Hailing from Canterbury, New Zealand, Chester Travis does not conform to the local reference of a "one-eyed Cantabrian". Chester is without doubt a "two-eyed Cantabrian" with one eye firmly focused on his piano and the other fixated on his guitar.
With a reputation for melodies and lyrics and on occasion the two together, Travis shares a life full of experience.
Chester first learnt about notes and quavers and stuff on the piano, learning from the age of seven. Guitar, however, came later and with much more struggle, though not musically. At twelve years old Chester begged his parents for a guitar. Unfortunately, one year earlier Chester had also begged, pleaded, haggled and bargained for a unicycle, every child’s dream. Young Travis got what he had cried so loud for...and never used it. The unicycle left without even another wheel to keep it company.
So when Chester went through the same ordeal a year on, Mum and Dad were suitably skeptical. But obviously Chester received his wish of a guitar which he promptly started teaching to himself. When he was about 13 or 14 Chester trasped through Europe with his family. While they were living on a barge - on a french canal, in a tiny tiny French town called Le Someil - the lack of Buxom French, and also not hairy ladies under 70, thrust Chester into a realm of immense boredom and frustration. This frustration and boredom would cause him to ride off into vineyards day after day on a wee French bicycle with a guitar on his back, where he taught himself to write original material.
A 'Kiwi' with strong international influences, Chester's work has to date culminated in the critically acclaimed EP, "7", released in May 2007. Real Groove magazine called it "a portent of greatness" while the Christchurch Press dubbed the release as "a slice of pan baked heaven".
And Chester's mum almost fainted with pride.
Much of the material is now back in the oven, preparing for a full length debut album which will, no doubt, confirm the suspicions of fans and critics alike that Chester's musical stamp will make a huge mark on the international stage. "7" EP available now.
VIDEOS
Womb
Live from Acoustic Footprint February 2008
Cheap Shot
A small animation I made a couple of years back.
