Alison Chesley (born January 4, 1960), known also by her stage name Helen Money, is a Chicago-based cellist and composer. Chesley was born and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California. She moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to attend

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, where she received a master's degree in

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

performance in 1994, studying with Hans Jorgen Jensen. While at Northwestern, Chesley met Jason Narducy. They performed as an acoustic rock duo called Jason & Alison (renamed

Verbow Verbow was an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago and active between the mid-1990s and early 2000s. The band's sound was distinguished by emotionally direct songwriting and their unconventional use of cello. History Early period: Ja ...

), and went on to release two albums for Epic Records: ''Chronicles'', produced by

Bob Mould Robert Arthur Mould (born October 16, 1960) is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s. Early years Born in Malone, ...

, and ''White Out'', produced by

Brad Wood Brad Wood is an American record producer located in Los Angeles. He has produced many albums, including Liz Phair's '' Exile in Guyville'' and Placebo's debut. Career Wood is from Rockford, Illinois, United States. In 1988, Wood, along wi ...

. Opening for such bands as

Frank Black Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. F ...

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist M ...

, Live, Morrissey,

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career ...

and

Brad Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

with

Stone Gossard Stone Carpenter Gossard (born July 20, 1966) is an American musician who serves as a guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band. ...

, Verbow toured nationally for seven years. Meeting and working with Bob Mould was a big influence on Chesley forming the Helen Money project for aggressive, amplified cello. Verbow broke up in 2001 and Chesley turned her attention to a busy career in Chicago as a composer/performer and session musician in the studio. She most often recorded at two of Chicago's busiest recording studios,

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

Electrical Audio Electrical Audio is a recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there. Unlike most producers, Albini refuses to take any royal ...

and Soma Studios. She worked with artists including

Mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

, Anthrax,

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the oth ...

Russian Circles Russian Circles is an American instrumental band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was originally formed by childhood friends Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz after their previous musical projects dissolved. After parting ways with their ori ...

, Chris Connelly,

Poi Dog Pondering Poi Dog Pondering is an American musical group which is noted for its cross-pollination of diverse musical genres, including various forms of acoustic and electronic music. Frank Orrall founded the band in Hawaii in 1984, initially as a solo pr ...

and

Disturbed Disturbed may refer to: Books * ''Disturbed'', a 2011 novel by Kevin O'Brien (author) Film and TV * ''Disturbed'' (film), a 1990 film starring Malcolm McDowell * "Disturbed" (''Numb3rs''), a 2009 episode of ''Numb3rs'' * "The Disturbed", a 2 ...

. She also appears on albums by Bob Mould and Rachel Grimes. In 2011, Chesley moved back to Los Angeles and switched her attention away from studio work and towards touring as Helen Money. Since then, she has toured widely across the U.S. and Europe, opening for acts such as

Shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

, Nina Nastasia,

Joe Lally Joseph Francis Lally (born December 3, 1963) is an American bassist, vocalist and record label owner, best known for his work with Fugazi. Biography Lally was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. Fugazi Joe Lally formed Fugazi with Ian MacKaye in ...

Sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a de ...

Magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...

Jarboe Jarboe Devereaux, known mononymously as Jarboe (), is an American singer and musician who came to prominence as a member of the New York City experimental rock band Swans in 1985. Jarboe and Michael Gira, the founder of Swans, were the two consta ...

Neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

and

Agalloch Agalloch () was an American extreme metal band from Portland, Oregon. Formed in 1995 by frontman John Haughm, they released five full-length albums, four EPs, two singles, one split single, two demos, four compilation albums and one live video ...

. During the spring of 2015, Chesley performed with Bob Mould on his Workbook 25 tour, which included an appearance on the '' Late Show with David Letterman''. In addition to Helen Money, Chesley has also composed music for film, theater and dance, including two major works for Chicago-based Mordine and Company Dance Theater, ''Quest'' and ''Time Stilled''. In 2007 she was granted a full scholarship to study composition with guitarist/composer Fred Frith at Oakland's esteemed

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

. She opted out of the offer, and decided against the move to concentrate on expanding her role as Helen Money. Chesley's first solo album, the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

'' Helen Money'', was released on Cellobird Records in September 2007. Her second album as Helen Money, ''In Tune'', was released on the

Table of the Elements Table of the Elements is an American record label. It concentrates on re-released and specially recorded experimental music, including many avant-garde musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries: such as John Cale, Tony Conrad, La Monte Young, L ...

