1996–2004: Formation and early releases Faker were formed in Sydney in 1996 by Andrew Day on drums, Chris Deal on guitar, Nathan Hudson on lead vocals, guitar and piano, and Paul Youdell on bass guitar. They were joined by Marco Fraietta ( Marco2000) on keyboards. The band spent five years performing gigs around Sydney. Their four-track debut extended play,
Sound Out Loud, was released on 5 March 2001 via Wash Records/
MGM Distribution with Greg Wales producing. Wash Records had been established by Hudson and the group's talent manager, Helen Chilman. Marco2000 left Faker in 2000 after recording the EP, to relocate to France, while the band continued without a keyboardist. A single from the EP, "Teenage Werewolf", was placed on heavy rotation by
Triple J and became a fan favourite. Another single, "Kids on Overload", followed in October 2001, which had Lindsay Stevenson on guitar.
AllMusic's Chris True noted that "both [tracks] gained a fair amount of airplay on the radio network Triple J."
Paul Berryman (ex-
The Superjesus) replaced Day on drums late in 2003; Hudson described this as "the true beginning" for the band.
2005–2006: Addicted Romantic : Nathan Hudson singing "Hurricane" from the stage scaffolding, Sydney, January 2006. They recorded their debut studio album,
Addicted Romantic (June 2005), late in 2004 with
Lindsay Gravina (
Magic Dirt) producing at Birdland Studios, shortly after, they had signed to Capitol Records. Long-term bass guitarist Paul Youdell and guitarist Jonathan Wilson left the band after the studio sessions, and were replaced by Nicholas Munnings and Stefan Gregory, respectively. In May 2005, ahead of the album, they issued a five-track EP,
The Familiar / Enough EP via
EMI and Capitol Records, which had two tracks with Wilson and Youdell and the rest with Gregory and Munnings. The album peaked at No. 44 on the
ARIA Albums Chart. The video for
Hurricane was recorded in the
Domed Reading Room of the State Library of Victoria.
Addicted Romantic was nominated for the inaugural
J Award, although it was won by
Wolfmother. In 2006, Phil Downing left the band, citing communication problems with other members. After that point, the band's line-up of Hudson, Berryman, Gregory and Munnings, remained unchanged, until Berryman left in March 2008. He was replaced by Lucio Pedrazzi. The first single from the album, "
This Heart Attack", was released on 27 October 2007. The song peaked at No. 9 on the
Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and it also reached No. 5 on the
Triple J Hottest 100,
2007. The second single, "
Are You Magnetic?", was released on 12 July 2008.
Be the Twilight was recorded in
Los Angeles with
producer Paul Fox (
XTC,
Björk,
The Sugarcubes,
They Might Be Giants). The band wrote 45 songs for the album before traveling to Los Angeles, where they trimmed this down to 12. Hudson said that after "putting all the things you've ever experienced" into
Addicted Romantic, the band were able to record
Be the Twilight "more in the moment."
Be the Twilight took its name from Hudson's fear of the dark; Faker insisted they "name the album after the twilight just to annoy him". The tour commenced on 15 November 2007. Critics generally responded well to
Be the Twilight.
Triple J rated it highly, stating the band "has made a record that will instantly please fans". Likewise, Webcuts Music awarded it 4.5 (out of five) saying "Faker are one of the few exciting and honest, heart-on-sleeve acts that exist in Australia. Be the Twilight is almost perfection".
FHM saw it as "less annoying" than
Addicted Romantic, and gave it 3 stars. In 2008, the band appeared in major slots at a number of Australian outdoor festivals, and toured extensively. In early 2009, the band joined
Pink on the Australian
Funhouse Tour dates.
2010–2013: Get Loved and disbandment The band released several demos via
SoundCloud over the end of 2010 and announced on their Facebook page that the new album would be called
Get Loved. On 25 May, the CSS remix of their new single "Dangerous" was released on SoundCloud via their Facebook page. Intended for release in January 2012, the band decided to release
Get Loved for free in December 2011 instead. In 2013, frontman Nathan Hudson announced the band had broken up.
2020–present: Reformation In October 2020, Faker announced on their Facebook page that they would be reforming. In July and August of 2025, Hudson toured Australia as a solo act under the moniker of Nate Faker. In December 2025 the band - now consisting of Hudson, Munnings and the return of drummer Paul Berryman - released their first new song since 2011, "Comet". Alongside the release was news of their upcoming album
Enjoy Your Problem, slated for a 2026 release. == Members ==