Everything about Eskimo Joe totally explained
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, sharing the title with the album, "
Black Fingernails, Red Wine" 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 wasn't part of the Freud's Pillow line up, he's 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.
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.
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.
(External Link
)
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:
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)
Singles
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 - SarahFurther Information
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