In the storied career of beloved Fremantle rockers Eskimo Joe, front man, bassist and award-winning songwriter, Kav Temperley has played a lead role. He’s also been integral in creating the soulful collective Basement Birds, starting the small indie record label Dirt Diamond Productions, and as a role model and champion for Oxfam’s “Close The Gap” campaign.
Successfully straddling mainstream commercial success, while managing to keep their Alternative Music roots secure, over their career, Eskimo Joe have racked up a list of impressive stats along with both commercial & recognition. Three of the band’s six albums debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts with juggernaut “Black Fingernails, Red Wine” shining for 62 weeks in the Top 50 and “Foreign Land” bringing home 2 APRA Awards for Most Played Rock Song on Australian radio and Best Rock Song of 2010.
Basement Birds, a 4-piece collaborative project featuring Temperley and beloved Australian songwriters, Josh Pyke, Kevin Mitchell and Steve Parkin, was only intended to be low key side project, however quickly drew the attention of music fans and media alike. The band achieved an ARIA Nomination for their one, and only, self-titled album. The group also performed at the APRA Awards 2010.
As a founder of indie label Dirt Diamond Productions, Kav has mentored, written and recorded with up-and-coming talent, Kathryn Rollins. He took on the production role for her first EP, Reckless, which gained attention from national radio and media outlets.
In 2014, Kav stepped out on his own for a three-month tour of Australia, in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Eskimo Joe’s “A Song Is A City”, presenting the much-loved album in full, complete with stories about the band at the time of its original release. An ever prolific songwriter, Kav then focussed on co-writing with various artists and producers at events such as ‘50 Songs in 5 Days’, mentoring young up-and-coming songwriters, in his role as an APRA Ambassador and is in writing mode for solo releases to come.
2016 not only marked Temperley’s debut as a solo artist, but also his debut outing as a curator, with the production Songs Of The Suburbs, Songs Of The Sea for the Fremantle Festival: a show which unites some of Perth/Fremantle’s finest songwriters (accompanied by spoken word, film and photography) to share in the songs and stories of their city.
2017 then saw Kav moving forward as a solo artist with live shows at festivals such as The Golden Gift in Leonora, Sunday Sundowner in Port Headland, Floriade Festival in Canberra, the Fremantle Folk Festival, and the Fremantle Beer Festival. He also contributed to the VAST project, which involved over 32 artists converging in the heart of West Pilbara for a week of creation, recording and collaboration, a project which Temperley was again involved in in 2018 and culminated in a live performance opening the Red-Earth Arts Precinct opening in Cossack.
Ever busy, Temperley found time in early 2018 to pen ‘The Shower Song’ which was recorded collaboratively with a number of prominent West Australian artists for the WA Water Corporation, encouraging domestic water conservation. Kav also runs and creates podcasts for On A Boat Productions, a podcast curation and production company.
2018 sees Kav releasing his exciting debut solo album, ‘All Your Devotion’ which features his new single ‘Pollyanna’. ‘All Your Devotion’ is being released digitally and on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl. It will be released on September 28th and is available to preorder now.