Getting It Off His Chester

Joe Chester is a man who has been doing the rounds on the fringes of the Dublin music scene for quite a few years now, from playing keyboards with mid-'90s also-rans Sunbear via guitar duties for Tenspeedracer and Nina Hynes, while he has also become well known for his production work.

Nonetheless, the exquisite pop of his debut album proper must come as a surprise even to the many artists he has helped out in the past. A Murder Of Crows is quite simply a joy to behold, a record that distils all of Chester’s past experiences of writing and producing and sees him emerge from the shadows with an early contender for Irish album of the year.
It’s something of a departure from the driving rock of Tenspeedracer, who, despite releasing a string of well received releases, decided to split last year, leaving the guitarist to reconsider his options.
“We were all just getting a bit old to be living together as a band in a house”, he laughs, describing their time in a Wexford farmhouse and studio as something akin to a more satanic version of The Monkees.
A self-confessed workaholic, Joe had also been using the studio to begin writing his own material.
“It wasn’t really a conscious thing but it quickly became so when the songs started building up”, he explains. “I started writing songs for Tenspeedracer that wouldn’t ever really be suited for them, so it was kind of what to do with those songs”.
A lush, confident record brim full of simple experimentation merged with nagging melodies, A Murder Of Crows highlights a man who, despite having a reputation for being obsessed with sound, is currently more interested in simply writing good songs.
“I was completely into making noise when I was younger, but I don’t want to do that anymore,” he elaborates. “I’m trying to get away from that indie band mentality which basically says ‘we don’t have to sell any records, because that’s not cool’. I just don’t think it’s good enough. I wish a lot of those kind of bands would step up to the mark and compete, do what they’re supposed to do”.
If this sounds like an angry rant, he does not mean it to be, but the scope of his own songwriting, with echoes of everything from My Bloody Valentine to Fleetwood Mac, highlights what he is trying to say.
“I wanted to challenge myself to write songs that stood up to scrutiny melodically, structurally and lyrically”.
Though currently rehearsing with a band for his upcoming Whelan's date, his last live show in support of Future Kings Of Spain at The Village was noteworthy for the sheer wall of sound he was able to create with just his electric guitar and a sequencer on his laptop.
“I don’t want to be the guy with the acoustic guitar, I find it so boring, and for me it’s all about presenting the songs in the best possible light," he says. "Sometimes an acoustic is the best, but more often than not it’s not. I almost prefer doing that to playing in a band. It’s got a good dynamic to it, and people don’t really expect it”.
Though the album features contributions from former Future Kings of Spain drummer Brian McMahon and Gemma Hayes, in essence the album was recorded entirely by Joe himself.
Having done his stints in Sunbear (a “hilariously sad story”, involving evil producers, blown budgets, getting dropped, getting resigned and bust labels), releasing a project under the name ‘Sound Of Bells’ and touring with Nina Hynes, Joe was adamant that this time the album would be released under his own name.
“I could have gone under a band name but I just felt that would be an excuse for me to hide again. The challenge this time for me was to not hide away, to take ownership of it and take responsibility for it, for good or for bad.”
“With all due respect to everyone I’ve worked with in the past, I feel like this album is the first I’ve ever done. Everything else just felt like groping around trying to
to find something”.
Judging by the results, it seems he might have finally found what he was looking for.

Joe Chester gives his A Murder Of Crows album a live airing in Whelan's on March 3.