Eskimo Joe frontman Kav Temperley has released our first taste of his second solo album ‘Machines of Love & Grace’. The newly released single ‘Graduation Day’ sees Kav team up with Little Birdy’s very own Katy Steele for the charming track and its accompanying video that features their hometown of Fremantle. The new album ‘Machines of Love & Grace’ is set for release in September but if you would like a sneak peek, you can catch Kav on his regional tour which kicked off last month and is coming to a town near you. We caught up with Kav on a break in his tour schedule to find out about ‘Graduation Day’, his debut making music videos and the secret shows he plays as Christopher Walkman.

For those that haven’t heard your solo music before, how do you describe your sound?

I sound like if Ryan Adams and Brian Adams travelled back in time to 1971 and made an album together

You have just released your new single 'Graduation Day' with Katy Steele, can you tell us about the new song? What does the song mean to you?

When I went to high school in Fremantle it was a rite of passage on graduation day to jump off the old Freo traffic bridge into the river. People would stop their cars and yell out at you for being reckless and dangerous, and that’s exactly what it felt like and it was wonderful.

Both myself and Katy worked out when we were younger that if you wanted to make something of yourself you had physically leave Perth to sell your wares. Both of us left Perth but have each returned home to start families and are really happy where we’re at in our lives, but a lot of people we grew up with never left and are still doing the same thing they always did with a question of “what if” on the tip of their tongues.

Graduation Day is about reflecting back on that time in all of our lives where we felt reckless, dangerous and full of hope.

You and Katy have been friends for many years, what made you decide to team up and join forces now?

When you make a solo album, you spend large amounts of time trapped in a room going round in circles trying to work out if what you're doing is any good or not. It can be really helpful to have someone in the room with you that you trust to bounce ideas off. I gave Katy a call and said “Hey buddy I’m going insane over here, do wanna come over and work on this song with me, it’s called graduation day and it’s about one person who leaves to find their fortune in the world and one person who stays back home doing the same old thing” and thankfully she said yes. and the rest, as they say, is history

The video for 'Graduation Day' was shot in your hometown of Fremantle. did you come up with the concept for the video? Were there any memorable moments during the making of it?

The film clip is a collaboration between myself and two Fremantle filmmakers Joseph London and Luna Laure. What I love about it is that it comes up looking like a love letter to Fremantle. We shot the performances outside my studio and at my favourite local coffee shop Hush. Just before we went to shoot the last performance piece myself and Katy popped across the road to a little bar called Jungle Bird and skulled a few spicy Margaritas, so the final part of the filming was hilarious. Katy is really funny, and she had me in tears of laughter as we attempted to mime along to the song

You took on the roles of producing and editing the video, was this a new challenge for you or do you have this amount of involvement in all your music videos?

This was the first time I’ve been involved in the editing of a clip and it was really enjoyable. I had been spending a lot of time editing together visuals for my live show, which consists of a whole bunch of silent horror films that I’ve edited together into one long David Lynch dreamscape. So the video clip started as an extension of that. I was lucky enough to be gifted some cutting room floor footage from my good friend Joseph London’s beautiful film “The Beloved”. The whole film is made up of different shots of Fremantle which he filmed over 10 Years. I thought maybe I would end up with some sort of lyric video but by the end of it I thought all we needed to do was shoot some footage of myself and Katy singing and we would have a great clip. So I asked another Fremantle filmmaker Luna Laure and cameraman Davis LeMay to jump in and the whole thing turned out fantastic I couldn’t be prouder.

“I’ve attempted to do what I think artists do best which is document the last two and a half years in a way that is easier to process, through song”

— Kav Temperley

'Graduation Day' is the first taste of your EP, 'Machines of Love & Grace' When is the album out and what else can fans expect from the new release?

The album is out mid-September and I’ve attempted to do what I think artists do best which is document the last two and a half years in a way that is easier to process, through song. I've touched on a lot of themes that came up for myself and many people in the world. Addiction to technology, alcoholism, domestic violence, fence-sitting politics, extremism. Hopefully in a way that stands up as a piece of work that can exist outside of this moment in time but also allows people to get their own stories reflected back at them.

Will there be more collaborative tracks on the new album?

Yes, as well as Katy there is a collaboration with John Buttler as well as another amazing Perth artist called Siobhan Cotchin.

