Melbourne’s soul pin-up boy Chet Faker is about to release his debut LP Built on Glass the highly anticipated follow up to the 2013 gold-selling debut EP Thinking in Textures.
Built on Glass follows the hugely successful collaborative ‘Lockjaw’ EP he made with Flume in 2013, which will be re-released by Future Classic and Opulent in April 2014.
First cut from the record Talk is Cheap was part of the Built on Glass writing / recording sessions, recorded and produced by Chet alone over a two-year period. It melds Chet’s effortless RnB vocals and pop melodies with a youth spent making house, disco and intricate beats.
We Skyped Chet from his current New York apartment to chat about what he’s been listening to and how ‘music doesn’t inspire his sound’
What has been going on with you since the release of ‘Talk Is Cheap’ over a month ago?
“Well it’s been a pretty busy month. I’ve been doing lots of press; I went to Europe and had a bunch of shows like Golden Plain, then I did Boiler Room, then I had SXSW; so I’ve been busy.”
Would you be able to tell us a little about some of the albums that inspired your upcoming record?
“There were no albums, I couldn’t even name one that influenced or inspired this album. I’m not usually directly inspired by other music. I draw no correlation between the music I listen to and the music I make.”
So what does inspire your music?
“Usually things that happen in my life.”
What albums are you a fan of?
“Maybe if I go to my iTunes and tell you what are my ‘Most Listened To’ albums. There’s so much good music, this is so hard!”
[Chet types a list of 10 albums that he loves]
Nils Frahm – Screws
Claude Debussy – Claire de Lune – Pavane (Alain Planes)
Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Broadcasting From Home
Bill Evans Trio – Waltz For Debby
D’Angelo – Voodoo
Alick Macheso – Alick Macheso and Orchestra Mberikwazva
Thomas Meinecke & Move D – Work
Andrew Pekler – Sentimental Favourites
Donny Hathaway – Live (Donny Hathaway Album)
Susumu Yokota – Will
What’s something that you think all of these albums have in common?
“I can listen to them all as a full album. I can put them on and always get a consistent experience throughout the record. So, I can put the album on and start at any song and I feel like I don’t have to skip any track on those records.”
Did that influence the creation of your album? Did you want something people can listen to from start to finish?
“Yeah. It’s important to me that an album exists as an album, not as a collection of songs, which is funny because I know most people don’t care about that, but that’s just how I see it.”
What was the writing process for ‘Built On Glass’ like?
“Well, I had a studio in North Melbourne in this old cooling room that I rent; it was separate from where I lived, which was new for me because of the EP I had done in my garage. But I had a separate work space – I would have to get up in the morning, have breakfast and drive to work. I had to get out of the house, which I found was really good for me, because I felt it got the blood flowing in the morning. That gave me an excuse to get out of bed.”
Did that new process inspire any aspect of the album?
“I mean, probably. I don’t know what inspires me. I just get inspired by so much stuff.”
Do any specific genres of music and eras have any influence on the sounds/music you make?
“Sorry to be so vague, but the questions you’re asking me are asking me to think analytically, but it’s not an analytical process, it’s visceral. I think that’s a common misconception that people think musicians sit down and go ‘Okay I’m going to make a record. But in retrospect, from interviews and stuff, I could say ‘Sure’, I listened to soul music when I was younger. I loved the sounds of those old recordings. Even if you listen to those records that I typed to you, they probably have consistent warm sounds. I think that definitely inspires the way I record.”
Did you have a direct path that you knew you wanted to take with this album or did it all fall into place?
“It’s kind of funny because I guess I wanted it to be an honest record, and that seemed to be the main driving force for the whole thing. I wanted it to be an accurate depiction of my life and the things that inspired me and the things that happened in my life. So, in that sense that was the driving force the whole way, was honesty. A song had to mean something to me, it couldn’t just be a filler. Yeah, it all falls into place, but I feel like that’s the only time you ever do anything good creatively, is when it falls into place. But you have to work hard to improve the chances of it falling into place. It took me two years for it to fall into place.”
How do you think Built On Glass has matured from Thinking In Textures?
“Well, there’s a lot more instrumentation in the songs. They’re definitely denser. The EP was the first thing that I put out, so I didn’t know what I was doing, I mean I still didn’t know what I was doing (with ‘Built On Glass’), but I really didn’t know what I was doing then.”
Looking back on it now are you 100% happy with how it turned out or is the perfectionist in you still chopping and changing things?
“It’s finished. I could always change something, but sometimes finishing is letting go more than anything. It’s definitely finished for me.”
Chet Faker’s debut album Built On Glass is out April 11th on Future Classic
