Tall Tales & True

Things have been going swimmingly of late for Melbourne rockers The Peep Tempel. Since releasing their second album, Tales, late last year, the band’s stocks have risen exponentially, the trio pulling big crowds for their ferocious shows and receiving press accolades and industry recognition galore (Tales was shortlisted for the 2014 Australian Music Prize, and its kick-arse lead single, Carol, was shortlisted for Song Of The Year at the APRA Awards). But frontman Blake Scott is taking it all in his stride, looking at proceedings like an impartial observer rather than someone whose life has been thrown into any sort of flux.

“[The reception’s] been great; it’s been a lot of fun,” he admits. “The most interesting part has been how people have perceived the record and what we’re doing on it, and there’s been a bit of a vibe. People have been coming to the shows and everyone’s been having a lot of fun with it. At release I had a pretty strong sense of… I wouldn’t say trepidation, I’d say paranoia – I didn’t know how the album was going to come across. There’s some pretty out there stuff that was pretty far removed from the first record, so it was nerve-wracking, but it’s gone really well.”

The band’s eponymous 2012 debut was an equally strong collection but didn’t gain the traction already afforded Tales, a fact Scott credits to the resonance of the latter’s ubiquitous radio single.

"I didn’t know how the album was going to come across."

“I think it just comes down to reaching a wider audience, and I think Carol certainly helped – it got in there and I think a few more people have heard us. But personally, I don’t really know – the first record for me was much more enjoyable to record, and of course it was our first record. The second record certainly has its charms, but it wasn’t as easy. I’ve probably been drawn back to that record because, as I said, the way that people have perceived it has made me go back and listen to it a bit more than I probably did the first one. But yeah, I think a lot of it comes down to Carol being broadcast to a wider audience. Which doesn’t mean it’s a better song than any of the other songs we’ve done, but it’s certainly been able to get in there and get our name out.”

This profile boost has resulted in more people turning out to witness The Peep Tempel’s emphatic performances.

“It’s been a challenge – I think the first album comes across live better than the second,” Scott admits. “The second is probably more of an album, whereas the first – and I think this is the same with most first albums that any band makes – is usually the first set that you come up with that you’re happy with and that you play for a while, and you get in there and record and put it out. From then on you’re making actual albums – Tales feels more like an album.”