“all the successes and failures are on me, and that’s kind of liberating”

— Kav Temperley

What is the writing / creative process look like for you?

Because it's just me alone in a room for long periods of time without a band everything takes about five times as long. When I make a record with Eskimo Joe I have two other very talented musicians piping in every two seconds with things like “how about this for a drum part” or “listen to this guitar part”, So with this record, it’s just me coming with and playing all the parts. Some days I feel like I’m a genius and other days I think to myself “this is the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life I may as well go and get a job at McDonald’s because it's all I’m qualified to do!!” But when the dust settles I feel very proud of the amount of work that’s gone into it, and there’s nothing to hide behind, all the successes and failures are on me, and that’s kind of liberating.

You have released Part 1 of your Regional Tour details, when can we expect Part 2? why the split in the announcements?

Part 2 is coming in the next weeks

What can the punters look forward to at your live shows for this solo tour?

I’ll be playing songs from my upcoming record as well as my last solo album “All your devotion” but I’ll also be playing a bunch of Eskimo Joe songs in a way that they sounded when I first played them to the band on an acoustic guitar before they became the stadium bangers that you hopefully all know and love.

What are the best and worst parts about touring for Kav Temperley?

The best part is getting out and seeing the country and playing to live audiences that after the last two and half years feels like an absolute treat. But I have a family and its very hard leaving them at home

How did you get your start in music?

In Eskimo Joe, we won a competition called the national campus band comp. Part of the prize was to record an EP which contained a song called Sweater. Then Jane Gazzo who was the nighttime DJ on JJJ at the time played Sweater and it took off.

What was the first album or song you remember buying that impacted your future path?

When CD’s where first a thing I bought Beck’s ‘Mellow Gold’ (his first album) his production and the way he wrote his song really inspired myself and Stu (from Eskimo Joe) to write our first batch of songs

Who do you credit as your musical influences?

wow, there is a pretty long list that changes depending on what day of the week it is but The Beatles, Bowie, Neil Young, Lou Reed, The Police, Eurythmics, Nirvana, Beck and the list goes on

Where was your first solo gig? Was it a success or a flop?

I’ve always played solo when leading up to recording an album, so with all the Eskimo Joe albums I would go out and play secret shows under the name Christopher Walkman. Sometimes I would play to a surprised full house and sometimes would play to no one. It’s definitely a lot more pressure flying under my own name.

“playing last year’s AFL grand final was certainly a bucket list moment”

— Kav Temperley

You have been in the industry for a couple of decades now. What’s been the highlight in your career so far personally? And why?

I think every time I finish an album it’s always a career highlight just because I forget every time how much work goes into it and then when it’s finished I get instant amnesia and want to do it all over again. But playing last year’s AFL grand final was certainly a bucket list moment.

If you weren’t a musician what else would you be doing now?

Probably writing an epic science fiction trilogy about a man who has no other hobbies apart from playing music.

Who in your crew or team deserves a shout-out but never gets one? And what is it they do that keeps your world turning?

Tim McNally who does monitors for Eskimo Joe and live sound for my solo work. Such a hard worker and nothing is ever a problem.

What’s in the works for Kav Temperley beyond the 'Machines of Love & Grace' release and your Regional Tour?

Next year I’m going to embark on a research writing project which will hopefully end up as a scripted show which involves original songs that are made up of true untold stories from Western Australia.

KAV TEMPERLEY SOLO TOUR DATES

THURS 14 JULY | FROTH, EXMOUTH WA

Tickets are available from https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/b0240a99-4015-4354-8f39-fe8f8141a8ed

THURS 4 AUG | GOLDEN VINE, BENDIGO VIC

Tickets are available from https://events.humanitix.com/kav-temperley

FRI 5 AUG | OUR FRIENDS FARM, TALLAROOK VIC

Tickets are available from https://events.humanitix.com/kav-temperley-eskimo-joe

SAT 6 AUG | LIGHTHOUSE THEATRE (STUDIO), WARRNAMBOOL VIC

Tickets are available from https://www.lighthousetheatre.com.au/kav-temperley

WED 10 AUG | THE GAL, NEWCASTLE NSW

Tickets are available from https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/50a59594-fb69-4dd9-a23a-d47dad0c41f4

THURS 11 AUG | DRIFTERS WHARF, GOSFORD NSW