Three Albums That Changed My Life: The Peep Tempel

Beloved Melbourne rock three-piece The Peep Tempel are about to head back into the studio to record a long awaited follow-up album to 2014’s wonderful Tales. Having recently performed at Meredith Music Festival, they’re playing two final shows – Melbourne tonight and Sydney tomorrow – before quietening down to work on their new album.

We wanted to get to know them a little better, so we asked them to share three albums that changed their life – and the choices are pretty damn amazing.

The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers

When I was 15 my best friend and I were flicking through records at his dad’s record shop, Chris picked up a 7-inch by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, neither of us had heard of them. Side A was Pablo Picasso and Side B was Hippie Johnny. Listening to this was one of those moments where you find yourself discovering music for the first time. It led me to buying The Modern Lovers’ self-titled album and listening to it non-stop. I really like the raw stripped back sound and lyrics. This album had a big influence on my drumming and continues to do so today.

Bleach by Nirvana

I discovered Bleach just before the ’90s music scene broke. Nirvana pretty much introduced me to grunge music, which was really inspiring at the time. It was more about the true grit and power of the songs – Cobain’s songwriting will stand the test of time. Bleach is a much darker sounding album than their later records, but it’s still a great record to this day and continues to find its way onto the record player. I was lucky enough to see them live at The Palace in Melbourne – awesome show!

Rain Dogs by Tom Waits

There is a lot about Tom Waits’ music that has influenced me. Where do you start? Massive voice, great stories, everything about the instrumentation, his use of home made instruments and ability to take you somewhere with every song.

A must have album.