Eskimo Joe Sweatin’ It No More
An Interview with Stu MacLeod
Woman Magazine, 2004



My first real date with my to be girlfriend. Homebake 2001. I stood at the back of the crowd beer in my left hand so I 
could try to hold hers with my right. “SWEATER” I screamed. “SWEEAAATERRR”, Julia giggled nervously. “Play the SWEATER 
SONG.” Others joined in. Little did we know that Eskimo Joe consider the ‘Sweater’ song to be all “utter wank”. There is 
no Op Shop called Aunty Jack’s. There isn’t even a ‘monkey shit brown’ sweater. I wish I had have known this at the time 
‘cos I went to see them again at Woonoona Bulli RSL in 2002. ‘SWEATER” I roared. “SWEATER” I barked as I clung to Julia 
drifting in the tidal crowd. At least now when they’re at the unibar on the 22nd July I will know not to demand ‘Sweater’ 
‘cos its something Eskimo Joe doesn’t want to give anymore.

Whereas ‘Sweater’ was completely fictional, Stu Macleod guitarist and back-up vocalist from Eskimo Joe says these days 
Eskimo Joe are about honesty. “When we first started out we were just having fun. We came to a point where we were writing 
out lyrics one day and Joel just went ‘What the fuck are we writing?’ you know, ‘This is fucking stupid’.”

‘Sweater’ is one of those remembered ‘stupid’ songs. Suspicious I asked what song it was they were writing when Joel was 
struck with his realisation. Stu, probably not even wearing a sweater at the time of the interview, replied it was about 
“teddy bears or something. It was just pointless. Another one of our stupid numbers that we seem to botch out in two 
minutes and we just got a bit sick of it and said ‘Look we’re not being honest with ourselves, we’re just writing stupid 
hits that everyone is gonna devour in two seconds and get sick of in two minutes’.”

Sweater is such an American term anyway.

The reason people have stuck around since ‘Sweater’ despite a drastic change in musical motive is because Eskimo Joe’s 
songs are still catchy but now are also ‘honest and not trying to contrive anything’. Stu believes the fan base has stuck 
it out with the maturing Eskimo Joe because they “love pop and melody and good song writing. We strive to write good songs
 with melodies that sort of stick in your head and memorable tunes. The lyrics are very honest and open so people relate 
to a lot of things in (our) songs.”

Kav Temperley is Eskimo Joe’s lyric writer and bassist. Stu described Eskimo Joe’s song writing formula. After writing the 
lyrics Kav “comes up with a little spark and then me and Joel will fan the flames and add more and more bits on. We just 
layer it all up until it’s ridiculously big and then we’ll strip back all of the bits we don’t need and then we’ve got 
(our) song.”

Stu described his whole life as being “surrounded by music”. He puts his initial interest in music down to his mum who was 
a music teacher. “I learned the piano off and on when I was a kid” said Stu “but I wasn’t really into it because, you know, 
there were Tae Kwon Do people that kicked and there were armies to play but, then when I was about 16 I picked up the 
guitar.” From this moment on Stu and his mate Kav Temperley “who lived next door to (Stu) since (he) was a youngen’ were 
writing songs together and playing in cafes.”

Kav and Stu eventually formed Eskimo Joe to enter a band competition. They searched for a drummer. Enter Joel Quartermain 
from Kav’s other band, Freud’s Pillow. Joel has since moved from drums to guitar and Stu described this transition as 
necessary for Joel because “he is a child of melody. He needs music in his life. For him playing drums each night, clocking 
on clocking off, it was like a job and he got really bored.” The transition for Joel opened a drumming position in Eskimo 
Joe for Paul Keenan, someone who has perhaps never even owned a sweater either.

The new album creates a life never before seen by fans of lead singer Kav Temperley. Eskimo Joe have emerged as more 
personable and emotional than ever before. Since their radical change in musical direction Stu has seen Kav’s writing 
improve. “His lyrics are just so much of a different class these days and they just keep getting better. (Kav’s) becoming 
more comfortable with his own writing style. He draws from his life experience and that’s why people find it easy to 
relate to him, cos he’s just being honest.”

Stu was in all agreeance when Joel spoke up about the teddy bear ‘pointless’ lyrics of Eskimo Joe’s past. “I think it’s 
just a lot more rewarding to listen to, to play, to record these (honest) songs” explained Stu “because listening to 
someone yack on about stereos and fuckin’ sweaters is just mundane and the novelty wears off. Whereas if you’re talking 
about things in your life that people might have experienced, it’s got longevity that is more pleasing to listen to.”

In explaining Eskimo Joe’s refusal to play ‘Sweater’ in their live gigs Stu said “If we did ever play (Sweater) again it 
would sit so awkwardly in the set. It’s like we’re a different band and if we played (Sweater) we’d just be cheating the 
audience ‘cos it’s just not us anymore.”

Kav’s maturing style to lyrics and music has some, as Stu says, from a lot of different space to his own love for music. 
For Kav, “it’s a lot about the lyrics and what the song is trying to say, Kav has to listen to something with lyrical 
content. But, for me” continues rockin’ Stu “I’m more of a musical person. I just get off on the music.” Stu described the 
highs he gets playing two of the songs from the new album, saying ‘This Room’ and ‘Liar’ were his favourites and were 
definite highlights when playing live.

Growing up in his musical house did Stu ever dream of being a rock star? No. “I always dreamed of being wealthy.” Stu 
mused “but not famous at all. Considering my two passions in life are acting and music, that’s sort of blown it.” I asked 
‘Never wanted to be but has the potential to be a rock star’ Stu if he was proud of his achievements, he said “Yeah, yeah 
of course I am. The last tour really cemented the fact for me that we’re starting to do well.” Stu still regrets never 
committing to the piano though and sees his next endeavour as crafting his pianist skills.

When asked if he could describe Eskimo Joe in three words, Stu laughed and replied “NO…we’re far too complex to be 
described in three words”, something I don’t think he would’ve said had I interviewed him around the time of ‘sweater’.