Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / STU MACLEOD From ESKIMO JOE Reminisces On Twenty Years Of BLACK FINGERNAILS, RED WINE

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STU MACLEOD From ESKIMO JOE Reminisces On Twenty Years Of BLACK FINGERNAILS, RED WINE · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: To hear from Eskimo Joe. We're celebrating twenty years of.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: An album that's really changed our lives pretty significantly. Black
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Fingerails Red Wine through sort of major capital cities in
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: May and June.
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  Speaker 3: Fantastic. They're always a pleasure chatting with your brother.
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  Speaker 4: You two man, so as you say, man, Eskimo Joe
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  Speaker 4: hit the road in May to celebrate the twentieth anniversary
• 0:25
  Speaker 4: of your groundbreaking album, Black Fingernails of Red Wine. Like
• 0:29
  Speaker 4: twenty years, bro, Like it seems like only yesterday I
• 0:31
  Speaker 4: was sitting in the pub feeding those dollar coins in
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  Speaker 4: the jukebox, just listening to that music on the piers.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's pretty surround. I think it's been two decades. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I mean a lots obviously happened in that time, but
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  Speaker 2: it feels like it's just gone by in a flash.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, what haven't I like the way you're doing it too, bro.
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  Speaker 4: The tours only stopping once in each state, like in
• 0:54
  Speaker 4: one city. So you start off in freemant On, made
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: the first head to Queensland, Melbourne City in Adelaide consecutive weekend,
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: so you're even doing the whole weekend gig tour bro,
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  Speaker 4: like you finally figured it out.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, like.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: I'm not a big fan of playing weekday shows. It
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: just doesn't feel as special and one city always has
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: to miss out, you know, and be the taken on
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: the take one for the team and do a Wednesday gig,
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  Speaker 2: you know, whereas if you're just doing one city every weekend,
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  Speaker 2: you get to really enjoy it. And we're you know,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: we're planning some smaller venues that meant a bit to
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  Speaker 2: us back in the day or have the same vibe
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: as those early sort of twenty year ago venues, So
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: we're trying to capture the vibe of when we release
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: the record, and you know, seeing as their smaller venues,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: will probably do multiples in each city as well.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, you're going to be playing two sets, like one
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  Speaker 4: with all hits and the other featuring the Black Fingernails
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  Speaker 4: red Wine played in full. So are you going to
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  Speaker 4: be playing at front and backer? Are you going to
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  Speaker 4: mix things up a little bit?
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Oh no, definitely front to back.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: I think that's part of the joy of getting to
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  Speaker 2: play an album in full on stage is when we
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  Speaker 2: write a record, it really is.
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  Speaker 1: A process where we try and map.
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  Speaker 2: A journey for the listener, Like, it's not just a
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  Speaker 2: bunch of songs and we pick which ones sound good
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  Speaker 2: next to each other. After the fact, we actually design
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: the album as we go, and you know, if there's
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  Speaker 2: a gap somewhere of a particular tempo or style or feeling,
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  Speaker 2: then we'll say, all right, we've got to write a
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  Speaker 2: song to fill that gap. So we're actually writing a song.
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  Speaker 2: We're actually writing songs to fit the album, as opposed
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: to just play listing a bunch of songs afterwards to
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  Speaker 2: make it sound good. So the fact that we've you know,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: put so much energy into crafting the way an album feels,
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  Speaker 2: start to finish and we finally get to experience that live,
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  Speaker 2: you know, it's a good feeling.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: The press release calls up Black fing Nails Red Wine
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  Speaker 4: one of Australia's most defining rock records, and it's pretty
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: hard to argue with that, bro, But what does the
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: album actually mean to you?
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  Speaker 1: Oh?
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  Speaker 2: Gee, I don't know, Like I think For me, that
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  Speaker 2: was just just a real point in our lives where
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  Speaker 2: we not only had, you know, really invested a lot
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  Speaker 2: of ourselves into learning how to write songs. So the
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  Speaker 2: first EPs were just us goofing around and having fun.
