Eskimo Joe
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Early Years
Eskimo Joe formed in 1997 in Fremantle, Western Australia. Kavyen (Kav) Temperly on bass/vocals, Joel Quatermain on drums and Stuart MacLeod on guitar formed a band to compete in the Australian National Campus Band Competition. Despite the fact that the first heat was their first gig playing together, they won the competition with prizes of a slot on the Livid Festival and a session in a recording session.
In this session in April 1998, they produced the Sweater EP whose title track "Sweater" received plenty of airplay on Triple J resulting in it featuring in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1998. A subsequent self-titled EP released in 1999 received airplay with the songs "Ruby Wednesday" and "Turn Up Your Stereo" also making the Triple J Hottest 100 of that year. The band developed its reputation by touring including the Homebake Festival.
Album releases
Modular Records on the Festival Mushroom Records label signed the band in 1999. The band entered the studios with producer Ben Buller who had worked with Ben Lee, Pulp and Suede. The "Girl" album made the top 40 of the Australian album charts on release and went gold with tracks like "Planet Earth" and "who Sold Her Out" receiving airplay on Triple J. In addition, some of the band's tracks featured on the TV show The Secret Life Of Us.
Paul Keenan joined the band on drums with Joel Quartermain becoming a second guitarist. They recorded the A Song Is A City album with Paul McKercher and Nick Launay on production. Kav Temperley said on the Festival Mushroom website that Fremantle is theme of the record. "The whole album is really about me, my friends, the people I love and Fremantle. It’s the stories that go on between us. It’s similar to the people in every place all over the world. For me, that’s what I’m writing about. I’m definitely not writing about New York. I’m writing about Fremantle."
The debut single "From The Sea" made it to the top 40 of the Australian singles charts as of March 29 and has been number one on the Triple J Net 50 between March and May. The album A Song Is A City debuted on the ARIA Australian top 50 album chart at number 2 on May 24, 2004. The track "Smoke" has been released as a second single and has also reached the top 5 in the Net 50 in May 2004. The third single "Older Than You" became their second top 50 Australian hit after performing at the ARIA awards in October.
Band members
As of 2004, the band consisted of:
- Kavyen Temperly (bass/vocals)
- Joel Quartermain (guitar)
- Stuart MacLeod (guitar)
- Paul Keenan (drums when the band plays live)
Dan Bull (keys when the band play live)
With Quartermain returning to the guitar, touring after the release of their second album, saw Eskimo Joe grow to a five piece, when playing live, with Paul Keenan on drums and Dan Bull on piano.
Discography
- Sweater EP (1998)
- Eskimo Joe EP (1998)
- Girl (2001)
- A Song Is A City (2004)
Links
- Official Site (http://www.eskimojoe.net/)
- Space article (http://www.howlspace.com.au/en4/eskimojoe/eskimojoe.htm/Howl)
- Eskimo Joe Festival Records page (http://www.fmrecords.com.au/viewartist.cfm?ArtistId=500/)