Chris Cester

Christopher James Cester (born 16 September 1981) is an Australian musician, songwriter and producer. He was the founding mainstay drummer and backing vocalist of rock band, Jet. His older brother is Nic Cester (born 6 July 1979), the band's mainstay lead singer and frontman. As a member of Jet, Cester has won awards as a songwriter from the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) including in 2005 as Songwriter of the Year, and 2011 for "Seventeen", which won Most Played Australian Work and Rock Work of the Year. In March 2012 Jet announced their disbandment.

Chris Cester
Birth name	Christopher James Cester
Born	16 September 1981 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres	Rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Drums percussion guitar vocals
Years active	1996–present
Associated acts	Jet

Biography

Christopher James Cester was born on 16 September 1981 and grew up in Melbourne.[1][2] His older brother is Nicholas John "Nic" Cester (born 6 July 1979) and they have two younger brothers. Their mother, Helen Isobel née McIvor (born 1957) has Scottish descent, and their father, Giovanni "John" Cester (1957–August 2004) had Italian parents.[3]

During their childhood, Chris and Nic listened to music their parents liked, including The Beatles' Abbey Road, which was their favourite album. The boys attended St Bede's College Mentone. Their uncle, Eugene Paul Mark Cester (born 1961), as Eugene de la Hot-Croix Bun became a member of the Australian alternative, satire rock band, TISM, from 1982. When the Cester brothers played pretend gigs in their living room, Chris was the singer, but he eventually changed to drums, pretending to play while Nic sang.

The two older Cester brothers formed Jet in 1996 with Nic's school mate, Cameron Muncey on guitar and vocals; and Mark Wilson on bass guitar.[4] The band used a variety of names before settling on Jet in 2002 – after the 1973 song, "Jet", by former Beatle Paul McCartney and his band, Wings.[4] Chris played the drums primarily, but also played guitar and sang some of the songs.

In August 2004 during the preparation for the group's second album, Shine On (September 2006), Chris and Nic's father died of cancer.[5] This made it difficult to write the rest of the album; Nic wrote the title track, "Shine On", to honour their father.

Chris used Gretsch drums, with a Brady 14" x 8" Jarrah Ply snare and Zildjian cymbals. His cymbal set-up was a pair of 15" A Zildjian New Beat Hats, and a 22" K Zildjian Dark Ride.[6]

By mid-2011 Cester had formed his own electro-rock band, DamnDogs, in Los Angeles with a cousin, Mitch McIvor on guitar; Jet's Wilson on bass guitar; and that group's touring keyboardist, Louis Macklin.[7][8] DamnDogs released a debut five-track EP, Strange Behaviour,[7] on 9 August 2011 via iTunes. In March 2012 Jet announced their disbandment.[9] Cester explained why Jet broke up "More personal tension than anything else... predominantly, it was just personal things. And long-standing arguments that never got resolved. Really personal stuff, and between all of us at one point or another".[7]

He continued his work with DamnDogs after Wilson had left the line-up.[7] As from April 2012 Chris has continued to live, with his partner and their child, in LA.[7][8]

In 2016, Cester performed with the Mystic Knights of Amnesia, a band that was named by friend and former Oasis guitarist and songwriter, Noel Gallagher.[10]

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA).[11]

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
2005	"Cold Hard Bitch" – Nicholas Cester, Christopher Cester, Cameron Muncey	Most Performed Australian Work Overseas[12]	Nominated
	Jet – Nicholas Cester, Cameron Muncey, Chris Cester	Songwriter of the Year[13]	Won
2006	"Cold Hard Bitch" – Nicholas Cester, Christopher Cester, Cameron Muncey	Most Performed Australian Work Overseas[14]	Nominated
2010	"She's a Genius" – Christopher Cester	Most Played Australian Work[15]	Nominated
	"She's a Genius" – Christopher Cester	Rock Work of the Year[16]	Nominated
2011	"Seventeen" – Nicholas Cester, Christopher Cester, Cameron Muncey	Most Played Australian Work[17]	Won
	"Seventeen" – Nicholas Cester, Christopher Cester, Cameron Muncey	Rock Work of the Year[18]	Won

References

General

• Spencer, Chris; Zbig Nowara; Paul McHenry (2002) [1987]. The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1.[19] Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.
• Wilson, MacKenzie. "Jet". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 August 2014.

Specific

1. Wilson
2. Spencer et al, (2007) 'Sester, Chris' [sic] entry.
3. "Jet Interview, Will and Lehmo". Triple M, Melbourne, 105.1. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011.
4. Nimmervoll, Ed. "Jet". Howlspace. White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 29 January 2005. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
5. Cashmere, Paul (16 August 2004). "Cester Brother's Father Passes Away". Undercover (Paul Cashmere, Ros O'Gorman). Archived from the original on 18 November 2004. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
6. Cymbal setup
7. Welsh, Caitlin (12 April 2012). "Chris Cester: 'You Become Somewhat of a Cliché'". Mess+Noise. Sound Alliance. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
8. Mathieson, Craig (9 July 2011). "Damn Dogs". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
9. "A Message to Our Fans". Jet Official Website. 26 March 2012. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
10. https://www.nme.com/news/music/noel-gallagher-responsible-jet-members-new-band-1882570
11. "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
12. "Nominations - 2005". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
13. "Songwriter of the Year - 2005 Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 15 August 2014.
14. "Nominations - 2006". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 15 August 2014.
15. "Most Played Australian Work - 2010". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 15 August 2014.
16. "Rock Work of the Year – 2010". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
17. "Most Played Australian Work - 2011". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 15 August 2014.
18. "Rock Work of the Year – 2011". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 14 August 2014.
19. "Who's who of Australian rock / compiled by Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry". catalogue. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 February 2010.