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  Speaker 2: The first album, we said to ourselves, all right, well
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: we need to start writing music we want to listen to, so,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we started channeling our influences. We've got a
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  Speaker 2: producer at Buller who helped us a lot with songwriting,
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  Speaker 2: taught us a lot about, you know, the craft and
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  Speaker 2: how to keep it exciting and engaging and work with
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  Speaker 2: dynamics and the light and the dark.
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  Speaker 1: And then the second record, we.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that was a step forward in terms
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  Speaker 2: of our songwriting ability and a bit more confidence. And
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  Speaker 2: then the third record, I don't know. We just seemed
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  Speaker 2: to be aligned in a lot of ways creatively, so
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  Speaker 2: that the songwriting process was really easy and it just
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: sort of flowed out and it was like identical twins
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  Speaker 2: just finishing each other's sentences, you know, we just we're
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  Speaker 2: on the same page. And we really wanted to make
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  Speaker 2: a record that we could take on the big stage
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  Speaker 2: anywhere in the world.
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  Speaker 1: So it had to sound widescreen, it had to sound.
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  Speaker 2: High definition, and we got an amazing engineer, Matt lovellin
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  Speaker 2: to record it. But I was listening to the demos
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: a couple of months back, and the demos of every
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  Speaker 2: note is there from on the record in the demos,
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  Speaker 2: So all we did was just go in the studio
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  Speaker 2: and make it sound better. So it just shows, you know,
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  Speaker 2: we just straight out of the tub. It just sounded amazing.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, collaborate on a little bit more bro like.
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  Speaker 4: It was a bit of a sonic evolution from your
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  Speaker 4: previous two albums, Girl and a Song of a City, Like,
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  Speaker 4: did you have a clear vision of what you wanted
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  Speaker 4: going into that album? What did it sort of more
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  Speaker 4: make itself up in the studio.
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  Speaker 1: I think it just evolved like we knew we wanted.
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  Speaker 2: Like I said, we knew and wanted to make it
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  Speaker 2: like a cinematic widescreen sort of. We wanted to fill
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  Speaker 2: big stages. Basically, we played a bunch of festivals, we
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  Speaker 2: played Big day Out and the music just wasn't big
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  Speaker 2: enough for us. We wanted we wanted those moments, you know,
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  Speaker 2: those big day out moments where there's four to the floor,
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  Speaker 2: kick drum and the crowds clapping along and singing.
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  Speaker 1: And it's a moment. You know.
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  Speaker 2: We wanted to create that on the record. So I
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  Speaker 2: think that was the only real motive going in in
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  Speaker 2: terms of the song writing and how and how it happened.
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  Speaker 2: That was all just you know, we just wrote the
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  Speaker 2: same as we always, right, we just put it through
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  Speaker 2: a different lens.
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  Speaker 1: I guess cool.
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  Speaker 4: And what are some of your your lasting memories from
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  Speaker 4: that album? Like this, everyone's got a couple of little
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  Speaker 4: things they hold on to you made.
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  Speaker 3: What's what's yours?
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  Speaker 1: Oh?
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  Speaker 2: Lots man, you know, like riding the four wheeler through
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  Speaker 2: the forest at the recording Studo was at.
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  Speaker 1: The Grove Studios that was actually the Mangrove back then,
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  Speaker 1: through the Mangrove forest. That was fun. Just the recording
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: process in general was a lot of fun. And touring
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: that record through Germany and the States. We did a
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: lot of touring through states with that record. Yeah, just
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  Speaker 1: lots of lots of memories.
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  Speaker 4: Man, This would be easy to answer in hindsight made
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  Speaker 4: but like looking back, like when you finish up the
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  Speaker 4: recording as all polished and just about ready to go, like,
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  Speaker 4: did you did you have any notion at all that
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  Speaker 4: there was something special about it or was it just
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  Speaker 4: another body music?
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  Speaker 1: Oh?
