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Finn mourns Hester
This is from Australian Press.
So very sad.RIP,Paul.
Finn mourns Hester
11:30 AM March 29
Tim and Neil Finn will go ahead with their
London concerts, believing it is the best way
to remember former Crowded House drummer Paul
Hester who hanged himself in a Melbourne
park.
The 46-year-old father-of-two was found dead
at Elsternwick Park in Brighton on Saturday
afternoon, after last being seen walking his
two dogs on Friday evening.
Neil Finn, who formed Crowded House with
Hester after they played together in Split
Enz, spoke of his grief at losing one of his
best friends.
"I am deeply saddened by the loss of a
close friend," the former Crowded
House frontman said from London.
"(Crowded House bassist) Nick Seymour
will be joining Tim and me here in London
today to share our grief.
"The Finn Brothers shows this week at
the Royal Albert Hall will go ahead as we
don't know what else to do at this time
other than to be with those closest to us and
Paul and to play music to remember him by.
"Our hearts go out to Mardi, Sunday,
Olive and all of Paul's family."
A special forum has been set up on the
frenz.com site For fans wishing to share
their feelings with each other.
Hester played in several Melbourne bands
before Finn gave him his big break with Split
Enz in 1983.
The pair formed Crowded House with bassist
Nick Seymour in the mid-1980s and went on to
notch up a string of hits in Australia and
overseas, including Don't Dream It's
Over and Something So Strong.
Music historian Glenn A Baker said Hester was
a born entertainer.
"He was just one of those guys who
filled a stage," Baker said.
"He was an active musician. He was
much admired. He was well liked and will be
very, very sorely missed."
Hester was known for his crazy on-stage
antics but there have been suggestions the
drummer struggled with depression.
Entertainment reporter Richard Wilkins said
he enjoyed a working relationship with
Hester, particularly during the Crowded House
days.
"I was a big fan and liked him
enormously," Wilkins said.
"He was just a great guy and it would
appear that he is another one of those witty,
funny guys who obviously had some sort of
equal and opposite depressed side that he was
dealing with."
Hester quit Crowded House in 1994, two years
before the band broke up, reinventing himself
as a drummer-for-hire in Melbourne and owner
of an Elwood Beach tea-house.
He had his own music chat show, Hessie's
Shed, on ABC TV in the late 1990s, and was
most recently the host of MusicMax Sessions
on Foxtel.
He lived in the Melbourne suburb of Elwood
with his girlfriend Mardi Somerfeld and their
two daughters, aged eight and 10.
Metropolitan Ambulance Service (MAS)
spokeswoman Liraje Memishi said ambulance
officers arrived at Elsternwick Park on
Saturday afternoon, and reported Hester had
"attempted suicide" and
suffered "strangulation".
It is believed his body was found hanging
from a tree.
Ambulance officers declared Hester dead about
20 minutes after they reached the park.
Crowded House fans flooded websites to
express their sadness today.
"He is the one memory I have from
skipping school when I was 15 to go to a
soundcheck on the 'Enz with a Bang'
tour," one fan wrote on the frenz.com
website.
"The only thing I remember about that
day is Paul, wearing pointy black suede
boots, black jeans and a bright pink shirt,
which he lifted to flash his stomach and
chest at me."
Another fan, Dean, said he felt as though he
had lost a member of his own family.
"Feels like I lost a part of my
family," the Crowded House devotee
said.
"I know the last few years of Crowded
House were hard on him (Hester), but I
figured everything since was going all
right."
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