''For the London landmark, see

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...

.'' Lester Square (born Thomas Hardy, 17 April 1954, Canada) is the former lead guitarist for

The Monochrome Set The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk/ new wave band, originally formed in London in January 1978. The most recent line-up consists of Bid, Andy Warren, Athen Ayren and Stephen Gilchrist. History Original band: 1978–1985 The Monoc ...

. He joined the first incarnation of

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...

as lead guitarist , (and its earlier incarnation known as The B-Sides) after meeting Adam while studying at Hornsey College of Art, writing Ants staples "

Fall In ''Fall In'' is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Kurt Neumann and written by Eugene Conrad and Edward E. Seabrook. The film stars William Tracy, Joe Sawyer, Robert Barrat, Jean Porter and Arthur Hunnicutt. The film was released on November ...

" and "Fat Fun" during this period. He left in 1978 to form The Monochrome Set with singer-songwriter Bid, a band cited as "a major influence on the Smiths, Franz Ferdinand, Orange Juice, Fire Engines and a whole host of UK indie and post punk bands." He has also briefly played guitar with The Invisible (1985–1987), ...And the Native Hipsters, and Jesus Couldn't Drum. Square has also composed music for dance performance, most notably ''Rhythm and Hues'', a kinaesthetic exploration of 20th-century works of art in collaboration with the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

and

Helen McCookerybook Helen McCookerybook (born Helen McCallum, a.k.a. Dr Helen Reddington) is a British musician and singer-songwriter, who was the bass player and co-singer with The Chefs (an acclaimed Brighton based punk band), during the late 1970s and early 198 ...

. Also in collaboration with McCookerybook, he composed soundtrack music for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

documentaries ''Pictures of Women'' and ''No-one Likes Us, We Don't Care'', Akiko Hada and Wolfgang Müller's 1991 parable on the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...

, ''The Fall of a Queen, or the Taste of the Fruit to Come''. He has released five solo albums since leaving The Monochrome Set: ''Carcass'' in 2017, ''Serotonin'' in 2018, ''Chautauqua'' in 2019, ''Nuevo Laredo'' in 2021 and ''Invisible Man'' in 2022. As a visual artist Square has regularly exhibited his work and between 1996 and 2004 he sat on the editorial board of ''The International Journal of Art and Design Education'' , acting as Literary Editor for 5 years. In 2006 he edited “Art Education in a Postmodern World” (Intellect Books). During that period, he was also a regular contributor to the Times Educational Supplement and has acted as creative arts consultant to the QCDA and The Princes Teaching Institute. Since 2019, he has sat on the steering group of Music Declares Emergency, an environmental pressure group founded by musicians and members of the wider music industry, contributing to their monthly show on Soho Radio.

Discography

Studio albums with The Monochrome Set *Strange Boutique (1980, Dindisc) *Love Zombies (1980, Dindisc) *Eligible Bachelors (1982, Cherry Red) *Dante's Casino (1990, Vinyl Japan) *Jack (1991, Honeymoon) *Charade (1993, Cherry Red) *Misère (1994, Cherry Red) *Trinity Road (1995, Cherry Red) *Platinum Coils (2012, Disquo Bleu) *Super Plastic City (2013, Disquo Bleu) *Spaces Everywhere (2015, Tapete Records) With The Invisible *Dystopia (1985, Midnight Music) Extended plays with The Monochrome Set *I Love Lambeth (1995, Cherry Red) With The Invisible *Love Street/Sunday/Twilight Zone (1986, Midnight Music) Solo *The Plug/Gulp (1982, Thin Sliced Records) Selected Compilation albums *Volume, Contrast, Brilliance... (Sessions & Singles Vol. 1) (1983, Cherry Red) *Westminster Affair (Bande Originale Du Film) (1988, Él) *Colour Transmission (1988, Virgin) *What a Whopper! (1992, Richmond Records) *Early Recordings: 1975–1977 "White Noise" (2010, Captured Tracks) Box Sets *The Monochrome Set - 1979-1985: Complete Recordings (Boxset) (2018, Tapete) *Little Noises (2020, Cherry Red) Live albums *Fin (1986, Cherry Red ) *Live (1993, Code 90) *M-80 (2013, Wienerworld) Video albums *The Monochrome Set (2002, Classic Rock Productions) *Destiny Always Calls Twice (2006, Cherry Red Films) *M-80 (2013, Weinerworld) *Access All Areas (2015, Edsel) Singles with The Monochrome Set *He's Frank/Alphaville (1979, Rough Trade) *He's Frank (Slight Return)/Silicon Carne/Fallout (1979, Rough Trade, Disquo Bleu) *The Monochrome Set/Mr. Bizarro (1979, Rough Trade) *Eine Symphonie des Grauens/Lester Leaps In (1979, Rough Trade) *405 Lines/Goodbye Joe (1980, Dindisc) *The Strange Boutique/Surfing S.W.12 (1980, Dindisc) *Apocalypso/Fiasco Bongo (1980, Dindisc) *Ten Don'ts for Honeymooners/Straits of Malacca (1981, PRE Records) *The Mating Game/J.D.H.A.N.E.Y (1982, Cherry Red) *The Jet Set Junta/Love Goes Down the Drain/Noise (Eine Kleine Symphonie) (1982, Cherry Red) *Killing Dave/House of God (live) (1991, Honeymoon) *Forever Young/Hurting You/Little Noises (1993, Cherry Red) *Waiting for Alberto/I Can’t Control My Feet (Lazy Perfection, 2012) Solo Albums *Carcass (2017, Cubist Records) *Serotonin (2018, Cubist Records) *Chautauqua (2019, Cubist Records) *Nuevo Laredo (2020, Cubist Records) *Invisible Man (2022, Cubist Records) Extended play *Cuts (with Craig Gannon) (2020, Cubist Records) Singles *Ricochet (with Victory Through Sound) (2017, Cubist Records) *I Come and Stand at Every Door (with Tilly Robinson) (2020, Cubist Records) As a guest *With The Native Hipsters: Going Steady with Larry and Emma (1983, Plattecop Volume) *Jesus Couldn’t Drum: Er…Something about Cows (1985, Lost Moment) *Jesus Couldn’t Drum: Good Morning Mr Square (1986, Lost Moment) *The Cat and Mouse Band: From the Caves of the Whistling Blue Fish monks (1987, Lost Moment) *The Wood-Be-Goods: Mondo (1992, Polystar) *Helen McCookerybook: Helen and the Horns Etc (2005, New Shore Records) *Helen McCookerybook: Suburban Pastoral (2006, Big Song) *Helen McCookerybook: Christmas Assortment (2007, Bendi Records) *The Native Hipsters: There Goes Concorde Again (2001, MRM) *Peat Moss: Moustache Vending Machine (2016, Red Velvet Records) *Wilding and Unwilding: Hard Noise to Scumrise (2020) *Miniatures (2020, The 62nd Gramophone Company)

References

External links

Lester Square
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

's website * Lester Square Art at https://twbhardy.wixsite.com/my-site-3 1954 births Living people English rock guitarists Adam and the Ants members {{UK-guitarist-stub