Scaling The Heights Once Again

By Joe Kavanagh

Reinvention is a risky business in the world of music. While some artists have successfully made the transition into other genres, the music world is strewn with the lifeless careers of those who attempted to leap from one genre to another, only to slip into a chasm of their own making.

Perhaps the most spectacular example of one who tried to switch horses in mid race, was the utterly perplexing decision by Garth Brooks to reconstitute himself as fictional rocker Chris Gaines a decade ago.

Possibly the best thing that can be said of the move is that it was over swiftly, blown out of the water by a public who found his new persona as believable as Donald Trump's hair.

There are other examples however, such as crooner Pat Boone's flabbergasting flirtation with heavy metal, MC Hammer's ill-advised foray into gangsta rap and virtually every David Bowie incarnation since 1983.

In a world as frequently fickle as the music industry, one wrong career move can virtually eliminate a career, as alienated fans leave in their droves to find an artist who will provide them with the succor they require.

Naturally enough, there are exceptions to the rule, most notably by artists who are known for their genre-bending tendencies, or those whose musical careers are driven as much by marketing as music.

Examples of the former include Radiohead and U2, who continually evolve, without ever making a dramatic jump that separates them from the people from their fanbase.

The latter includes acts such as Britney Spears who is a veritable matrix of spin, media-hype and marketing, or Madonna, who has reinvented herself more times than a Transformer suffering from multiple personality disorder.

Occasionally, however, there emerges that rare type who manages to make the leap to another genre without leaving behind fans or integrity, such as Ireland's Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club, whose latest work is validation of a career lived for the love of music, and within the strict confines of his own inimitable terms.

In order to realize just how dramatic the journey has been to Jerry Fish's present, it is certainly necessary to talk something of his past, which began on a housing estate in Dublin, as Gerard Whelan.

Living on the same estate was guitarist, David Frew, who, in 1988 found himself thrown together with Whelan, bassist Enda Wyatt and drummer, Martin Murphy, in a garage band who incorporated a slew of influences ranging from Iggy Pop to Steve Miller, and set about recording a demo in the studio of a friend.

The primitive work was enough to illicit interest as far away as London, so the four friends, broke to a man, invested the princely sum of £75 ($90) in another demo the following year, a prudent move that soon made them one of the hottest tickets in Irish music, and secured them a contract with U2's Mother Records, in order to put out singles.

The public's first brush with the act who referred to themselves as An Emotional Fish, came with the release of their debut single, Grey Matter, which scored well in the Irish charts, but it was the release of their next single, the seminal Celebrate, which charted their course for the stars, as it raced to the top of charts in Europe and even entered the top five in the US Modern Rock Chart, despite being independently released.

A blistering blend of post-punk rock, coupled with Whelan's cerebral lyrics, the song was put into heavy rotation on MTV - an unprecedented achievement for a debut from an Irish band before or since - and secured them a record deal with Atlantic Records, after being wined and dined by the late, legendary head of the label, Ahmet Ertugen.

Upon the release of their critically-acclaimed, eponymous debut album, Rolling Stone writer, Paul Evans raved: "A poetic fervor and stupendous sound inspires the Celtic spirits of these four musicians. There are allusions to that disillusion Lou Reed has transformed into arts in the lyrics of their songs, and ... Gerard Whelan is a passionate singer both when he whispers and sings rock; there are all the topics - loneliness, rage, sympathy, identity crises. All their songs are intense and provocative."

They even saw their track Celebrate become a massive hit on continental Europe, when it was covered by Italian artist, Vaco Rossi, under the title, Gli Spari Sopra, as they seemed set to bubble up from the underground into the global glare of mainstream recognition.

And yet, however spectacular their initial rise seemed, their subsequent fall was almost as precipitous. In 1993, they returned with Junk Puppets, an album that failed to capitalize on the success of their first, as the band took an experimental turn with their sound, which eventually led to the loss of their deal with Atlantic.

Follow-up, 1995's independently released Sloper, fared little better, and, coupled with a row between band and label, led directly to the their break-up.

Seeking to get as far away from the industry as possible, Whelan initially returned to his longtime love of restoring motorcycles, but eventually left the country and spent time in India and Nepal, where he came to terms with the many frustrations that stemmed from his flirtation with fame.

Eventually, he rediscovered his love for music and tentatively set about resuming his songwriting career, but instead of returning to his rock roots, he instead began to embrace a whole host of musical styles, as he formulated a style of music that he would refer to as "indie lounge lizard schmooze, mariachi swampadelica."

Renaming himself Jerry Fish, he returned from his musical exile with backup band The Mudbug Club in 2002, when they released the superbly eclectic - and aptly named - Be Yourself.

Collaborating with guests such as Damien Rice, Mundy, Anuna and Bronagh Gallagher, he successfully managed to meld a host of musical styles such as jazz, swing and good old fashioned rock'n'roll into his own distinct blend, which the UK's Daily Telegraph described as being "like Tom Waits in a good mood, or maybe Leonard Cohen doing Dean Martin backed by an Irish showband."

Despite its excellence, the album took time to find its feet, due in part to the radical change of direction and skepticism of a public still mourning the demise of his former band, but it eventually went on to attain double platinum status in Ireland. Curiously, it also won the Meteor Music Award for Best Roots and Country Album.

It also re-launched his career abroad, attaining sufficient critical acclaim in the UK to make he and his band a virtual fixture at the country's biggest music festivals over the next few years.

In fact, the organizers of Glastonbury were so taken with his work that they invited him to play all three days of the event in 2004, and they have been back every year since.

After another long hiatus which saw Jerry Fish take on such projects as working in television and even collaborating with Hollywood actor, Michael Madsen, on releasing some of the latter's poetry, Jerry Fish and The Mudbug Club made a triumphant return last month with their superb sophomore effort, The Beautiful Untrue.

With some terrific turns by guest vocalists such as Imelda May and Carol Keogh, the album further expounds on his original formula, boasting immaculately tailored songs that bristle with beautiful arrangements, sumptuous soul and melodies that arrest after a single listen; the type of record that accentuates the summer even as it exists within its own golden age.

Driven by a certain pizazz, the album also exemplifies Jerry Fish at his intellectual best, at turns introspective, analytical and downright witty, his lyrics are delivered with the same flamboyance, making for an album that delivers on all levels.

Taking in everything from country, soul and swing to big band, rock and mariachi, it represents the true coming of age of an artist who has given Irish music yet another musical landmark, and in the process, ensured that his previous life now sleeps firmly with the fishes.