National Sawdust presents Surprise Chef with support from Ben Hackett

National Sawdust presents Surprise Chef, with Ben Hackett in support. The Melbourne-area instrumental quartet brings its core lineup of guitarist Lachlan Stuckey, keyboardist Jethro Curtin, bassist Carl Lindeberg and drummer Andrew Congues for a late-night set. The bill puts the band’s ensemble playing at the forefront, with Hackett opening the evening.

Surprise Chef formed in 2017 in Coburg, just outside Melbourne, Australia. Their label calls their music an “emotive brand of cinematic soul,” while the band has described it as “moody shades of instrumental jazz-funk,” shaped by a love of soul, funk and classic film scores. Their music has appeared in a Pepsi Super Bowl halftime advertisement and was sampled in a collaboration involving Rich Brian and Ghostface Killah; they have also drawn praise from Questlove and Jurassic 5’s DJ Nu-Mark. Double J calls them “darlings of crate-diggers and community radio alike,” hearing Superb as a group “loosening up without sacrificing what makes them special.” NME called Daylight Savings “an effortlessly lovable album” with “uplifting jazz-funk optimism.”