Formed as an alternative rock group in 1997 in East Fremantle, Eskimo Joe was initially a side project of Freud's Pillow, with MacLeod on guitar, Quartermain on drums and guitar, and Temperley on bass guitar and vocals. Eskimo Joe's first gig was in August 1997 at the University of Western Australia, in a local heat for the National Campus Band Competition—they proceeded to the state final in Perth and then the national final in Sydney. For winning the national final, they were awarded a place at the 1997 Livid Festival in Brisbane and a studio recording session in Sydney.