Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club is an independent alternative band from Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Jerry Fish is the alter ego of musician and record producer Gerard Whelan who founded an independent record label and the band Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club, an eclectic, roots collective of musicians, friends and songs inspired in part by a musical circus troupe from Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

, the movie soundtracks of Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...

 and the music of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 artists Lou Reed

Lou Reed

Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...

, Marc Ribot

Marc Ribot

Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...

 and Willy DeVille

Willy DeVille

Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...

 (Mink DeVille).

The bands sound has been described as a mix of 'lounge lizard schmooze and mariachi passion' and 'punk latino'.

Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club released the debut album Be Yourself in September 2002 and had a top ten hit in Ireland with the song True Friends after it was used in a television advertisement for Vodafone

Vodafone

Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...

, the album went on to achieve multi-platinum sales in Ireland and was released in the U.K. in 2003 to critical acclaim. Be Yourself also includes contributions from Irish singer Damien Rice

Damien Rice

Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....

.

Jerry Fish was given an Irish Music Award at the 2003 Meteor Awards

2003 Meteor Awards

The 2003 Meteor Music Awards were hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain. It was the third edition of Ireland's national music awards. Actors Colin Farrell, Colm Meaney and Stephen Rea were among the awards presenters.- Performances :...

 for best Roots/Country Artist and went on to present the second series of the music television programme Other Voices

Other Voices

Other Voices may refer to:Literature* Other Voices, Other Rooms , the 1948 novel by Truman Capote* Other Voices , an electronic journal of cultural criticism and cultural studies...

produced by Phillip King

Phillip King

Phillip King PRA is a British sculptor. He is one of Anthony Caro's best known students, even though the two artists are near contemporaries. Their education followed similar trajectories and they both worked as assistants to Henry Moore...

 that same year.

The Mudbug Club toured Be Yourself in Ireland and the U.K. throughout 2002, 2003 and 2004 and became a festival favourite in the U.K. and Ireland playing Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury Festival

The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...

, The Isle of Wight Festival

Isle of Wight Festival

The Isle of Wight Festival is a music festival which takes place every year on the Isle of Wight in England. It was originally held from 1968 to 1970. These original events were promoted and organised by the Foulk brothers under the banner of their company Fiery Creations Limited...

, V Festival

V Festival

The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and...

, T in the Park

T in the Park

T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...

, Oxegen

Oxegen

Oxegen is an annual music festival in Ireland held since 2004, sponsored by Heineken. As of 2007, 2008, 2009, the festival has been cited as Ireland's biggest music festival. And by 2009, the festival is cited as the greenest festival, being a 100% carbon neutral event in Ireland. It was previously...

 and The Electric Picnic. In 2004 Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club recorded and released a live album and DVD Live at The Spiegeltent - floating on The River Liffey, recorded at the Palais de Glase Spiegeltent as part of The Dublin Fringe Festival

Dublin Fringe Festival

The Dublin Fringe Festival allows artists to develop and present their work by submitting their application which is subsequently reviewed by the programme manager. The festival is open to both Irish and international participants....

.

In 2009, the band released The Beautiful Untrue featuring guest vocals from rockabilly singer Imelda May

Imelda May

Imelda Mary Higham, Clabby , known as Imelda May, is an Irish vocalist and musician. She began her career in music at 15 and released her debut album in 2005. She also plays the bodhrán and guitar...

 and indie singer Carol Keogh. The Beautiful Untrue entered the Irish charts at number 7.

In the same year Jerry Fish also recorded an album with the actors Michael Madsen

Michael Madsen

Michael Søren Madsen is an American actor, poet, and photographer. He has appeared in more than 150 films, most of them small independent films, though he has starred in central roles in such films as Reservoir Dogs, Free Willy, Donnie Brasco, and Kill Bill, in addition to a supporting role in Sin...

, David Carradine

David Carradine

David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...

 and Harry Dean Stanton

Harry Dean Stanton

Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...

, and the singer Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop

Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...

, with the contributors reciting poems written by Madsen. Fish and Madsen signed a deal to make three records together, released on Fish's "The Mudbug Club" label . Fish also composed music to appear on the tracks as a soundscape. No release date has been named yet for the album.

At Christmas 2010, the song Back to before from the album The Beautiful Untrue featured in a television and radio advertisement in Spain and Portugal for the department store chain El Corte Inglés

El Corte Inglés

El Corte Inglés S.A. , headquartered in Madrid, is the biggest department store group in Europe and ranks fourth worldwide...

.

In 2011, The Beautiful Untrue was released in Spain by Warner Music.

Discography

Albums:

• Be Yourself, 2002
• Live At The Spiegeltent, 2004
• The Beautiful Untrue, 2009

DVD:

• Live At The Spiegeltent, 2004 (Free Bonus DVD on CD Limited Edition)

External links

• Official Website
• Jerry Fish PR in Ireland
  Republic of Ireland
  Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
  
  
• Interview with Jerry Fish for meg.ie