My Melbourne: Chet Faker on Pellegrini’s, an Abbotsford Convent Cafe and 10 Years of Built on Glass

Nick Murphy – aka Chet Faker – is taking a trip down memory lane. His seminal album Built on Glass is 10 years old this year, and after touring the world for a decade he’s finally taking stock.

“I really appreciate all of it more now,” he tells Broadsheet over Zoom from his home in Arizona. “It was so crazy when it came out, and so intense for years, that I have only just started to have this space to be like “What the fuck happened to me?” Part of that was listening to the record and truly listening to it.”

The multi-Aria Award winner has released a special anniversary edition of Built on Glass with previously unreleased tracks. “I’ll always be a little bit biased, but the opening track, Release Your Problems – I’ve been playing that again, and it’s like, damn, this is a great song. It’s fun to sing, it’s smooth, soulful, it has a good rhythm. I never really thought much of it, and now I might keep it on the set list.”

Chet Faker is coming to Melbourne in November for an exclusive performance as part of Live at the Gardens, at Royal Botanic Gardens, presented by Always Live. He’ll play Built on Glass in full in his hometown, “Something I haven’t done before,” he says.

Before he makes the trip, Broadsheet finds out where the musician likes to spend his time when he’s back home.

Nick, you grew up in Melbourne. Where did you live?
My parents split when I was two so I had two houses, and both of my parents moved every three to four years. But I guess for a large chunk of it, like during high school, mum was in Glen Iris. I lived in Ivanhoe when I was a little kid, briefly in Burnley, Hawthorn – so a lot of suburbs.

When you come back for this special performance will you stay for a while?
I'll be staying for the summer. I try to do the “double summers” thing. Someone said to me that we only get 75 summers in a lifetime and it just ruined my day/life, so I was like “We could get those numbers up”.

What do you love most about Melbourne?
I think what I love about Melbourne is there’s this sense of quality. I didn’t realise that was unique until I started travelling the world. When I describe Melbourne to people from overseas, I say it’s a bit like Stockholm or Tokyo – a lot of culture beams in from all over the world, and then we refine it, we want the best of it. We want the best quality fabrics, we want 180-gram vinyl, we want custom-made speakers, we want the best food, the best coffee.

Do you have a favourite cafe or restaurant here?
Pellegrini’s. My dad, who has passed away, used to go there when he was in his twenties, and so if I’m staying anywhere near the city I’ll go there on my own. It’s such a nice vibe to sit in and get a bowl of pasta and those little flavoured ice drinks they have. Most of the guys have worked there their whole life and I have a memory of going there with my dad and they recognised him. They sat us in that little back area, which always makes you feel special.

Then, at the risk of sounding a little bougie, I do like going to Cumulus.

Is there anywhere you’re looking forward to visiting?
I think the Fancy Hank’s team just opened a new spot – Springrock. Then there’s Don Don. It was a huge part of my twenties. I used to ride my bike to the city and eat there. I hear they closed that location, but I want to go to one of their others.

What do you reckon is underrated in Melbourne?
The fact that we have so many parks you can walk to from the CBD. When I was living in Abbotsford, right before I moved to the States, I used to run along the Yarra Bend and there were parts of it where, for about five minutes, you couldn’t see any proof of society – it was just trees. That’s something I miss: the trees, the birds, nature.

If you wanted to impress someone, where would you take them?
The Farm Cafe is my favourite place to go. Actually, for the last 10 years of interviews I wouldn’t tell people that because I didn’t want it to be ruined. It’s chill there; the food is good. But, if it were a date, I’d probably take them to Cam’s Kiosk because it’s a bit nicer.

Who or what makes Melbourne a better place?
Venue owners. Melbourne has a great nightlife culture – it’s normal for us to go to more than one thing in a night, which isn’t always true in a lot of big cities. In New York, to do three things is exhausting. You gotta get Uptown, an Uber to Brooklyn, then back to the Lower East Side. As an introvert or sensitive person, I couldn’t do it, I was exhausted. But Melbourne always feels really natural. I love that you can go to a gallery opening, then an amazing dinner, then a gig, then a bar and you might end up at a bush doof. People who organise parties in Melbourne, who don’t always make a lot of money, have so much passion and generosity so they definitely make Melbourne a better place. Also Myles Munro and Daragh Kan [of Fancy Hank’s] used to run the Mercat Cross Hotel [now Brick Lane Market], which is where I used to work when I finished school. So much of my formative years were spent at the Mercat and in that scene. People like Andee Frost at Honkytonks, Fantastic Man, Tornado Wallace. I didn’t realise how lucky I was, how good the music selection was. I remember moving to New York and I thought New York’s going to be 10 times better than Melbourne. I got there and the food was worse, there were less parties, the music was shit. The parties didn’t go as late.

Is there an essential song or film about Melbourne?
Four Seasons in One Day by Crowded House. Isn’t that written about Melbourne or did I make that up? The Castle (1997) is also a classic set in Melbourne. Kath & Kim. We do make pretty funny comedies.

Chet Faker is performing at Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, on November 22, as part of Always Live. Tickets are available from $119.90.

“My Melbourne” is a regular column about the places and spaces that entice Melbourne’s well-known residents.