FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1997. All Rights Reserved.
Confronting a Party crasher
The Tea Party's Jeff Martin sets the record straightThe Tea Party with Econoline Crush
November 24 and 25
MacEwan Hall BallroomSometimes things you say or write come back to haunt you.
See, you may not believe this, but a number of years ago, in my youth, I had the reputation of being a bit of a... oh, how shall I put this? A disagreeable prick. As hard as this may be to believe, I haven't always been the sensitive, overly-positive nurturing soul whom you've come to know and love in this publication.
And sometimes, sometimes people remember that.
Take, for example, Jeff Martin from the rock trio The Tea Party. A few years ago Martin and his band were one of the many Canadian acts invited to play The Hudson Bay Company's 100th anniversary party out in High River. Now, I just happened to be reviewing the festivities for one of the local rags and - remember this was before I discovered the power and joy of positivity - apparently, I wrote some unkind things about The Tea Party. What, exactly, I don't remember.
But Martin does.
"Something about a glorified bar band," he says flatly.
Oh, yeah. Pretty good, huh?
"What is it about us that just doesn't appeal to you?" Martin asks being refreshingly blunt.
Probably the same things that have the band selling out shows all across Canada, Europe and now the US. The Tea Party's retro rock attack and incorporation of Eastern sounds which is in full-swing on their latest release, Transmission, hits me as being too derivative of the '70s arena monsters like Zeppelin and, at the risk of hitting one cliché too often, the Doors. Like Rush, all the parts are there - skill, musical understanding and intensity - but the final product leaves me as cold and dour as The Tea Party portray themselves and are often portrayed.
On the Zep point, Martin calls foul.
"But they really only did it for one song, "Kashmir".... You know, I can say we did a concert with them in Montreal, we opened up for Page and Plant, and Robert Plant actually came up to me, point blank in front of a whole bunch of media, and said that we've taken the Eastern thing in rock 'n' roll so much further than they ever did," he says.
"Don't you think rock 'n' roll has to embrace (other influences)? This is my opinion on pushing music forward."
And a good opinion at that. But again, I point to the retro feel and how humorlessly the band approaches itself and its music.
"That I can agree with," he concedes honestly. "I (have a sense of humor) in real life.
"But the great thing about the diversity of music right now is that for people that need levity in the music or bands to not take themselves so seriously, there's a ton of it out there. We're just at the other end of the spectrum, musically."
Fair enough, I allow, humbly.
And so ends the interview on a cordial note with new lessons learned. Jeff Martin doesn't think I'm as big a prick as I once was and now I have a new respect for The Tea Party and see them in a different light... even if I still don't like their music.
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