Eskimo Joe

Infobox musical artist
Name = Eskimo Joe

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Img_capt = Eskimo Joe perform at the Peninsula Lounge, Victoria.
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
Genre = Alternative rock
Years_active = 1997–present
Label = Modular Festival/Mushroom Warner Rykodisc (US Label)
URL = [http://www.eskimojoe.net/ Official website]
Current_members = Kavyen Temperley Stuart MacLeod Joel Quartermain | Paul Keenan Matthew Taylor Michael de Grussa

Eskimo Joe is an Australian rock band whose debut album "Girl" went gold in 2001. Their second album "A Song Is a City" was released in Australia 2004 and went double platinum. The first single from the album, "From the Sea" debuted in the top 40 of the ARIA Singles Chart, as well as reaching the top of the Triple J Net 50 and was voted number 3 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2004. The band released their third album "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" in 2006 and the album has gone quadruple platinum. The first single release, the title track has commercially exceeded the results of their previous work, becoming their first top 10 single, and taking out number two in Triple J's Hottest 100 2006.

History

Early years

Eskimo Joe formed in 1997 in Fremantle, Western Australia. Kavyen 'Kav' Temperley (bass/vocals), Joel Quartermain (guitar) and Stuart MacLeod (guitar) formed a band to compete in the Australian National Campus Band Competition. At that time, Kav and Joel were also in a band called Freud's Pillow, which included Simon Leach, now guitarist in Little Birdy, and his brother Stuart Leach. Although MacLeod was not part of the Freud's Pillow line up, he is credited with co-writing the track "Mr Hoek" on the Freud's Pillow's EP Pleasure Puppy. Despite the fact that the first heat of the National Campus Band Competition was one of their first gigs playing together as Eskimo Joe, they won the competition with prizes of a slot on the Livid Festival and a session in a recording studio.

In this session in April 1998, they produced the "Sweater EP" whose title track "Sweater", a catchy but lightweight song about fashion repeating and a grandfather's poor taste in fashion becoming cool again, 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.

Their name came about after they saw a t-shirt of Eskimo Joe's, the popular restaurant in Stillwater, Oklahoma. At the time they were searching for a band name, so they adopted the name for what was meant to be a temporary period, but the name ended up sticking with them. This was revealed on Music Max's 'Max Session' featuring Eskimo Joe.

Album releases

Universal's alternative offshoot Modular Records, signed the band in 1999. The band entered the studios with producer Ed 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". Their popularity rocketed significantly with the release of the album. Their live shows, reflecting the added textures to their sound, began to incorporate keyboards and an extra guitar.

Although "Girl" earned gold sales, this was still not enough for Modular, who split with the band. Eskimo Joe then signed a new recording deal with Festival Mushroom Records in 2002, then proceeded to record the "A Song Is a City" album with Paul McKercher and Nick Launay on production in 2003. The album was released on May 16 2004 and reached number 2 on the ARIA Album Charts. Kavyen Temperley said on the Festival Mushroom Records website that Fremantle is theme of the record. cquote|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 on 29 March, 2004, and was number one on the Triple J Net 50 between March and May 2004. It was also used as the backing track for a series of television advertisements for the West Coast Eagles Football Club. The album "A Song Is a City" debuted on the ARIA Australian top 50 album chart at number 2 on May 24, 2004 and reached platinum status. "Smoke" was released as the second single and also reached the top 5 in Triple J's Net 50 in May 2004. The third single "Older Than You" became their second top 50 Australian hit after the band performed it at the ARIA Music Awards in October 2004. There was also a fourth single, "Life is Better with You".

In September 2005, a DVD was released with all the film clips from the first two albums, a feature length documentary, a collection of live performances, and some rare tracks, including the much loved "Sweater".

The title track from their third album, "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" was released in May 2006, debuting at number 13 on the ARIA Charts before peaking at number 6, becoming Eskimo Joe's first Top 10 single. The song also peaked at number 1 on ARIA's digital track chart. The album, also called "Black Fingernails, Red Wine", was released just a few weeks later on June 10, 2006, debuting at number 1 on the ARIA album chart. The second single from their album, "Sarah" was released in September 2006 and features exclusive B-sides including live and acoustic versions of "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" and a cover of the Pixies' "Hey" recorded this year for Triple J's Like a Version. The song debuted at #14 in the ARIA singles chart and two weeks later it peaked at #12. The third single "New York" which was released early 2007 only managed to chart at #26. The fourth single from the multi-platinum album "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" was "Breaking Up," debuting at #83 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In August 2007 the single "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" was released as the bands debut single in the United States. The fifth single from Black Fingernails Red Wine was "London Bombs". The singles from this album were frequently played in the background at the surf club on the aussie drama show, Home and Away.

The band are currently hard at work recording their fourth studio album due for release sometime in 2008 but no release dates have been announced. On their official website the band have said that album number four is on its way. One of the songs on their new album will be called 'Childhood Behaviour'.

Tours

In November 2006, Eskimo Joe played at the CMJ Music Festival in New York City, returning back to Australia to play at the Southbound in Western Australia and the Falls Festival in Victoria & Tasmania. They also performed on all legs of the 2007 Big Day Out concerts.

