above:
The Chalets, pictured with a can of Magners
THE
cider-drinking CHALETS!
Dublin
band The Chalets haven't had too many hits in Somerset
yet, so some of you cider-drinkers may not know who they
are... Well, they are a FANTASTIC band
who have enjoyed much success in their native country,
including being named "Best New Band" at the
Irish Meteor Awards (which we think is sort of Ireland's
equivalent of the Brit Awards). So what are they doing
here on this cider website?! Well, if there is one thing
we've noticed during their amazing live shows, apart from
the cracking tunes, it's the amount of enthusiastic cider-comsumption
that takes place within the band!
Not
since the heyday of The Wurzels have we seen a band
take such an interest in the juice of the apple, so
we asked vocalist/keyboardist/glockenspielager Pony
(who seems to like a drop of it more than most!) about
the band's love of cider.
left: Linden Village cider. What the youth of Ireland
drink.
Like
most Somerset youngsters, Pony's first taste of
alcohol also came in apple form. "I
was sixteen years old, at Halloween...
we were having a bonfire party in my aunt's house
and i had my first alcoholic drink: Llinden Village
cider". A few years on and she
still hasn't totally given up the tramp ciders,
"sometimes I like
that cheap white lightning cider, only in moderation
though".
above:
Pony has a Stowford Press with Gents of HMZ at the
band's gig in Bath. Sorry for shite quality of the
photo.
But
overall Pony revealed she has a preference for other
fruity variations of cider when we asked her what
her favourite drink was - "pear
cider is number one, berry cider takes second place".
And the best place to enjoy a cider in Ireland? "The
Roisin Dubh in Galway" says the singer,
controversially naming a pub outside of Dublin! "They
have nice berry cider".
above: The Roisin Dubh in Galway. Pony's favourite
Irish cider pub.
above:
Enda of The Chalets, Bass in one hand, bottle of Weston's
Organic in the other. Bath '06
above:
Pony pictured with yet more Magners!
All
this expert cider-knowledge and photographic evidence
confirms that the band must be accomplished cider-drinkers,
and we asked to what extent this drinking habit
has influenced their music - "we
wrote many of our earliest songs while drinking
cider. And it has had an influence on gigs in the
past, depending on how much cider I drank beforehand.
It only ever made me feel a bit "merry"
though! So it's a good influence I guess!"
Definitely. As well as being a cure for rheumatism
and gout, cider obviously has a very positive effect
on music production... perhaps the likes of Babyshambles
should do us all a favour and get drinking some
Janet's Jungle Juice!
The
Chalets are currently working on their second album,
which will hopefully be out within the next year...
so good luck with that, and thanks very much to
Pony for answering our stupid questions.
