Interview: Kav Temperley (Eskimo Joe)
By Sheldon Ang
Eskimo Joe front man Kav Temperley embarked on a solo journey in 2014 across Australia to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of their album “A Song Is A City”. It was only a matter of time that the Fremantle musician showcased his end to end music calibre through the release of his debut album, ‘All Your Devotion’ in 2018.
Since then, he has swum across the solo channel with a spate of performances and single releases in ‘Graduation Day’, ‘Last of the Wine’ and ‘Machines of Love & Grace’ – with the latter becoming the track title to the second album. Transpired from two and half years of manifestation and self-reflection, Temperley’s latest sophomore album weaves through a concoction of emotions, while casting a set of lugubrious, yet eclectic rituals saturated under the desolated blanket of the pandemic.
Out today, the album Machines of Love & Grace will no doubt seal the iconic statuesque for Temperley, propelling and casting the artist into a pool of Australia’s most beloved and prominent artists.
I caught up with Kav Temperley to discuss about Last of the Wine, his inspirations, the solo album, and Eskimo Joe in an interview which transpired into a masterclass in song writing and the art of being a Rockstar. After all, he is still the ice cool front man of the legendary Fremantle band that has amassed 35 ARIA nominations.
The inspiration…and the last fling?
Last of the Wine has the ringtone to the sequel of ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ or a farewell message to Eskimo Joe, but Temperley dismissed the idea – with a pondering aftertaste, stating the Fremantle band has no plans for another album, with the possibility that the end may indeed be near.
“Maybe,” he says. “But it could have made a great Eskimo Joe record, as it sounds like that. I love making music with Eskies. But I don’t know when we will make another record, because these things are expensive and takes time.”
Perhaps it’s Kav’s predilection for wine as he has proudly showcased on social media, thus becoming the choice of song titles and lyrical imagery. He is also a self-proclaimed music tragic who writes for the love of music. “I have written songs about wine (chuckles), and I’m the kind of guy who makes music whether someone goes and buys the music or not…but maybe it’s the last of the wine (for Eskimo Joe)…I don’t know”
Like most records released in 2021 and 2022, Last of The Wine and the album were written in isolation. The idea of the track was sparked from Temperley’s mother in law – who works in a women shelter as a councillor during a “dangerous period of time” thanks the combination of alcohol and domestic violence.
“And the moment you had a glass of wine or two, you get to that honeymoon moment, where it all gets light and carefree, and then you keep drinking and it keeps getting dark, and we all have that guilty thought, ‘If we can hold this moment for one more second’. I never fault people for drinking one more glass as life can be heavy…so that’s when you start feeling relieved…and you’re looking out at the moon and thinking the same light is painting onto someone you love.”
What makes a great storyline?
The duality between the airy, summery vibe and the dark undertones of domestic violence and alcohol in a storyline seems unusual. The build-up and chorus of the Last of the Wine ooze the imagery of a hairy frock blown in a carefree moment, cruising in a convertible along a coastal drive between Coogee and Scarborough via Fremantle. The Last of the Wine trickles the longing and yearning for someone, sprinkled with feeling of desperation. As for the discernible listeners, the harrowing undertones is subconsciously fused in their minds, albeit through the propagation of a celebratory tune.
“This duality between light and twilight is interesting. Why was it done that way?” I ask.
“My favourite songs are always happy-sad, like in a delicious food – it can’t be too sweet or salty, it has to be a bit of this and that. And with songs, that balance always tell the best story. In my mind, stories are not a single idea, they are a complex bunch of emotions that go into that final place you arrive at. So every time I write a song, if it goes too dark you’d be like, ‘Oh god’, but if it’s too upbeat, it gets too sacrosanct sweet. So I always try to find a place between the two. And sometimes it goes into the upbeat part…or leaning to the dark part. The key word is the counterweight; this is the place where it feels like a complete idea.”
Wise words indeed, with practical application in many aspects of life.
From school nerds to Black Fingernails, Red Wine
Image is Everything, the succinct 3-word slogan of a Canon EOS camera ad with Andre Agassi during his hay days, frocking the hair buzz of an 80’s glam rocker.
The Last of The Wine is not a personal personification of Kav, thus the visceral propagation was garnered from a dark place of inspiration. The realisation of getting into character was the key to Eskimo Joe’s success, as he reminisced the turning point of Eskimo Joe.
“Do you need to be a good actor when you performed songs that may not be about your own personal experience?” I ask.
