Chester French: Funky White Boys

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" Everybody keeps telling me they love Chester French. It almost makes me not want to like Chester French.

You know, just to be non-conformist.

But then I wouldn't get to enjoy Chester French.

It's rare that a band has such a crazed cult following before they even release an album, but believe it or not for all the talk and hype, these dudes haven't released their first studio album.

Not that it matters. Though being mastered here in Los Angeles, the duo's entire album was written, arranged, produced and engineered entirely in a dorm basement at Harvard.

That's where founding members Maxwell Drummey and D.A. Wallach met, as students. Their band name, in fact, refers to sculptor Daniel Chester French, who designed the John Harvard statue (as well as the statue at the Lincoln Memorial, for you history buffs).

These smarties took the age old advice of having something to fall back on - Wallach has a degree in African American studies, Drummey in Social Anthropology - but it seems they won't be filling out applications for day jobs any time soon.

After creating a name for themselves on the road, the duo is set to release that basement-recorded debut this year. And fans aren't the only ones taking notice. SPIN magazine tapped them for Who's Next in '08, while Rolling Stone named them among the Artists to Watch this year.

A little retro Beatles flavor, a little R&B and a lot of funk, these educated maestros might just change the face of music.

When I first heard Chester French, I felt like I had stumbled upon two geniuses, says Pharrell Williams (who signed them to his label). It's been a long time since I've heard a project teeming with this sort of musicality and originality. You're going to watch history unfold with these guys. I feel it in my gut.

Word.
-Wes