Rock City: The Peep Tempel say farewell Facebook, Jordan Rakei crushes hard & Nailed it/Failed It

Rock City: The Peep Tempel say farewell Facebook, Jordan Rakei crushes hard & Nailed it/Failed It, written by Mikey Cahill

Mikey Cahill- Smiling Politely

6 min read

November 3, 2017 - 3:35PM

Best of Melbourne

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Blake Scott is an unlikely guru.

Not the first person you’d think to go to for enlightenment or a simple defrag of the brain.
That is until you listen to Neuroplasticity on 2015’s Joy, the band’s third album and the second record they had Shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize after Tales. “Don’t stress, think about it less, don’t count the cracks appearing up ahead.” It’s sound advice and functions like Desiderata. Shout out to Max Ehrmann if he’s reading.

We can all give out nuggets of wisdom but, because we’re silly bits of floppy flesh, we don’t always take our own. Not Blake Scott though. He’s calling time on his scrappy garage punk outfit The Peep Tempel (for now) and does he feel free or what. Hi! Atus.

“It could be three months, it could be three years, it could be never,” Scott shrugs. “We just decided the time was right. Usually when we write an album we go straight back into working on some stuff. It’s a good time to just pull away from it a bit. Reflect on the cool things we’ve done.”

Besides, Scott reckons: “You can play yourself out of form.” He likes a football analogy, being a proud Rockdog who starred in their Reclink Community Cup victory over the Megahertz in 2016.

“It’s funny the amount of things The Peep Tempel have done,” he says, quietly stoked at the notches on their festival bedpost. “We’ve played Meredith, Golden Plains and Splendour in the Grass. It’s surprising, an old band jumping up there.” Scott and his charges enjoyed “a few quite ales and I laid out there like a lobster, I was a bit dehydrated. We hung out Dan Sultan and some Rockdogs backstage after the show.”

The young crowd were down with the peeps. “I didn’t get all sunburnt at Splendour for nothing.”

It’s murderous this bloody sun. Scott and his band made sure the loosey goosey Byron Bay crowds got the deeper meaning of what they do. Rayguns is “a song against Reclaim Australia” and Carol is a commentary on the elements of male Australia. “The anger and inability to process emotion,” he says. Sometimes there’s a disconnect between the intention of a band and how fans receive the song. “We’ve had guys at shows yelling out that Carol is a slut. They just don’t get it.”

Blake Scott is like Banjo Paterson if he were a tradie that just wanted to make up poetic songs full of intriguing Aussie battlers. “The crackle of the Test match, I reach for the volume when someone takes a catch,” he speak-sings on Kalgoorlie, giving a brickie-snot. We You Forgot is like Queens of the Stone Age in a tetchy pool game with The Angels. The Peep Tempel’s oeuvre is an engrossing exploration of joy and madness.

Ever since announcing the trio would go on a hiatus, a weight has lifted off Scott’s broad carpenter-by-trade shoulders.

“Absolutely it has. We asked ourselves ‘What are we doing? Do we just keep touring?’ Everyone was a little bit tired. Now we’ve started enjoying rehearsal again. Now we’re soaking it up more. It’s reminded us why we started it. It’s been a cool experience,” he says.

“A lot of bands out there need to keep flogging it. But bands aren’t always gonna make great records. Sometimes I look at bands and think ‘That’s a rubbish record’ (laughs) and I don’t delve into the reasons why.”

I inform Blake that Facebook has changed its algorithms and News Feeds again so bands will find it even more difficult to cut through the noise without shelling out money for a Sponsored Post. This pleases him.

“We’re ahead of the game!” he blurts. “Personally I find it be a bit of a grind. Social media shits me. Farewell Facebook. I can find my cat videos other ways, that’s all I really look for on Facebook anyway. I’m more into hiding. I like a nice wet hole.”

The Peep Tempel “hit our straps on the weekend at the Byron Bay, Gold Coast and Brisbane shows. “If no-one comes to The Forum we’re in a bit of a pickle. The guestlist is the most stressful thing.” Scott says he gets jellylegs before playing concerts.

“When you first start playing it’s traumatic, that’s the only way I can describe it. Once you get through a few songs you can breathe and you can fall into the music. Getting over that is very hard. Stewie (Rayner, bass) has a spew before he plays,” Scott says then slips into footy speak. “You need to get your hands on the leather early.”

Be front and centre at their show to lament the severity of Swanny’s hammy and the game will just come to you. Batpiss support.

The Forum, 154 Flinders St, city. Tonight, 8pm. $44.08. ticketmaster.com.au

THE CAHILL GRILL

Jordan Rakei has put out his second album, Wallflower, through Inertia and it’s a doozy. The Brisbane-raised, London-based multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer was tipped by Disclosure a couple of years back and he’s coming through strong.

Jordan Rakei - Australian soul and r&b singer and artist with Cloak debut album and follow-up Wallflower. Rubik’s cube not pictured.

Real name?

Jordan Rakei

Guilty pleasure?

Playing video games in my spare time. Sometimes even Minecraft.

Where is home?

My home is now London!

Career Plan B?

Something to do with mathematics. Maybe an engineer or accountant.

Biggest Bug Bear?

Losing my voice....

Earliest Memory?

Opening my presents at Christmas in NZ. I would’ve been around 3 or so.

Your Best Quality?

Patience and a willingness to allow others to speak.

And your Worst?

My stubbornness and the inability to forgive people.

5 Dream dinner party guests?

Richie McCaw, Thom Yorke, Tiger Woods, Lebron James and Barak Obama.

Advice to teenage self?

Open your eyes more when performing on stage. Learn the ability to connect more with an audience.

What did you have for breakfast today?

I’m currently on tour, so I have to make do with petrol station food. In saying that, I had a high-quality banana and low quality apple.

Top of your bucket list?

To own my own studio down the driveway of my own house.

Biggest inspiration?

Exploring new themes, sounds and ideas. Seeing people push the envelope is so inspiring!

Secret crush?

It’s no secret! I love my girlfriend :)

Secret skill?

I can do the Rubik’s cube, consistently under 1 minute.

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

I see a fading tan from the European summer and it’s making me slightly unsettled.

Starstruck moment?

Seeing Matt Corby backstage at a London festival and not having enough courage to introduce myself. I literally walked, at a hefty pace, away from the situation.

Career highlight?

Having a primary school choir in a tiny town in America perform one of my songs at their recital.

Favourite tipple?

A crisp and ice cold Pale-ale.

Piano or synths?

Piano.

How did you develop your creative vision?

Through constant trial and error. I never had any intention to be in music. It’s a desire that is learned. I fell in love with creating really late, but now I can’t see myself living without it.

Corner Hotel, 57 Swan St, Richmond. Jan 13. $39.90. cornerhotel.com

NAILED IT

Tropical F--- Storm is the recession we had to have. Enjoy the nightmares.