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  Speaker 2: Definitely yeah, no, we we were very proud of it.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: Each song that came along, even every new demo you know,
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  Speaker 1: you just get in your car and put.
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  Speaker 2: On the CD and just sit there and listen to
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  Speaker 2: it over and over and over and over and over again,
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  Speaker 2: just trying to, you know, polish it up as much
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  Speaker 2: as possible, but at the same time just thinking this
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  Speaker 2: is something We're onto something here, you know. So we'd
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: show out to friends and family and they just go, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: that's that's a banger.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: I remember when that album came out, bro, and I
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: have to admit here that I was wrong.
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  Speaker 3: I don't often admit I was wrong, but I was
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: wrong here.
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  Speaker 4: Like when it first came out, I'm like, nah, that
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: that's too much of a mouthful, that chiitle, Like people
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: aren't going to want to remember that, but.
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  Speaker 3: You proved me wrong.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah. No, it's.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: I do like a simple, snappy title, but it just
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  Speaker 2: couldn't have been anything else. That song was the juggernaut,
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  Speaker 2: so it just needed to have podium position, you know.
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  Speaker 4: Being an Esden support mate, every time I hear it,
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  Speaker 4: I'm imagine that you're singing that to me with the
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: red fingernails and the black ing and ails and the
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  Speaker 4: red wine.
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  Speaker 1: Black and red was definitely a theme.
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  Speaker 2: There was the point where all we could wear on
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: stage is black, red or white. So if you're a
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: Saints fan, that was probably good too.
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: And such as the enduring legacy of the title, Mate,
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: that you're going to be releasing a special exclusive bottle
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: of Cabsack is it cab sack auditionaire like to mark
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: the occasion?
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: What a fantastic idea.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. We just wanted to do something
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: was different than what the red wines in the title.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Wa is an amazing place for red wine, particularly the
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: caps have So yeah, we're just still ironing out the
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: details behind the scenes, but that'll be sort of middle
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: and xt year. I think bottling generally happens around feb
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: every year, so hopefully it's ready to go by May,
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  Speaker 2: by the tour so you can you can walk away
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: with some pretty unique merch.
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: And how much input is a band actually had in that, mate, Like,
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: how much taste testing have you had to do?
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: None yet?
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: Like I said, we're just ironing out details, but there
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: won't be any tasting until it's bottled in fair so
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: we'll try and make a bit of a fuss about that.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: Yeah, easier, you're got to be taking Alex Lloyd with
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: it for the chores who made Who had success around
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: the same time with his debut album, Black the Sun,
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  Speaker 4: So it's pretty a bit of a nostalgic tour definitely.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And actually I didn't even make this connection until you
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: just said that, because we were talking about the first producer,
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: Ed Buller, and he actually produced that records.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: So he produced Alex Lloyd's first.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Record and he produced our first record, so that's a
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: pretty cool little coincidence.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: But yeah, No, we did a bit of touring with
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Alex back of the day.
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  Speaker 2: Always thought he was an amazing songwriter, incredible voice and
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: a great performance. So yeah, it just made sense that
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: if we're going to get a bit no steale the
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: twenty year mark.
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  Speaker 1: We might as well bring along some old memories as well.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Why not.
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  Speaker 4: Indeed, and that troll doesn't kick off until May next year, mate,
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: So what's Eskimo Joe got planned between now and then?
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: Just practicing and getting ready or you've got some other surprises.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Just lots more gigs.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So we've got some gigs in final off, Queensland's
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: next weekends, then Coffs, Harbor, Kingscliff, We've got New Year's
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: even Darwin so and we got some festival dates over summer.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: So yeah, just the the Eskimo Joe train keeps on trucking.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: Man Jersey brother will In the meantime, the twentieth anniversary
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: tour Four Black Fingernails Red Wine kicks off in May.
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  Speaker 3: Next year.
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: Get two sets of The Boys celebrating twenty years Christmas Present,
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: come early.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: That sounds good.