Aussie rockers Eskimo Joe formed in Fremantle in 1997. Singer/bassist Kavyen Temperly and drummer Joel Quartermain, who previously collaborated in the band Freud’s Pillow, recruited guitarist Stuart MacLeod to enter the Australian National Campus Band Competition and, after claiming top honors, won a slot at the annual Livid Festival as well as a trip to a recording studio. The session yielded Eskimo Joe’s 1998 debut EP, Sweater, earning significant airplay on the influential Australian radio outlet Triple J with the title cut. A year later, the group resurfaced with a self-titled follow-up EP, notching the hits “Ruby Wednesday” and “Turn Up Your Stereo.” Upon signing to the EMI affiliate Modular Records, Eskimo Joe teamed with producer Ed Buller to create its first full-length LP, Girl. A Top 40 hit down under, the album generated the hits “Planet Earth” and “Who Sold Her Out.” Its 2004 follow-up, A Song Is a City, launched the trio to national superstardom. Buoyed by the Top 40 hits “From the Sea,” “Smoke,” and “Older Than You,” the album reached the number two spot. Eskimo Joe’s third album, Black Fingernails, Red Wine, debuted at number one in May 2006.
