JADED TEMPLE

Melbourne band Jaded Temple are used to exhilarated fans coming up to them after one of their sweaty shows to say they dont know how to describe their sound. We dont mind, because we in the band ourselves find it hard to put a definition on it too, admits singer and guitarist David Leamon, who is also the bands main songwriter. We dont fit into one scene, which is both good and bad. As a songwriter, I refuse to write in one style. As individuals, our favourite bands always seemed to have a lot of variety. When we first started the band in 2003, we knew there would be an undercurrent of funk, rock and roots in the music, but the rest we allowed to go to where the songs took us.

 

All we know is that theres definitely a chemistry when the six of us get together. There are other musicians who play their instruments better. But when we play, theres an energy and juice flowing. Were absolutely tight when were up there. The audience responds. Theres definitely a party vibe. Jaded Temple have a free spirited walk down a hallway of distorted mirrors. Their music is inspired by everyone from the Dave Matthews Band to Taj Mahal to Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Buckley to Ween to the Funk Brothers to Radiohead, to the Buena Vista Social Club, the list goes on.

 

Add to the fact that between them, they know how to play at least 20 instruments. After all, most of the band attended the same primary and secondary school playing in the schools swing band and orchestra. Onstage, Jaded Temples music ranges from the electro-funk workout of Mirage to the jangling pop of Imposter to the ethereal soundscape of Dream to a motown inspired rocker called Dead Stop, which invariably sets the crowds off.

 

Like their lyrics, the members of Jaded Temple have plenty of stories to tell. Which of them has a third nipple? Which one of them had a gun drawn on them during a trip to Cambodia? Who once spent 16 hours straight playing a computer game? Who is the death defying mountaineer? Who boasts an ancestor who invented the steam engine? And whats with the crazy name? We put scraps of paper into a hat and drew two names out, Leamon explains. Alternate names for them could have been Constipated Cat, Blue Atlas, Nun Tree and Monkey Cool.

 

In 2006, Jaded Temple want to notch it up