With his debut EP, ‘Thinking In Textures’, receiving rave reviews and the first single getting serious radio love at the moment, Chet Faker isn’t stopping.
You might remember him from his cover of Blackstreet’s song ‘No Diggity’. Chet uploaded the song to YouTube last year, not expecting anything to come from it.
“When I was working on that it was never meant to be a cover. I was in the headspace of writing an original. I did the beats first and I didn’t do the vocals until last. I tried to put other vocals in there but No Diggity just happened to fit the best. I couldn’t replace it so begrudgingly I released it.”
Lucky he did. ‘No Diggity’ went to number one on Hype Machine, receiving 11,000 ‘Loves’ since it was uploaded. To compare, Jay Z’s and Kanye West’s ‘Niggas In Paris’ only has 4,100 ‘Loves’. With such an overwhelming response, Chet didn’t know how to deal with the intense spotlight.
“I definitely did not expect it. Not even the tiniest bit. It was weird. It was overwhelming at the start. I was like what does this mean? I got really stressed out about the whole thing. That was my introduction into this whirlwind of what has been the last year and a half, almost two years, so for the six months it was a surreal existence. I don’t think it was until the start of this year that I thought that’s cool.”
‘Thinking In Textures’ has been released in the United States via Downtown Records, a label who’s roster includes: Miike Snow, Santigold, MSTRKRFT and Gnarls Barkley.
“That was the bit where I was like ‘woah, this is amazing’. I’ve been signed with those artists. I am on the same roster. That’s been my favourite thing over the past year and a half. Meeting other musicians.”
Before he disappears to write his full length record, Chet is currently finishing up his year-long tour with his final show in Brisbane.
“We’ve been touring all with the same players so they know the songs back to front. We have a few covers and there’s a lot of new stuff for those who came in Brisbane last time, the show is definitely different. We have a whole bunch of new stuff.”
Chet Faker plays Prado Up Late at the Queensland Art Gallery this Friday September 14.
