AGEING and rock stardom can be an uneasy mix – but Eskimo Joe frontman Kav Temperley is embracing it as he finishes off his first solo album.
The kid who once hollered Sweater turns 40 next year.
Temperley isn’t daunted, though, and is looking forward to unveiling the new material at the Fremantle Folk Festival next month.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW“It’s about love, but it’s also about where I’m at in my life,” he said.
“It’s just about what it means to be a musician of my age, going deeper into this idea of love and letting go of old stories.”
Although the band hasn’t split up, Eskimo Joe’s output steadily diminished after 2006’s Black Fingernails, Red Wine.
It opted to crowdfund its 2013 album Wastelands, a move that drew criticism from some quarters.
Temperley also separated from his long-term partner around the same time.
“It was a very difficult period for a lot of reasons; I was going through all kinds of personal change in my life,” he said.
“We thought we’d experiment (with crowdfunding).
“I didn’t really care about the snarky comments because for us it was all coming from the right place.”
More than 13 years after he wrote A Song is a City, it’s clear Fremantle’s grip on Temperley’s heart is as strong as ever.
“There’s a power in being from a place and saying ‘I’m from that place’,” he said.
“You have (novelist) Tim Winton, you have lots of other really fantastic visual artists as well.
“We have always punched above our weight here.
“I don’t think it’s an accident –- I think it’s just a beautiful bubble to create in.”
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Fremantle Folk Festival
Where: Princess May Park
When: Saturday, October 14
Tickets: www.fremantlefolkfestival.com.au
MORE: Former Docker Schloithe wins Sandover Medal
MORE: Elderly woman killed in Dianella in day of road carnage
MORE: City of Subiaco chief excited by Lions’ trip to WAFL grand final