ESKIMO JOE
By Nikita Lee


No one epitomises the phrase 'slow and steady wins the race' more than indie rock trio Eskimo Joe. After almost a decade 
of making music together, they're busy basking in their well deserved, albeit overdue, wave of success. Singer Kav 
Temperley took a short break to talk about the US record deal that almost didn't happen.

"We went to the US quite a few times over the last few years and A Song is a City almost got released.   But you know 
how you think something is really disastrous at the time, but it turns out to be a good thing? Well, if we had signed 
to that record label this next album wouldn't be released because the company fell apart. We were pitching to the major 
record companies where you basically have six months to sell a million records and if that doesn't happen then you're 
out of there for good.   For me, that goes against what we've done in Australia," Kav explains.

The Eskimo Joe journey has certainly been a gradual one. Despite having their music stamped on the music scene for 
several years, it was the standout, stadium inspired hits from their bold third offering Black Fingernails, Red Wine 
that catapulted the trio into a sea of Australian admirers. "We were just exploring a sound and that's where it took 
us. You can really write and dress up a song any way you want and this time around we decided to dress it up with black 
stretch tight jeans and black fingernails," Kav laughs. With their profile steadily rising, some may wonder if their 
latest achievements caught them slightly off guard. "It's been a gradual feeling. 'From the Sea' went pretty well but 
it paved the way for this one. When 'Black Fingernails..' went nuts on the radio, I thought 'Okay, wow, it's really 
starting to happen' but then you go to the rest of the world and no-one knows about you. I'm really happy about what's 
happened in Australia but I just hope we can do that with the rest of the world," Kav says.

His realistic attitude may well be spurred by the realisation that Eskimo Joe's slow journey to stardom has worked in 
sync with their own journey as musicians. "I feel more ready now. I'm so glad we're going to the US with our third 
record and not with the first because mentally and song wise, I'm a better performer and singer than I was then. I 
like the idea that if I got onstage next to some really big act over there that we could do as good a job; I don't 
think we could have before," Kav admits. Equipped with a confident yet realistic approach to conquering the overseas 
market, Eskimo Joe are set to invade the United States. Meanwhile the Aussie lads have already found themselves playing 
alongside some big league musicians. "I love PJ Harvey, Neil Young and the Pixies who we got to play with the other day, 
which was fucking awesome," says Kav excitedly.