Paul Hester

There is an old saying in show business "The Show Must Go On". Hester tried his very best to live his life according to that old adage, but sadly, could not beat his own personal demons and the show did not go on. Paul Hester always smiled on the outside. As an eight-year old child he wrote a journal entry about one day hoping to become a famous drummer with a successful band. Hester achieved his goal, but he discovered the hard way that there was more to life than money and power. When Hester joined Split Enz during their final days (in 1983) he was on top of the world. He was always a little strange and appearing with a band that thrived in their own quirkiness and eccentricities seemed like the perfect place for the young, spiky haired, eccentric drum prodigy. Hester became well known for his on-stage antics and tomfoolery, and he always gave the audience a good show. When Split Enz disbanded shortly after he joined he was devastated. What was he now to do with his exceptional talent that had no showcase for it? He dabbled in films, with Split Enz front man Tim Finn securing him a one-line bit part in his project "The Coca Cola Kid" - it was fulfilling, but Hester yearned for more. He needed to be on stage, where he was most comfortable. When Neil Finn offered him the role as drummer for Crowded House, a band he was forming, he was ecstatic - he thought that this was finally the chance he needed to shine. Crowded House promised a much smaller line up than Split Enz, only three members, so he would truly have a chance to shine. However, during their 1993 tour stress took its toll on Hester. He became sarcastic and withdrawn - when he answered interview questions he was abrupt and rude, a far cry from the once quirky Hester. He had had enough - he finally walked. After he left Crowded House it looked like Hester might turn his life around - he married and had two children and found solace by becoming a popular TV personality. But it was all a front - music was what he loved and he needed to get back to drumming. He found this by forming a band, Tarmac Adam, with band-mate Nick Seymour. In 2003 it looked like he had turned his life around. Gone were the demons that haunted him and he was on the straight and narrow * but it was all a front. The life long depression finally got the most of him in early 2005 when he took his own life. It would be all too easy to look back on Hester's life and say that he never conquered his demons - but he achieved what he wanted, and he lived a short yet brilliant life.