The Tea Party Frontman Talks 'Temptations' That Tore Band Apart

Posted on Dec 21st 2011 2:00PM by Drew Berner
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Courtesy of the Tea Party

Getting a band back together after six years apart isn't easy. But for one-time Can-rock staple the Tea Party, their recent reunion involved a lot more than polishing up some tunes from their multi-platinum catalogue and cashing in on nostalgia.

After taking an indefinite hiatus in 2005, the trio reconvened for a handful of shows over the past summer. Things went so well they tackled a Canadian tour this fall -- which, no surprise, coincided with putting their website on the auction block for a $500,000 minimum after the U.S. Tea Party political movement expressed interest in acquiring the domain. But even after spending some quality time together, there's uncertainty about whether they've overcome the personal issues that pushed them apart.

"What was tough was walking into the room [for the first rehearsal]," frontman Jeff Martin explains. "We hadn't seen or spoken to each other in six years, so for all of us it was awkward."

The band's split -- which wasn't quite a breakup and certainly wasn't mutual -- involved enough acrimony to open a seemingly irreconcilable rift between the three friends (Martin, multi-instrumentalist Stuart Chatwood and drummer Jeff Burrows). According to Martin, he believed the band was broken up when he made the decision to walk away while Burrows insisted it wasn't a breakup because he and Chatwood hadn't agreed to it. Regardless of what you call it, the frontman is first to admit he was at the center of the conflict.

"I had personal issues and I had artistic issues and I needed to walk away from the situation and get my head straightened out by my own means," Martin explains. "I do no subscribe to North American psychobabble and interventions and all that s---, it's not my scene. I had to figure things out on my own terms and unless I walked away from the band at that point, I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own terms."

Martin's explanation of his personal issues is as cryptic as many of his lyrics. He refers to health problems, as have his bandmates in recent interviews, but won't elaborate on those problems. "A lot of people were concerned about me, and rightfully so," Martin says. "I was concerned about myself, but I knew how to fix myself and I couldn't allow the power to be in other people's hands."

The only clues we're left with are Martin's refusal to face an "intervention" and the references -- sometimes coded, others not so much -- to drugs and alcohol in his lyrics. "In order to write a song like 'Temptation' you have to f---ing live it," he says. "I've lived everything that I've written."

Watch the Tea Party's 'Temptation' Video

As glad as he is to be back together with the Tea Party, Martin is still reluctant to address the problems that led to their six-year break. He loves what the band is doing right now and would prefer not to reopen old wounds with his bandmates.

"I personally feel that if we brought all that s--- up again it's just going to ruin the magic right now."

What Martin is focused on -- and his enthusiasm is impossible to ignore -- is the possibility of creating new music with his old friends. He's already planned a trip to Morocco to spend time writing, whether his bandmates are with him or not. And, although Burrows and Chatwood haven't officially signed on, it's clear Martin hopes to have some company.

"If we stay together," Martin says optimistically, "the Tea Party will be one of the biggest bands in Canada again -- if we're not already."

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