The Chester French Blog

Check out this fun article about us that’s appearing in the Metro International by Kasia Pilat:

Boston band Chester French’s to-do list: Make nice with hip-hop stars Talib Kweli, Common and Jadakiss? Check. Sip on Ciroc with Diddy? Check. Release your debut on Pharrell’s record label, Star Trak? Check. Live in a beautiful home with… Your parents? Uh, check?

“I live at my mom’s house,” announces Chester French front man, D.A. Wallach, “which flies in the face of conventional wisdom that you should live in L.A. I mean, we at first made the mistake of moving out to L.A. and renting this house and all this and I think, especially in a recession like this, there’s nothing wrong with living at home or economizing.”

Whether they’ve felt the effects of the recession or not, Wallach and Maxwell Drummey, Chester French’s other half, have certainly felt the effects of fame. Soon after graduating from Harvard University the pair signed with N.E.R.D. front man, Pharrell, but not before a bidding war went down between he and the Louis Vuitton Don himself, Kanye West.

“It felt like being a really hot chick at a really exclusive party,” says Wallach.

If Chester French is that hot chick, then they definitely put out. The duo teamed up with DJ Clinton Sparks to drop a mix tape called “Jacques Jams, Vol. 1: Endurance,” a 24-track musical odyssey, days before even releasing their first album, offering it as a free download via their Web site. It features mostly original songs by artists like Diddy, Pharrell and Jermaine Dupri, but also a few remixes and three tracks off their record. The group also has a ‘VIP Concierge Service’ and a strong commitment to their fans and foes alike.

“I use Twitter for converting haters into lovers,” says Wallach. “It’s pretty cool, you can search ‘Chester French’ and see what people are saying about us. There have been a few times when people are like, ‘God, I hate Chester French, I don’t see what the point is,’ and I’ll e-mail them like, ‘Yo let me send you a free CD so you can get familiar with what we do’… We’ll do anything within reason to turn people onto our project.”

The catchy, smart pop music on the new album, “Love the Future” is unquestionably infectious, and “Jacques Jams” follows suit, but the latter is definitely in the vein of hip-hop. So how do you get some of rap’s biggest names on an album that you’re giving away for free?

“The fee for each of them was $25,000… We’re rich and famous though, so it wasn’t hard to pay for it,” jokes Drummey.

“They were cool,” says Wallach. “It was pretty awesome because people didn’t really have to be convinced. We just said, ‘We’re doing this project, are you down to be involved?’ and all the people who are on it were just eager to lend their talent to it.”

-DA & Max