On 7 July 2007 Eskimo Joe performed at the Australian leg of Live Earth in Sydney. [http://liveearth.msn.com/artists/eskimojoe]

The band performed in New York, Houston and Los Angeles between January 17 and 26 as part of the annual G'day USA - Australia Week 2008. The band also performed at the 2008 East and West Coast Blues and Roots Festivals (Byron Bay and Fremantle, respectively).

Members

Current

The core members of the band are:

* Kavyen Temperley (1997–present) - bass/keys/vocals
* Joel Quartermain (1997–present) - drums on recordings/guitar/keys/backing vocals
* Stuart MacLeod (1997–present) - guitar/backing vocals

Past

A number of musicians have played with the band on tour and on recordings. They include:
* Dan Bull
* Fergus Deasey
* Paul Keenan
* Michael De Grussa
* Shaun Sibbes
* Lee Jones

Discography

Albums

* "Girl" (2001) - #29 Australia
* "A Song Is a City" (2004) - #2 Australia
* "Black Fingernails, Red Wine" (2006) - #1 Australia
* "TBA" (2008)

EPs

* "Sweater" (1998) - #90 Australia
* "Eskimo Joe" (1999) - #94 Australia
* "Beating Like a Drum" (2007)

ingles

Music videos

DVD

* "Eskimo Joe - The DVD" (2005)

Compilation appearances

*"Triple J Hottest 100 Volume 6" - "Sweater" (ABC Music) 1999
*"Homebake Volume 3" - "Turn Up Your Stereo" (EMI) 1998
*"The Secret Life Of Us" - "Planet Earth" (Liberation Records) 2002
*"Triple J's Hottest 100 - Hottest Box" - "Sweater" (ABC Music) 2003
*"New Music Live From The Panel" - "Older Than You" (Liberation Records) 2004
*"Triple J: Home And Hosed - Freshly Plucked" - "From the Sea" (ABC Music) 2004
*"Year Of The Monkey" - "From the Sea" (Festival/Mushroom Records) 2004
*"Sunday Sounds - Aussie Rock" - "Liar" 2006
*"Make Some Noise: Campaign to Save Dafur" - "Mind Games" (John Lennon cover) 2007

Awards and nominations

Awards

*2001 ARIA Awards, Best Video - "Wake Up"
*2002 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Local Original Band
*2002 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Local Original Album - "Girl"
*2004 ARIA Awards, Producer of the Year - "A Song Is a City"
*2004 ARIA Awards, Engineer of the Year - "A Song Is a City"
*2005 WAMi Awards, Best Commercial Pop Act
*2005 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Act
*2005 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Album "A Song Is a City"
*2005 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Single/EP - "From the Sea"
*2005 ARIA Awards, Best Group - "Older Than You"
*2006 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Act
*2006 WAMi Awards, Best Commercial Pop Act
*2006 ARIA Awards, Producer of the Year "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2006 ARIA Awards, Matt Lovell - Engineer of the Year
*2006 ARIA Awards, Single of the Year - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2006 ARIA Awards, Best Music DVD
*2007 WAMi Awards, Best Commercial Pop Act
*2007 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Single/EP - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"

Nominations

*2001 ARIA Awards, Breakthrough Artist - Single for "Who Sold Her Out"
*2002 ARIA Awards, Breakthrough Artist - Album for "Girl"
*2002 ARIA Awards, Best Video - "Liar"
*2004 ARIA Awards, Best Group - "A Song Is a City"
*2004 ARIA Awards, Album of the Year - "A Song Is a City"
*2004 ARIA Awards, Best Rock Album - "A Song Is a City"
*2004 ARIA Awards, Single of the Year - "From the Sea"
*2004 ARIA Awards, Best Cover Art - "A Song Is a City"
*2005 ARIA Awards, Producer of the Year - "Older Than You"
*2005 ARIA Awards, Engineer of the Year - "Older Than You"
*2006 Jack Awards, Best Bass Guitarist, Kav Temperley
*2006 Channel V, Oz Artist of the Year
*2006 ARIA Awards, Best Group - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2006 ARIA Awards, Album of the Year - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2006 ARIA Awards, Best Rock Album - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2006 ARIA Awards, Best Cover Art - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2007 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Act
*2007 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Album - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2007 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Live Act
*2007 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Music Video - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2007 WAMi Awards, Best Male Vocalist - Kav Temperley
*2007 MTV Australian Video Music Awards, Best Group
*2007 MTV Australia Video Music Awards, Best Rock Video - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2007 MTV Australian Video Music Awards, Download of the Year - "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
*2007 ARIA Awards, Best Group - "Sarah"

External links

* [http://www.eskimojoe.net/ Eskimo Joe Official Site]
* [http://www.warnermusic.com.au/artist,w_artist,115564 Eskimo Joe Warner Music page]
* [http://www.myspace.com/eskimojoemusic Eskimo Joe MySpace Site]
* [http://www.nakeddwarf.com.au/bands/australian/e/eskimo_joe Eskimo Joe at The Dwarf]
* [http://www.howlspace.com.au/en4/eskimojoe/eskimojoe.htm HowlSpace article]
* [http://www.eskimo-joe.com/ Unofficial Eskimo Joe Fansite]
* [http://www.eskimojoeau.org/ Beating Like a Drum - Eskimo Joe Fan Site]