Hardly the norm for pop-rock, Chester French is comprised of two 2007 Harvard graduates, D.A. Wallach and Max Drummey. Although their music can be considered pop, indie and rock, they also have gotten nods from rappers, including Kanye West and Pharrell Williams, who appreciate French’s general musicality.
While fans of retro sounds like The Beatles or more modern indie bands like MGMT might be particularly attracted to French’s sound, anyone with good taste can enjoy their music. Both Wallach and Drummey have extensive training in music and performance, which is apparent in the quality of sound. In particular, Drummey engineered much of the music, making use of his comprehensive foundation in classical piano and jazz. Wallach, who had a background in performance, worked on most of the vocals.
Drummey summed up their music philosophy on the group’s MySpace page. “A lot of people make experimental music. We look at our music as not being experimental, but being the result of a variety of experiments — what we distilled from doing outlandish things, what are the best ideas.”
The pair met during their freshman year in college and quickly bonded playing music around campus with three other guys. They later became involved in QSS, an on-campus studio recording studio, where they learned how to create and produce music. Recording turned out to be a good plan, because West and Williams caught wind of the band through demos and both eventually offered French a recording deal. They decided to sign with Pharrell’s label Star Trak and Interscope records.
Currently, French’s most notable song is “She Loves Everybody.” Featured on HBO’s Entourage, it has an instrumental vibe blended with an old school hip-hop feel. Its playful and sardonic lyrics give the band an edge without being profane.
Other notables, which can be found on their MySpace page, include “People,” which takes on a particularly retro-Motown feel, while singing about finding “a girl . . . / in a grocery store . . . / just find somebody’s mommy who can squeeze you / in between all the chores, she’s bored” and “Beneath the Veil,” a distinctly country song that has an almost bluegrass feel because of its dominant beat. “The Jimmy Choos” falls in the same vein of “She Loves Everybody,” with an electric beat and catchy incorporation of high fashion.
The Cambridge duo has reached some notable milestones, including being featured in Spin’s “Who’s Next ’08” and Rolling Stone’s “Artists To Watch.” In addition, Drummey also has taken a famous wife, Peaches Geldof, the daughter of Bob Geldof, frontman of the Irish New Wave band Boomtown Rats.
If you haven’t heard of them yet, you will. Stay ahead of the curve and check out Chester French before they are selling out major venues like John Paul Jones Arena and the Verizon Center. Their EP is on iTunes and their debut CD, Love the Future, should be out this spring.
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