Downchild

Alternative soul for the new millennium

by John O'Neill

As the members of Downchild saunter into our meeting place, it's immediately obvious that these guys are serious. While most musicians show up in jeans and T-shirts, these cats glide in (the sun setting behind them to make the picture complete) like some kind of fashion-challenged vampires. It's the Lost Boys on acid.

"We live the band twenty-four seven," says vocalist Jamie Celozzi. "We don't put on our rock-star outfits when we get to the gig because we live this all the time."

Guitarist Joe Furber adds: "When you walk around in fishnet thigh-highs you start to get looks, but Downchild represents being free. How to be a freak and have style." He should know: with his Pebbles ponytail on top of his head, he looks like the bastard kid of Johnny Thunders and Wilma Flintstone. But, like the rest of the band, he's usually found with only the sexiest of women hanging off of him.

It's an aura that cloaks them, unseen but definite, that suggests anything goes. It is just that attitude -- a credo, really -- that not only defines how they live but also continues to directly shape their music.

"When we first started out, we realized as we went along that it didn't sound good. It took us time to find the right format," relates bassist Tony DiLorenzo of the band's humble beginning. DiLorenzo shifted from vocals to bass, Celozzi from guitar to vocals, and Furber ("I was only playing guitar for a month when they asked me to join -- it was rough") was pushed out front as a guitarist. Second guitarist Nick Cocuzzo was added when Furber split for a time to cool his heels in Florida. As for a drummer, it's yet another case of Spinal Tap as Downchild continue the search for a perfect skin-pounder.

Despite drummer setbacks, the band were able to recruit Peter Abdou long enough to cut their debut album, Nobody Understands You and the World Is Wrong (Pornogroove). Downchild load Nobody Understands with Soundgarden-style guitar slow-burns to the jazzier funk elements derived from listening to lots of P-Funk albums, which lend the songs a heavier low end but none of the bounce. While true funk wants to take you higher, Downchild are happy to stay low to the ground, dragging you through the mud right along with them.

"We went through so much shit to get that [CD] done," says DiLorenzo, "heart and soul and a lot of headaches."

"It was a learning experience," adds Furber. "The problem is that it's five years of music jammed into one CD. It still represents the band pretty well, but our sound has [developed] a lot."

Downchild will be heading back into the studio to cut a half-dozen new songs for their first release as members of East Coast Audio Entertainment. ("We're gonna try to take a different approach and capture more of our live sound," DiLorenzo confides.) Until then Downchild will continue to let their freak flag wave and their music speak for them.

"Music is funny, it's like a little kid in that it never grows up, you gotta nurture it," says Celozzi. "We want to make music that lasts [because] it's real. We aren't trying to be anybody. We're us."

Local Buzz

The double-secret throw-down "Backyardpollooza," a warm-up gig to the upcoming "SK:8 98" went down without a hitch this past weekend. Strong sets were turned in by Eastcide, Forced Fed Shovelhead, Huck, Sticker, Paco, Chokepuppy, and Exile. Spotted hobnobbing among the well-behaved masses were Mezzoman Big Wheel Dick Piloti along with (sane) wife and fellow Mezzoite, Judy, Espresso Bar honcho Eric Spencer, WAAF "personality" Rocko, WCUW's own Mark Paolini, Eastern Boarder's Dave Woods, Omni engineer Dana White (Chillum Nineteen ninety-eight), screenwriter Mike Lewis, various members of Woodgrain Theory and Chillum, and state rep. candidate John Fresolo. Worcester's finest made the scene in two separate cruisers to take in Forced Fed's set!

Ralph's has once again taken to booking live music on Friday nights. Bartender Jamie Celozzi, whom you may have just read about above, is the man to talk to should you want a gig. Lee Totten and Chillum head north to Vermont this weekend to the five-day Burlington Music Conference. Both bands won a chance to showcase their stuff in front of industry-types. Surf punks the Preston Wayne Four are currently recording a full-length CD in Boston with Eric Lindgren. The disc is scheduled to be released later this year on Northampton-based Dino Records. The Prefab Messiahs, moved by Wormtown's 20th anniversary, are actively rehearsing at a secret location so they can sound better than anyone else at the upcoming two-day Birthday Bash planned for September at Ralph's. Old-schoolers the Odds, Commandos, and Performers are also reported to be on the bill. Stay tuned!