A conversation with Chet Faker about the beauty of strangers, about taking photos to make you feel good and the comfort in music – sitting outside in the corner, with a scarf, sugary coffee instead of alcohol and deep talk instead of slurred affirmations.
Chet Faker: Your name is Hella? Wait, then I have a sticker for you… [kramt in seiner Tasche, packt Polaroids aus, bis ein angeknickter Hellas-Sticker gefunden und mir übergeben ist]
Great, now things can only go well with our conversation. I have a compliment for you: I like your smiley button.
He’s great, isn’t he? Unfortunately I lost another pin recently. It said, “If you can read this, you’re too close.”
Is this your way of keeping people away from you?
Well, I don’t want to force anything. I do like watching people from a distance. When I’m touring, I like to sit in a café in my free moments and let everything go by. I then have a notebook with me, write things down, waste time in the best possible way.
Where is the connection with other people that you so desire according to your new record A LOVE FOR STRANGERS?
I’m not very good at it, I admit that. But I’m working on it. I’m trying to be less in autopilot mode, more present. Even though it may have sounded different before, I really long for more connection.
Is a bar a place where you can strike up a conversation with new people?
No, because I don’t drink and I feel weird sitting alone at the counter and just ordering a water. Then I think too much about myself. But I can easily hang out in wine bars with friends. There is usually a solid selection of non-alcoholic drinks and I can relax more.
Which artists – dead or alive – would you like to hang out with and talk to for a while?
I would like to spend time with Van Gogh – before he cut off his ear. What I like about him is that he had no classical training and yet decided to become a painter late in his life. This was a purely emotional and not at all intellectual choice. I liked the idea as a child: someone can reach for the stars with passion and achieve something like that – even if they previously did something completely different.
So you only want to meet Van Gogh, no one else?
Come to think of it, Jeff Buckley would be crazy too. He was my hero when I was a teenager.
And what happened after the teenage years?
Nothing, I still like his music. But you only have heroes as a teenager – and then you grow up and realize that there are no heroes, only people. I don’t want to put anyone on a pedestal anymore.
Okay, okay. I’m distracted. You’re just pouring a lot of sugar into your coffee. Is he that bad?
I don’t know… I don’t normally do that. Strangely enough, I need sugar today.
And what else do you currently need?
I want structure. My life as a musician is chaotic and I crave some sort of regular guide. I try to create it myself, with little things like writing in a diary. That grounds me. Just like taking photos. I always have one or more cameras with me. Taking photos is also a nice way to give things a chapter. [holt eine Knipse hervor und blitzt mir ins Gesicht]
Ah, you have a disposable camera. Very hipster.
Yes, I am the original hipster! I had a beard before it was cool! [lacht, hält dann inne] That was sarcasm, just for the record. Otherwise people will think, “What an idiot.” But seriously: Thanks to photography, I feel more comfortable around people. It also legitimizes just walking around without meaning. I was nervous about it before. And as I discovered photography, I slowly found a love for strangers. I first had to feel like I belonged in order to be able to trust strangers. Through the camera I started to really look at people. This also means that since then I have accepted the best and not the worst in people. That changed my life. I’m happy now. And I don’t say that lightly.
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Are you fed up with happiness or what else do you want to achieve?
I always want to continue making art. Good music. And not just for me, because as an artist you have a responsibility, as I learned thanks to Kandinsky and his book “On the Spiritual in Art”. If you created something and it helped you, then you should show it. You never know what a difference it could make to another person.
What purpose should art have?
Perhaps the most radical thing art can do right now is to give people comfort.
More about Chet Faker
The Australian’s actual name is Nick Murphy and he has already released two albums under that name. But the 37-year-old is currently on the road again as Chet Faker and is also releasing the record A LOVE FOR STRANGERS on February 13th under this pseudonym, which, like HOTEL SURRENDER before it, comes across like wallowing in an electro-soul bathtub. It is the fourth record he has released as Chet Faker since 2014.
More about “At the Bar”
In our “At the Bar” series, artists meet with ME host Hella Wittenberg in a cozy atmosphere at the bar for a deep talk.
