Coming out can be a tough decision. Perhaps especially so in the macho sphere of rock music. So what spurred Faker frontman Nathan Hudson to tell the world he’s gay? 

“I’m happy to talk about it, for that kid who’s 15 and scared. My association with being gay was that it was bad and dark and not good for you.

I had trouble finding people to look up to. I’m talking about this to be a bit freer. It’s something that shouldn’t matter and, on a lot of levels, it doesn’t – I hope the music we make transcends it. Still it’s nice to be able to say this stuff.”

So said Nathan Hudson to Sunday Magazine in January. The prodigious and irreverent singer-songwriter of Sydney alt-rockers Faker earned a different kind of kudos when he came out publicly as gay.

“It was a band decision,” he tells AXN. “The record we’ve made is about directness and embracing things on a human level. I wanted to follow suit, ethically.”

It’s refreshing to hear someone speak so candidly, especially when they hail from the macho world of alternative rock. But perhaps it comes as no surprise that it’s really not so macho after all.

Moreover, it’s also refreshing to have a public figure who not only understands the positive impact their openness will have on the community at large, but has the courage to follow it through.

“It’s just one of the things in my life and I find it really difficult not to be who I am,” Nathan says. “You have to be aware of all the different perspectives that are out there, but so far I haven’t seen any backlash.”

In a poetic and very convenient feat of timetable synergy, Nathan’s coming out coincided almost directly with Faker’s appearance at this year’s Mardi Gras Party. A gay rite of passage perhaps?

They played a frenetic set of tracks from their debut long player, Addicted Romantic, and their sophomore offering, Be the Twilight, which was released in February.

Lead single ‘This Heart Attack’, with its precarious intensity and irresistible hooks, came in at Number 6 on Triple J’s Hottest 100. It’s a highly personal song for Nathan.

“It’s me giving myself a little advice about taking some time out,” he muses. “I’m somebody who has been in the habit of torturing myself over relationships and sometimes you just have to go and be alone and figure something out.

“In that song in particular I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve, but I tend to do that in what I do and what I write. Everybody goes through heartbreak, so it’s not hard for something like that to resonate.”

For Faker, the making of Be the Twilight was a lesson in communication that eventually saw the departure of Phil Downing on guitar, who left to pursue other projects. This left Stefan Gregory on guitar, Nic Munnings on bass and Paul Berryman on drums.

“To put in simply, it made it more about Stef and Nic and Paul and myself,” Nathan says. “We were really solidified at that point – the relationships became tighter.”

Faker’s Be the Twilight tour will kick off in May. Indeed, Nathan’s on stage reputation almost precedes him. His live antics have been described as resembling the restless lunacy of Alex, the protagonist from Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, which is a pretty accurate summation.

Let’s just hope questions around his sexuality don’t cloud what’s ultimately important – the music. It’s something Nathan has certainly considered.

“When we do a major headline tour, maybe we’ll see something then – maybe when we’re doing 20 interviews a day and I get asked the same question again and again. I’d fear that people would stop seeing the music.”

Which would be a shame. AXN

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