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Paul Hester.
January 8 1959 - March 26 2005
Throughout much of his life, Paul Hester battled severe depression; but this has come to a surprise for many of us who were only privy to his manic, often hilarious, occasionally downright mad side. As the drummer for Crowded House, one of Australia's greatest ever musical products, Hester became known for his wild antics on stage which ranged from pausing live shows to wait for fast food deliveries to walking out completely naked whilst lead singer Neil Finn performed solo at the piano.
Hester joined Split Enz in 1983, the last of the band's many
drummers. The following year, the band split for good after
its only remaining founding member, Tim Finn, left to pursue
his solo projects. It was then that the 'Enz's youngest members,
Hester and singer/songwriter Neil Finn, formed their own group
with bass player Nick Seymour. Turning away from the complex
arrangements and warped ideas of the Enz, this trio set off
to America with only three instruments, often "busking" acoustically
in front of large crowds. In 1986, the trio named themselves
Crowded House and released their first album, which contained
the worldwide hit Don't Dream It's Over.
Crowded House remain one of the country's most loved bands, and although Finn is most often praised as the songwriting genius, Hester is certainly the one that made us laugh. Since leaving the band mid-tour in 1994, he opened a cafe and a recording studio, and had numerous TV gigs including his own ABC show, 'Hessie's Shed', regular spots on cable channel MusicMax, and cameos on 'The Wiggles' and, of course, the unforgettably short-lived 'Mick Molloy Show'. He last appeared with Neil Finn in a TV special late last year.
On March 26, Hester hanged himself in a Melbourne park. He was
46 years old. When Neil and Tim Finn heard the news, they postponed
their European Finn Brothers shows to return to Australia; but
not before they fetched Seymour from his home in Ireland for
a rousing performance of Don't Dream It's Over at the
Albert Hall in Hester's memory: a fitting tribute for a legend
of Australian music.
Ben Revi
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