label. ''In Tune'' was recorded at Electrical Audio by Greg Norman and mixed by Sanford Parker at Semaphore Studios in Chicago. Her third Helen Money release, ''Arriving Angels'', came in 2013 on the Profound Lore label. It was recorded and mixed at Electrical Audio by Steve Albini. A new Helen Money record, ''Become Zero'', was slated for release on

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

in September 2016. It was recorded in Los Angeles at Neutral Studios and East/West Studios by Will Thomas and Ken Sluiter, and mixed by Will Thomas. Chesley was chosen by Portishead to perform a Helen Money performance at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror festival that they curated in July 2011 at London's Alexandra Palace, and also performed at the ATP event Nightmare Before Christmas, curated by Shellac in December 2012.

Selected discography

* 2021 - Thalia Zedek Band, '' Perfect Vision'' (

) * 2020 - Helen Money, ''Atomic'' (

) * 2019 -

, ''Sunshine Rock'' (Merge Records) * 2016 - Helen Money, ''Become Zero'' (Thrill Jockey) * 2015 -

/Helen Money (Aurora Borealis) * 2013 - Helen Money, ''Arriving Angels'' ( Profound Lore) * 2011 - Anthrax, ''

Worship Music Contemporary worship music (CWM), also known as praise and worship music, is a defined genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has developed over the past 60 years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are f ...

'' ( Megaforce) * 2010 -

'' Hymn to the Immortal Wind'' (

Temporary Residence A temporary resident is a foreign national granted the right to stay in a country for a certain length of time (e.g. with a visa or ), without full citizenship. This may be for study, business, or other reasons. Various countries have their own ru ...

) * 2009 - Helen Money ''In Tune'' (

) * 2009 -

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

'' (

Suicide Squeeze Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, Washington-based independent record label that releases rock, pop, and metal music. Suicide Squeeze releases content on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital. The label has also released comedy and performance a ...

) * 2009 -

, ''Forgiveness Rock Record'' ( Arts & Crafts) * 2007 - Alison Chesley, '' Helen Money'' (Cellobird Records) * 2007 - Krista Franklin and Alison Chesley ''Aural Anarchy'' ( Naïve) * 2007 - Plague Bringer, ''Life Songs in the Land of Death'' (Hewhocorrupts) * 2006 -

, ''You Are There'' (

) * 2004 - Mono, ''Walking Cloud'' (Temporary Residence) * 2004 -

, ''In Seed Comes Fruit'' (Premonition Records) * 2002 -

, '' Believe'' (

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

) * 2001 - Chris Connelly & The Bells, ''Blonde Exodus'' (

Invisible Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be ''invisible'' (literally, "not visible"). The phenomenon is studied by physics and perceptual psychology. Since objects can be seen by light in ...

) * 2000 -

, ''White Out'' ( Epic) * 2000 - Poi Dog Pondering, ''Soul Sonic Orchestra'' (Plate-Tec-Tonic) * 1999 -

The Aluminum Group The Aluminum Group is an American pop band from Chicago, Illinois centered on brothers John and Frank Navin. The band has released eight albums, on various record labels including Minty Fresh, Hefty, Wishing Tree, and P-Vine. History The Navin b ...

, ''Pedals'' (

Minty Fresh Minty Fresh is a Chicago-based record label, founded in 1993 by Jim Powers with Anthony Musiala. The label is known for launching the careers of Veruca Salt. They also gave the Swedish band The Cardigans their first US release and released the d ...

) * 1999 -

Archer Prewitt Archer Prewitt (born 1963 in Frankfort, Kentucky) is an American musician and cartoonist associated with the independent music scene in Chicago, Illinois. Biography Music Prewitt enrolled in the Kansas City Art Institute and began drumming i ...

, ''White Sky'' (Carrot Top) * 1998 - Bob Mould, ''The Last Dog and Pony Show'' (

Rykodisc Records Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record ...

) * 1997 - Verbow, ''Chronicles'' (Epic) * 1994 - Jason and Alison, ''Woodshed'' (Whitehouse Records)

References

External links

Helen Money website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesley, Alison Suicide Squeeze Records artists American cellists Living people Poi Dog Pondering members Warner Records artists Epic Records artists American session musicians 1960 births American women classical cellists American classical cellists 21st-century American women

Selected discography

See also

References

External links