“Yes we really want to spend a lot of time on the road really making this record make sense to people. Whether it will immediately or take a bit of time, I don’t mind, it’s all about reconnecting with the audience, that’s the primary focus for me and for us as a band.”
After a hiatus of around 2 years, Faker are back with a brand new EP How Did We Not Get Loved which is a prequel to the brand new full length album set for release on January 27th, 2012 titled Get Loved. It’s been a big few years of redefining the band for original members Nathan Hudson and Nic Munnings, but here they are in October 2011 with new band mates Chris and Liam completing the lineup, a new EP, a national tour supporting The Wombats and their own national headline tour they are about to head off on.
But enough from us, here’s Nathan Hudson to fill you in on exactly what has been happening in the space of Faker since you last heard of them….
Hey Nathan, thanks for taking the time to chat! So I guess first things first, we are here to chat about the return of Faker, that’s a name that some people may have forgotten over the last couple of years!
Possibly, that’s entirely possible, I almost forgot it myself haha!
So there’s a new album, new EP and lots of touring on the horizon, so that will all change, it’s been what, about 3 years even since you did your last headline tour?
Yes it’s been quite a while since I’ve been on the road. It’s been busy working on who is in the band and what’s happening and also figuring out why we are in the band and how we wanted to evolve, develop or change. We have spent time also making a record, but we have an EP preceding the record, which is called How Did We Not Get Loved, followed by the record, which is called Get Loved a bit after that. So getting on the road is going to be very exciting given we have reshaped the band somewhat to do that.
So for the benefit of those who might not be up to date with all the Faker happenings, did you start to go underground so to speak after the Pink tour back in 2009?
That was a really busy tour that was towards the end of the cycle for the last record. The lineup had changed about 3 or 4 times between the period of the last record and that tour and we got back from that tour and I headed overseas to do some writing and came back with the realization we needed to think about why we were doing it. The lineup had changed so much and I had started the band with a particular set of ideals and a want for a way of doing things and it felt like if we were to make a record at that stage it would be with an entirely new band and it just wouldn’t feel like a follow up or a natural progression. Nic who I’ve worked with for about seven years, we kind of went, well maybe the two of us should make the record and then build the band once we have figured out what it was we wanted to make. So I guess that’s what happened after that particular tour. I also disappeared a little bit too as you spend so much time on the road and realize you don’t have a home life or a social life as such, it’s mainly the people you see on each touring cycle.
So when Nic and I figured out we wanted to make this record, we kind of looked at the way people were making records and we felt if we got a producer and made it in a similar way to we have the last two albums, it didn’t really make sense as we wanted to learn to record and produce ourselves. So we set out to do that and found a house, kind of a caretaker’s cottage on an industrial estate and I lived there and we set up a studio and started recording and writing in that space. Then we got those recordings to a point and worked with Stereogamus on some programming and extra production and then got the record mixed in London. But yeah, the process felt very different, it felt much more about crafting and building something rather than capturing what happens when you get four or five people in a room and record in a traditional sense.
So did it actually get to a point where you were thinking of releasing this stuff under a different name, rather than Faker?
Well all the bands I like are all free to evolve. I kind of feel like the third record is a point where hopefully you have built some level of trust that some kind of fan base will let you challenge them. I think it feels like the last year or two, socially, certain aspects of living have been about complacency and people not embracing change whether on a political level or just a willingness for people to change their environments. Things have felt a bit more static than they should be and in music and art, that’s kind of the place where people are supposed to be inspired to change and do things differently. It’s not that much of a stretch to try and do things differently if you are in a band making music. So no I didn’t feel like renaming the band, this is the band I’ve always been in!
You have a new rhythm section now with the addition of Chris and Liam, how have they settled in so far?
They’ve settled in wonderfully. It was great that the two people joined at the same time and we limited it to a band of four people, I think introducing three new members would have made it less authentic. The four of us have great camaraderie and the four of us work really well together and they’re the kind of things that make a band. It’s really exciting and I don’t think I have felt more excited about a lineup of this band.
You have released a couple of songs already from the album being Dangerous and Back When Solvents, how indicative are they of the rest of the album do you think and how has the response been so far?
It feels like the songs have been warmly received, but at times however there has been a little confusion about how things have changed and evolved and without people being able to see where it’s going to go or work in the context of the record, that’s not a total surprise.
For someone who is in music, describing music is not exactly my forte haha! It feels like however those tracks are a good indicator of the album. We kind if push ourselves to have a level of diversity and I feel like there are a few different faces to the record
You are soon heading off on your first headline national tour in a couple of years, what are your thoughts at this stage as far as setlist goes?
Fortunately the songs from our earlier records work really well with the songs off this record in a live context. We’ve played a couple of low key shows and I’ve been playing more guitar on stage now with some of the older songs to make the four piece thing work, it’s a relief to have a 3 record palette to put a set list together. There’s a few different things we can introduce depending how a night feels, I’m feeling reinvigorated playing songs off the first and second record by virtue of having time away and the energy that Chris and Liam bring is amazing.
So there’s the EP, then the new album to be released and lots of touring on the immediate horizon, is that the prime focus for the immediate future?
Yes we really want to spend a lot of time on the road really making this record make sense to people. Whether it will immediately or take a bit of time, I don’t mind, it’s all about reconnecting with the audience, that’s the primary focus for me and for us as a band.
Essential information
From: Sydney, Australia
Website: www.faker.com.au
Latest release: How Did We Not Get Loved EP (October 7th 2011, EMI Music Australia)
Tour dates:
FAKER NATIONAL HEADLINE TOUR:
Thursday 20th October
The Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay NSW
Tickets from Oztix: www.oztix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/h/> or 1300 762 545
Friday 21st October
Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta QLD
Tickets from Oztix: www.oztix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/k/> or 1300 762 545
Saturday 22nd October
The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Tickets from Oztix: www.oztix.com.a <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/u/> u or 1300 762 545
Sunday 23rd October
Joe’s Waterhole, Sunshine Coast QLD
Tickets from venue: 075442 8144 or website <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/n/>
Wednesday 26th October
Prince of Wales, Bunbury WA
Tickets from Oztix: www.oztix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/p/> or 1300 762 545
Thursday 27th October
Settlers Tavern, Margaret River WA
Tickets from Oztix: www.oztix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/x/> or 1300 762 545
Friday 28th October
The Amplifier, Perth WA
Tickets from Moshtix: www.moshtix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/m/> or 1300 438 849
Saturday 29th October
Jive Bar, Adelaide SA
Tickets from Moshtix: www.moshtix.com.a <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/c/> u or 1300 438 849
Wednesday 2nd November
Bended Elbow, Geelong VIC
Tickets from Oztix: www.oztix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/q/> or 1300 762 545
Thursday 3rd November
Karova Lounge, Ballarat VIC
Tickets from Oztix: www.oztix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/a/> or 1300 762 545
Friday 4th November
The Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Tickets from venue: www.cornerhotel.com <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/f/>
Saturday 5th November
Patch, Wollongong NSW
Tickets from Oztix: www.oztix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/z/> or 1300 762 545 / www.bigtix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/v/>
Thursday 10th November
The Cambridge, Newcastle NSW
Tickets from Moshtix: www.moshtix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/e/> or 1300 438 849 / www.bigtix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/s/>
Friday 11th November
The Standard, Sydney NSW
Tickets from Moshtix: www.moshtix.com.au <http://email.thinkmail.com.au/t/r/i/thdtjkt/l/g/> or 1300 438 849
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