinese people on it, the couch is brown, the curtains are black and pink, and the carpet is pink. It’s got this willow pattern in blue and yellow and red, it’s so mental. People just come in and go, ‘Oh my god. What is going on with this room?’”

The so-uncool-it’s-cool décor aside, Paula’s home boasts many good qualities.

“One of the best things about the location is Charlie Chan’s takeaway at the end of the road,” she reveals. “It’s only €3.10 for a 3-in-1, and I have one every night for my dinner. I haven’t done a food shop in 2 months, so I’ve never any food in the house. I would do an online shop, but I’ve no computer! The best thing about the place itself is that it’s a real home. It’s like a family home. Because old people used to live there, it’s not in any way fancy. It’s nice and messy…it’s actually very cosy.”

Even if The Chalets were to sign a multi-million euro deal with a major label, Paula wouldn’t dream of upping sticks.

“What I would probably do is I would redecorate the shed, and live in there,” she muses. “I’d buy a Super Ser heater, a bit of carpet, and a futon. Actually, I would have the dentist’s chair so I could sleep on that. I could use the teeth moulds as ornaments. There’s also a wooden rocking horse, and I could use that as a chair for when guests come over. I could sit on the dentist’s chair and they could have the rocking chair whenever I’m entertaining.”

Tanya Sweeney

Drowned In Sound - The Chalets - June 24 2004

Drinking for their country

Pee Pee, Pony, Chris, Enda and Dilbot – not the cast for a remake of The Magic Roundabout, but the five members of Dublin’s The Chalets, a band who took their name from a booze-sodden weekend at All Tomorrow’s Parties. Dilbot (aka Dylan Roche) gives us the lowdown on the three-guy, two-girl group who are gonna have dancefloors heaving before long with their Bis-goes-Le Tigre brilliance.

“We like to rock and pop and we also like to dance every now and then. As well as singing really irritatingly catchy vocals, the girls (that’s Pee Pee and Pony) also share keyboard and glockenspiel duties. The boys swap bass and guitar duties every other song whilst trying to sing in tune with the girls.

“The boys started the band off about three years ago, and not being overly enthusiastic about the way things were going – another bunch of lads in jeans and t-shirts playing rock for other boys in jeans and t-shirts – decided to ask the two girls to join. They promptly turned everything on its head and banned the wearing of jeans and t-shirts on stage.”

The band have now released two singles – one a split with Neosupervital on Road Relish Records, and a limited edition 7” on Nastypop/Setanta. The latter single’s flip-side, ‘Sexy Mistake’, was picked up by MTV in Ireland for an advertisement campaign. It must’ve impressed the powers that be, as the band were invited to travel to Slovenia to celebrate their joining of the EU.

“We were asked by the Government, who presently hold the EU presidency, to go over to Slovenia. We had an amazing time eating and drinking for our country. They, not unlike the Irish, know how to enjoy themselves!”

Evidence of The Chalets enjoying themselves, in the form of photographs, can be viewed at TheChalets.com. You can also check out the music itself, but to give you some idea of what to expect, here’s a summary of the band’s influences…

“Influences are broad and varied within the band and without wanting to speak for the others too much I can safely say that The Chalets dig, in one way or another, the following: early Madonna; Shellac; Gary Numan; The Shangri-las; The B52’s; The Beastie Boys; Le Tigre; Aphex Twin… etc.”

So now you know. The Chalets are one of the freshest sounds to cross this writer’s ears in some time; hopefully you’ll love them too. An album is expected in the near future, so you’d best dust off your dancing shoes in readiness.

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