Summerfest finds '09: Chester French
Dance pop that's as smart as it is catchy
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To help coax some serendipity into your Summerfest experience, Decider goes looking this week for side-stage shows that you might not have circled on your calendar yet, but should. We've already looked at Cory Chisel And The Wandering Sons, Riverboat Gamblers, and Soulive. Today, we get excited about a Milwaukee-ish pop band.
Chester French (7 p.m. July 2, Miller Lite Oasis)
Good for fans of: Cheeky new-wave dance pop that’s a lot smarter than it first appears.
Background: Chester French started out as a dorm-room project for Harvard University students D.A. Wallach and Maxwell Drummey, who spent their college years perfecting a hooky pop-soul formula that drew equally from classic rock and the latest hip-hop and R&B sounds. As Wallach, a Milwaukee native, and Drummey approached graduation, their demo somehow reached a who’s-who of super-producers, including Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, and Jermaine Dupri. Williams and West ended up in a bidding war over the group, with Williams eventually winning. Chester French’s debut album, Love The Future, dropped in April.
Sneak preview: Check out this video for the group's single "She Loves Everybody."
