By David DeRocco

“It’s a pretty angry record,” suggests Jeff Burrows, drummer/percussionist for the genre-defying Canadian rock band The Tea Party in reference to the band’s 1997 album, Transmission. “Jeff Martin was in a good head space, but he was going through a lot of personal things that brought out a lot of aggression.”

 In celebration of the 20^th anniversary of that Juno-nominated album, The Tea Party will be performing Transmission in its entirety during a 28-city tour kicking off February 3^rd at FirstOntario PAC. Released in 1997 as a follow up to the band’s hugely successful Edges of Twilight album, the 11 songs (plus two hidden bonus tracks) on Transmission saw The Tea Party expanding on their traditional mix of rock, blues and “eastern-influenced” music by adding electronic instruments, samples, sequencers and loops. The result was a harder, more industrial sounding Tea Party record that Burrows says at the time surprised everyone including their record label.

 “I remember when we were first presenting the initial ideas to the record company they were just looking at us cross-eyed because it was far out. It was different. Nine Inch Nails was quite huge at the time, and that whole scene was huge. We enjoyed many parts of it including the earlier days of bands like Joy Division. That’s what we wanted to bring in, that sort of darkness with the rock we had plus electronic instrumentation. It was a very exciting time in our career.”

 That late-90s period found The Tea Party at the height of their creativity, buoyed by success and ready to take their music in new creative directions. Burrows remembers it as a time of frenzied activity for the band.  

 “That was the Montreal-era for the band. Jeff (Martin) was living up there, Stewart (Chatwood) had just moved or was about to move up there. We were doing a lot of writing in Montreal. I was flying up a week at a time with my young family, then coming back. It was incredible. The creative juices were on fire back then, the band was really tight. We were enjoying the success of our second record. In the meantime just to keep things going we thought we’d re-approach The Edges of Twilight with an acoustic record while recording Transmission. So it was a pretty crazy, wild time.”

 Readying himself for the tour, Burrows acknowledges that reflecting on the recording sessions for Transmisison has him feeling the years since the album’s release; however, practicing the often complex percussion has helped him develop a new appreciation for the songs on the album.

 “A couple of years ago when we celebrated the 20^th anniversary of Edges, that seemed like not that long ago, whereas Transmission to me feels like a long long time ago. It’s really strange the way it hits you. I literally just bought the album for my phone so I can rehearse. I’m listening to it going, this is really cool. I  mean it’s different, different than anything that was out at the time. It’s certainly rocking and very artistic. We’ve always been influenced by everyone from Bowie to Lanois to Leonard Cohen and you can hear the more artistic edge meeting the rock edge and electronic side of things.”

 To add to the dark and diverse experimental nature of Transmission, Jeff Martin delivered lyrics that explored a variety of intense subject matters; “Psychopomp,” for example, provides a glimpse into the afterlife, “Army Ants” echoes with imagery borrowed from the dystopian works of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, while the album’s biggest hit, “Temptation,” speaks to the all-consuming power of relentless desire. Despite the often lengthy and experimental nature of the songs, the album received substantial airplay on rock radio, a fact Burrows attributes to the band’s commitment to writing music for themselves and not simply catering to formatted radio hits.

 “I think there was just a lot of luck in that,” recalls Burrows. “It was only about that time that we honestly became aware of the fact radio programmers were perhaps looking for that three-and-a-half minute song. And because we delivered “The River” and “Save Me,” which were five-and-a-half and seven-and-a-half minutes, we were never really privy to that side of the business with regards to the preferences of radio stations and record companies. You can only take a song like “Temptation” so far. I mean, it’s a punch in the face and a walk out of the room. Then you get songs like “Psychopomp” and “Release” that are much longer. Come the next album we were a little more aware of it. I was in radio for six years so I really got an idea of how it was working. You start to realize that these songs are sort of commercials – it’s hard to explain this to Jeff Martin because he’s so artistic through and through – but at the same time you want to put bread on the table and enjoy the fruits of your labour. It’s a bit of a give and take thing. It’s not like you’re selling your soul, but you might modify the music just so it’s accessible, so everyone can hear what you’re trying to do.”

 Although creative differences lead to the band’s break up in 2005, The Tea Party reunited in 2011 and continue to tour and make new music, including the 2014 release The Ocean at The End. Burrows says that, despite the challenges of their current geography (Burrows lives in Windsor, Martin in Australia and Stuart Chatwood in Vancouver), there is definitely “a musical telepathy between us, an unidentifiable je ne sais quoi” that occurs when the three long-time band mates get together in studio and on stage. And although his musical passion for his Crash Karma side-project remains in tact, Burrows says he is especially excited about the 20^th anniversary Transmission tour with his long-time bandmates in The Tea Party.

 “I am right now sleeping maybe three or four hours a night, because I’m so jazzed about getting out and presenting our music, playing the Transmission album. I can’t wait to play the shit out of this show for everybody and blow their heads off. It’s going to be amazing.”

For tickets visit www.FirstOntarioPac.com For band info, visit https://www.teaparty.com/