Early years (1990–1995) The Tea Party was formed in 1990 by
Jeff Martin,
Stuart Chatwood and
Jeff Burrows after a marathon jam session at the
Cherry Beach Rehearsal Studios in
Toronto. Each member had previously played together during their teenage years in a number of different bands in
Windsor, Ontario, where they were originally from. They had decided to name their new group The Tea Party after the infamous hash sessions of famous
Beat generation poets
Allen Ginsberg,
Jack Kerouac, and
William Burroughs. The Tea Party released their
eponymous debut album in 1991, distributing it through their own label Eternal Discs. The album drew influences from psychedelic rock and blues, and was produced by Martin. Album production was something Martin would continue with for all of The Tea Party's albums; this was a way of giving the band complete artistic control. In 1993, The Tea Party signed to EMI Music Canada and released their first major label recording,
Splendor Solis. The band employed
open tunings and
goblet drums (Dumbek) to create Indian-style sounds, something they continued to employ throughout their career, while continuing in a blues influenced style. In 1994 the album released in
Australia, with the single "
Save Me" launching the band's career in the country. The band gained the support of national radio station
Triple J, enabling the band's first tour, with "Save Me" becoming a staple of their setlists.
Success (1995–2000) Further developing The Tea Party's sound in 1995,
The Edges of Twilight was recorded with an array of Indian and Middle-eastern instrumentation. "
Sister Awake", the third single from the album, defines what the band set out to do, combining three-piece rock compositions with music from the world. "Sister Awake" is an acoustically based arrangement on
12-string guitar,
sitar,
sarod,
harmonium, and
goblet drums.
Later years (2000–2005) The band released a singles compilation called
Tangents: The Tea Party Collection in 2000; that year the band was nominated for a Juno award for best musical group. They released a DVD compilation of music videos (which Martin remixed in
surround sound) called
Illuminations in 2001. It was recorded at
Metalworks Studios in
Mississauga, Ontario. The Tea Party released
The Interzone Mantras later in 2001, and in November 2002 joined
symphony orchestras across Canada in adapting their live show. The Interzone Mantras was recorded at
Metalworks Studios in
Mississauga, Ontario.
Seven Circles was released in 2004. Both
The Interzone Mantras and
Seven Circles saw the band return to their earlier sound with maturity. In October 2005, The Tea Party disbanded due to creative differences, with Martin abruptly announcing he was beginning a solo career. Afterward Chatwood stated on the band's forum "that Jeff Burrows and myself are sincerely sorry for the way this was handled. As far as Jeff Burrows and myself were concerned, the band was taking an extended break."
Post-breakup (2006–2011) In 2006, Chatwood continued to compose the
Prince of Persia video game soundtracks for
Ubisoft Montreal. Burrows joined
Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, and other Canadian musicians as drummer in the one-off project the
Big Dirty Band. Burrows also presented during the midday shift on
The Rock, a radio station in Windsor. In 2008, Burrows announced that he,
Edwin,
Mike Turner and Amir Epstein would form the band
Crash Karma, recording their debut album in early 2009. Martin moved to Ireland and recorded his debut solo album
Exile and the Kingdom, which was released in Canada and Australia in 2006. He has toured parts of Europe, Canada and Australia, and released two live albums,
Live in Brisbane 2006 and
Live in Dublin, in November 2006 and May 2007, respectively. In August 2008, Martin announced the formation of his new band,
The Armada. In 2010, The Armada broke up. Jeff Martin founded a new band called Jeff Martin 777 with Jay Cortez on bass and Malcolm Clark on drums. Their debut album
The Ground Cries Out was released on 1 March in Canada and made it to No. 51 in the
Canadian Albums Chart.
Reunion (June 2015) On 12 April 2011, an official
Facebook page was launched with a biography section that closed with "The band is scheduled to play a select number of dates in 2011. No other info was available at this time." The following day, the local radio station K106.3 announced the Sarnia Bayfest lineup including The Tea Party, which was later confirmed by drummer Jeff Burrows on his radio show on 13 April. Burrows further stated that a Canadian summer tour was in the works. The band played several shows in Canada over that summer. On 6 August 2011, during a show in Lévis, the band had implied that they were going to be back together permanently. Martin said "We are the Tea Party and we're here to stay. And we're never going away again." In December of that year, during a show at the
Métropolis in Montreal, the band announced that they would hopefully record a new album in 2012 and that there would be no more break up; Martin confirmed earlier implications by stating that "The Tea Party is back for good". On 22 February 2013, The Tea Party announced on its website that "The band have convened in Australia to write and record the next chapter in the Tea Party saga. Stay tuned for more updates." On 19 March 2014, The Tea Party announced via its Facebook page that the title of their forthcoming album will be
The Ocean at the End. It was officially released in Canada on 8 September 2014. In October 2016, the band announced they would be going on a 30 date anniversary tour for their 4th studio album
Transmission that was released 20 years ago. The tour began 3 February. They performed the album in its entirety along with some of their greatest hits. The Tea Party promoted their
Black River EP with two singles, releasing title track "Black River" in November 2018, followed by "Way Way Down" in June 2019. The EP released on 29 November 2019, contains both songs along with three new tracks and a
Led Zeppelin cover. On 26 April 2020, The Tea Party published a newly recorded cover of
Joy Division's "
Isolation" to their
YouTube account. It coincided with
COVID-19 pandemic isolation orders that much of the world was under to stop the spread of the virus. 6 July 2020 it was made available for digital download on the band's web site. It was followed by a second cover, "
Everyday Is Like Sunday" by
Morrissey, made available on
streaming music services 29 May 2020. The Tea Party scheduled a cross-country
Saints and Sinners Tour 2020 for June and July, featuring Canadian co-headliners
Sloan,
Headstones, and
Moist. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing live venues to temporarily close, the tour was rescheduled for November 2021. The tour was later cancelled, and the announcement was made via the band's Twitter account. ==Website==