“Very much so!” exclaims Kav. “The turning point was between ‘A Song is the City’ and ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine‘. I was pretty happy to be the guy next door. We had a year when we were up for 8 ARIAs, but we lost every one to Jet to the song, Are You Gonna Be My Girl – which was on the I-pod commercials…so everytime, ’and the winner’ would be like ‘Jet’, we’d be like, ‘mother fff…’”
Kav Temperley did emphasise on a few occasions that there was ‘no animosity with Jet’ and then he continues…
“At the ARIAs, we were looking like dorks going to a school ball with our suits and bow ties, and every time Jet walked up, they don’t look like dorks at a school ball. They look like rock stars, and that’s when the penny drops; it is not just about writing songs, you need this kind of package. People don’t want to invest in the guy who lives next door, they want this person on stage. So I went home and I started to put on this identity ‘Rockstar Kit’; so I bought myself a leather jacket, dyed my hair black, painted my fingernails black, and I get into this character, and I write my songs with deep personal stories. I dressed them up like how a Rockstar would perform, and that was when the ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ came about…and it became this amazing life turning moment.
You can be this humble life – and that’s where creation comes from – the real place. Rockstars and the hotel rooms don’t write songs – they perform. The guy sitting in the bedroom doing a real domestic story- that’s where real story writing comes from. But you got to be the guy where people pay money to see. You got to be the Rockstar.
So long story short, I’ve learnt the technique about getting into character whether I’m performing, doing press stuff or in a pub as people would say, ‘you’re the guy from Eskimo Joe’. I have that armour, but it doesn’t penetrate to the core of who you are…and the core of who you are is the story-writing person, and that is the sacred flame you don’t want to go out. The more you do it, the more it infuses into you. And the full circle of going into the ARIAs is that you need to be the rockstar and eventually I just became the rockstar…and is part of me these days,” he chuckles.
Machines of Love & Grace – the Album
With three ear worm teasers ‘Machines of Love & Grace’, ‘Graduation Day’ and ‘Last of the Wine’, music lovers have been looking forward to the release of the album today. And like many records released in 2021 and 2022, the themes were sparked from the pandemic and inspired by the social dilemma and consequences traversing in the period.
“It turns out to be a post-apocalyptic story, and most of the time when you write, you don’t know what you’re writing about until you get onto the other side. But I just document everything in the last two and a half years. The final song is Emergency in D Minor. I always want to write a big epic shine on you, crazy diamond epic kind of Pink Floyd song, complete with a smoky sax solo. I wrote this song setting up for a storyline, and it starts after the pandemic had just begun. It’s like sitting in the bedroom and getting newsfeed on your phone…and you come out from the first lock down, and that feeling when you first get out of the state. And Machines of Love & Grace deals with the devil, that is, mobile phones. The Fence features a track with John Butler, which we talk about where we’re at with the vaccine and environment, and where we can’t sit on the fence…as there’s no room to sit on the fence…but I don’t want people to have PTSD and relived those moments.”
Eskimo Joe
While our focus has been on the solo stretch of Kav Temperley, we cannot deny the fact the man from Freo is Eskimo Joe. After 35 ARIA nominations (with only Silverchair, John Farnham, Kylie Minogue surpassing this accolade) through 6 studio albums with sales exceeding three quarters of a million (3 of those debut at number 1), the three-piece band is one of Western Australia’s greatest exports.
“Doing what we are doing at the moment, after all these years through the highs and lows, being in the brotherhood slash marriage…we still love each other’s company and we get along really well. We just did this album tour, playing ‘A Song Is A City’ and ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ – the two really important records to us. We were playing ‘Sweater’ in the encore which we haven’t done on stage, and to look back and going without any baggage is amazing. We made these records and we are still very proud of everything we did. We still have this great friendship, and this whole machine is still going – I think that is the proudest thing we’ve done. We are not bitter, and we are not in feuds with each other. Even me making these solo records – I’d be sending stuff to Joel Quatermain (guitarist, recording drummer, pianist of Eskimo Joe) all the time if I’m unsure, and he’d be like ‘nah you’re almost there, maybe just do this and that’. And we still have this relationship with each other and that’s what I am most proud of.”
Eskimo Joe had just completed their national tour Black Fingernails Red Wine In the City playing in major venues across Australia, with the last stop at the Fremantle Arts Centre on Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd of over three thousand. The band performed their two albums A Song Is A City and Black Fingernails, Red Wine in their entirety, with the clear demarcation point of rock starship projection personified between the two sets, symbolising the turning point as Kav reminesced earlier.
Kev Temperley’s second solo album Machines of Love & Grace is out today.
Listen here on Spotify or Soundcloud
Thank you On the Map PR and Kav Temperley for making this interview happen.
About the Interviewer: Sheldon has interviewed more than 50 artists including members of KISS, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, INXS, Europe, The Animals and many more. He was also the former Chief Photographer and Principal Journalist for a WA based magazine. Since the launch of SAM in May 2022, he has photographed and reviewed most of the arena and stadium concerts in Perth.
