The rise and rise of Eskimo Joe


There must be something in the air in Western Australia. We’ve seen the rise of Sleepy Jackson, The Panics, Little Birdy, 
End of Fashion and more, making not only great music but headlines — here and overseas. But while these bands were being 
splashed in magazine spreads worldwide, another WA band has been quietly working on its sophomore album back in Australia. 
With a new album, a new record company, a new line-up and a new musical direction, Eskimo Joe is back better than ever. 
It’s the quiet ones you’ve got to watch.



A Song is a City, the follow-up to their acclaimed Girl debut, is at once a darker album. The Joe’s humble guitarist 
Stuart MacLeod tells me the move to a more serious album was not intentional. “I don’t think anything we do is a 
conscious decision to achieve anything in particular. We just do what’s on our minds at that point in time. I think 
if you consciously try to change, the result comes out half-baked. If you’re not being honest with your fans, then 
they’re going to pick up on it pretty quickly.”



Although Girl is a brilliant album, the new album is definitely a step forward for the band. MacLeod says the band all 
agree it’s a much better album and more of an honest effort. “We’re now much more comfortable with song writing,” he 
says. “We were willing to try different things this time around and we are technically better at playing our instruments. 
The songs just came really easily.”



Where their first album was more literal, the band has used more metaphors this time around. “We’ve always been pretty 
open about our songs meanings,” Stuart says. “But the beauty of songs is that people can take what they want from it. 
Some fans want to know the meanings, some fans don’t. People read different stories from different songs and that’s 
why they’re so great.”



MacLeod goes on to explain that that’s half the point of the new album’s title. “People can interpret songs in so many 
different ways and there are so many different stories in every song. A Song is a City is metaphor for 50 million stories 
in a city in a day. A city is filled with stories and emotions and little odd characters, just like a song is filled with 
stories and characters.”



Formed in Fremantle, the history of Eskimo Joe can be traced all the way back to the members’ childhoods. As next door 
neighbours, MacLeod and Kavyen Temperley (singer and bass player) met when they were just seven. MacLeod began playing 
guitar at 16 and the two immediately started writing and playing music together, getting gigs in cafés. About four years 
later, drummer Joel Quartermain joined. Eskimo Joe was born.



MacLeod says it all happened pretty quickly from there. “We entered the National Campus Band competition for a joke and
the rest is history.” They won, and were signed to Modular Recordings soon after, picking up four ARIA nominations for 
their debut album. “I guess it’s hard to ignore that type of acknowledgement. It’s one thing to getting other musicians 
to say you\'re great. But when it’s a whole group of people on national TV it’s a bit of an ego boost!”



MacLeod is adamant that although there is not a big music industry in Fremantle, it is actually an advantage for bands. 
“In bigger cities, if there’s the tiniest bit of buzz about a band, you’ll have 20 A&R people at the gig, sometimes 
signing bands before they are ready. We benefited from living here because we had a chance to breathe, our songs had a 
chance to breathe and we got to develop at our own pace.”



According to MacLeod, the Perth music scene is pretty healthy. “Unfortunately though, a lot of pubs are closing down 
which I guess is the saga of many Australian venues. But there’s a lot of talent at the moment. Now that more and more 
WA bands are getting somewhere, it gives the other bands a little bit of hope. It’s a really inspirational circle of 
friends. We draw on each other’s talents in music and in every day life.”



He cites the band’s influences as classic song writers - Bowie, Beatles, Neil Young. “The last album we were listening 
to a lot of Wilco and we really became enamoured with the raw emotion and stripped production. The Wilco documentary is 
incredible, just amazing. We got a lot of inspiration from that film and their last two albums.”



As far as guitarists go, Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) is his biggest inspiration. “I saw the second Radiohead show in 
Sydney and it was a life changing experience.” Graham Coxon (Blur) and Joe Santiago (The Pixies) come close behind. 
“I love the fact you don’t have to be technically credible to be able to write good guitar lines. I think many guitarists 
get carried away with the technical side and forget they should be playing good notes. These three guitarists are really 
good and getting raw sounds and some great emotion out of their guitars.”



The band’s current single, ‘From the Sea’, with its references to Fremantle and the ocean, is already stirring up quite a
 buzz. The film clip features the band playing beside a pool full of synchronised swimmers. “We sent out the song to 
different directors and they sent us back treatments. Joel was not going to be playing drums so we needed some sort of 
rhythmic representation. It did the trick.” Former drummer Joel Quartermain’s move from drums to guitar came merely out 
of boredom on Joel’s behalf. “Drums became like a day job to him. Joel\'s a pop child; he needs melody to keep him 
interested.” Mutual friend Paul Keenan replaced Joel on drums and another old friend, Dan Bull, is now playing keyboards.



So with a new line-up and new songs, the band is about to head off on a national tour. “I love touring, it’s always a 
lot of fun,” MacLeod says. “I guess when you get to the end of a 10-week stretch you tend to want to get home, feel the 
warmth of your girlfriend up against your back and that sort of thing, but for the most part it’s great.” The band also 
hopes to tour overseas. “That’s definitely on the agenda because we respect and admire so many international bands,” 
MacLeod says. “We’ve always wanted to break out into the world.” But don’t expect them to spend too much time away from 
Fremantle, which will always be home. “Yeah, we are all home bodies at heart and we like to hang out at home, cook nice 
food, have friends over and watch the sun go down.”