Chart-topping Canadian ‘Moroccan rollers’ The Tea Party separated in what affable frontman Jeff Martin insists was “not a break-up” in 2006. They’ve since patched things up with a string of tours and the release of a new record,The Ocean At The End. But the reunion wasn’t always on the cards. “I didn’t even think we’d ever be on the same continent again,” Martin says.
Relaxed and easy, Martin is sitting in an upmarket coffee shop on the busy shore of Melbourne’s South Wharf. “What basically happened with the three of us over the seven years we are not calling a break-up, but a ‘hiatus,’” he says, making air quotes, “was the differences that we thought were so pertinent and so philosophically opposed to one another – well, it’s all quite petty. It’s easy to get over, especially for the sake of making that music once again. Individually over those years we’ve achieved things we’re all proud of. But nothing came close to the collective that is us.”
The music the trio has made has gained worldwide renown. The Tea Party’s sound was and still is built on suffusing Middle Eastern, Asian and African influences into hard-edged rock’n’roll. Since 1990, their experimental attitude earned top-charting singles and albums both in Canada and Australia. Martin not only plays guitar and sings, he flexes a considerable talent for exotic instruments: he plays the mandolin, sitar, oud, the hurdy gurdy – and that’s just the half of it.
“I always have a desire to find new sounds,” Martin says. “But it’s always in the context of rock’n’roll. I still think I’m on the tip of the iceberg right now. The reason why is because I’m a spiritual man. But I do believe we’ve all been here before. For me, it has something to do with the playing of stringed instruments. It’s a little uncanny, even for me.”
During The Tea Party’s not-break-up, Martin left Canada for Dublin and eventually Australia. Bassist Stuart Chatwood and drummer Jeff Burrows set on their projects back in Canada. It would take more than mutual longing to put The Tea Party back together.
“The first thing we had to do was get into a room,” Martin says. “We had to know, could we sound like that band again? Can we capture that magic up onstage again? I think the Reformation Tour in 2011 here in Australia proved that we were a band better than ever. Done. Could we find that brotherly love again that was so important to making records like The Edges Of Twilight and Transmission and Triptych? Could we find that respect again for one another? Found it. Once we had all that, it was like, ‘OK. Let’s make a new record now.’”
Martin and the boys changed their approach to writing and recording, easing the pressure they usually saddled themselves with.
“We said, ‘First, we need to take our time. There’s no rush. Fans will wait.’” The band started writing in 2012 in Byron Bay. Martin also made his way back to Windsor, Ontario to reconnect with family in 2013. “It was a case of getting back to my roots,” he says. “There was no hocus-pocus or toys or nothing. Just a Les Paul plugged into a Marshall. Jeff had a drum kit, Stuart’s got a bass, maybe a shitty keyboard. That’s it. We were going to use our skills, use our musicianship. Write some songs. ‘The Line Of Control’came out of that, ‘The Ocean At The End’came out of that.”
Some of Ocean’s more involved tracks are lent signature Tea Party ‘Moroccan roll’ twists, while others drive back to Martin’s roots in Led Zeppelin fandom. “I think Jimmy Page himself would say there’s no closer band to Led Zeppelin than The Tea Party,” Martin smiles. “It all comes down to how I write. The Middle Eastern things in there … it’s similar to what Page did. But what we do is take it a bit further.”
The album even branches into a standout gospel-inspired number, ‘Black Roses’.Martin lights up as it’s mentioned. “Some people don’t know this but I’m a huge fan of late-’60s, early-’70s country rock. I like The Byrds, Gram Parsons, Flying Burrito Brothers. I thought it was cool because it was an element we’ve never really explored before.”
To support The Ocean At The End,The Tea Party will join forces with Aussie rock stalwarts The Superjesus on a nationwide tour this month. Martin toured with frontwoman Sarah McLeod earlier this year, performing intimate shows around the country. Martin belly laughs when reminded he dubbed McLeod “a rock’n’roll firecracker”.
“That’s an understatement,” Martin says. “I love that girl’s soul and her spirit. She’s basically become my little sister. We’ve almost completed this collaboration between us and Mick Skelton, drummer for the Baby Animals. May God rest her soul, but where Chrissy Amphlett left off, Sarah has taken up her baton. She is rock’n’roll. She can be vicious but she can be absolutely adorable. I still don’t think Sarah has been recognised for the talent that she is in this country. If it’s the last thing I do,” Martin thunders, banging his fist on the table, “I’ll make sure that she is.”
The Ocean At The End out now through Anthem/Sony. The Tea Party play withThe Superjesus atEnmore Theatre on Wednesday October 15/ Panthers, NewcastleonMonday October 20, tickets for all shows through Ticketek.
