Jeff Martin (Canadian musician)
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| Jeff Martin | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Jeffrey Scott Brill | |
| Also known as | Jeff Martin | |
| Born | October 2, 1969 (age 37) | |
| Origin | Windsor, Ontario, Canada | |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Hard Rock, World Music, Blues, Gothic, Post-punk, Industrial, Pop, Art Rock | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer | |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, sitar, sarod, oud, banjo, mandolin synthesizer, piano, dumbek | |
| Years active | 1990—present | |
| Label(s) | EMI, Atlantic Records, Chrysalis, InsideOut Music, Eagle Rock Entertainment, Koch Entertainment Canada, Shock Records | |
| Associated acts |
The Tea Party | |
| Website | Official website, The Tea Party | |
| Notable instrument(s) | ||
| Gibson harp guitar, Fender Telecaster B-bender guitar, Ellis 7 string resonator guitar | ||
Jeffrey Scott Martin (born October 2, 1969) is a Canadian guitarist/singer-songwriter best known for fronting the rock band The Tea Party. He began his career as a solo artist in October 2005 when The Tea Party disbanded.
Contents |
[edit] Early years
Martin began playing guitar as a child and in his adolescence played in bands "The Shadows", "Modern Movement" and "The Stickmen". In 1988, Jeff graduated from Sandwich Secondary School along with future Tea Party bandmates Jeff Burrows and Stuart Chatwood. He went on to study music at the University of Windsor before leaving his studies prematurely due to philosophical differences with his music professor.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] The Tea Party (1990 - 2005)
Forming The Tea Party in 1990 after a marathon jam session at the Cherry Beach Rehearsal Studios in Toronto, Martin produced The Tea Party's eponymous debut album in 1991, distributing it through the band's own label Eternal Discs. Martin produced all of The Tea Party's albums. In 1993 The Tea Party signed to EMI Music Canada and released their first major label recording titled Splendor Solis. Martin employed open tuning to imitate Indian intruments such as the sitar, something he has continued to employ throughout his career. Further developing The Tea Party's sound in 1995 The Edges of Twilight was recorded with an array of Indian and Middle-eastern instrumentation while Martin drew lyrical inspiration from occult themes and pagan influenced literature.
Upon returning from successful tours in Canada, Europe and Australia in 1996, The Tea Party went onto record Alhambra an Enhanced CD which features acoustic re-recordings of songs from The Edges of Twilight, followed by a brief tour around Canada known as "Alhambra acoustic and eclectic". Transmission released in 1997 saw Martin's first foray into electronica with Martin conceding that Transmission was "an honest attempt at going somewhere poetically where most people would be unnerved to go. It was very dark, extremely angry and you could only listen to it in a certain mindset. I mean for me, going to where I went with Transmission, almost destroyed me." Triptych followed in 1999 and is The Tea Party's most commercially successful album, the first single "Heaven Coming Down" rose to #1 on Canadian radio. Lyrically Martin was less enigmatic than he was on previous albums, on Triptych he wrote about the experiences of his years in the band. After releasing Tangents a singles compilation in 2000 and Illuminations a DVD compliation of music videos which Martin remixed in Surround sound, The Tea Party released The Interzone Mantras in 2001 and Seven Circles in 2004 [1]. In October 2005 The Tea Party disbanded due to creative differences.
[edit] Solo (2005 - present)
Martin's debut solo album titled Exile and the Kingdom was released in Canada and Australia in 2006. Among those who worked with Martin were Michael Lee and Ritesh Das (Toronto Tabla Ensemble). The first single, titled "The World is Calling", is an open letter to George W. Bush[2]. In November 2006, Martin released a live album recorded that September, titled Live in Brisbane 2006. The 2 disc album features Ritesh Das and the Toronto Tabla Ensemble, and consists of both solo and Tea Party songs. The album is a complete recording of a live performance full of Jeff's banter with bandmates and the audience, including his thoughts on the disbanding of The Tea Party and where he sees himself in life.
[edit] As a record producer
Martin has also produced albums for other artists including Hundred Mile House's eponymous EP, The Jay Murphy Band's Propaganda and Tenth Planet's The Prophet Curse EP. He also helped produce Roy Harper's The Green Man.
[edit] Equipment
[edit] Guitars
- 1916 Gibson Harp guitar
- 1964 Gibson J-50 acoustic
- Gibson 12-string
- Three Les Paul Classic 1960 reissues
- Gibson EDS-1275
- Gibson Explorer
- 1971 Fender Telecaster Parsons White B-Bender
- Fender Stratocaster XII
- Rickenbacker 360/12 JetGlo
- Danelectro
- Ellis 7 string resonator guitar
[edit] Effects
- Dunlop Cry Baby
- Early 1970's Memory Man analog delay unit
- Reissue Small Stone
- Early 1960's Echoplex
- Matchless line switcher (with valves)
- DigiTech 2112 Effects processor unit
[edit] Amps
- Two Fender 100 watt combo
- Four Matchless Superchief 120 watt
- No Name 1960's Tube 25 watt
- Urei 1176 leveling amp
- Teleronix La-2A
[edit] Trivia
- Born Jeffrey Scott Brill, he changed his surname to "Martin" when his mother remarried.
- Martin has perfect pitch, as highlighted on an episode of Daily Planet on Canada's Discovery Channel.
[edit] Personal life
Martin's Australian wife Nicole Brooks gave birth to their first child in December 2006 in Fremantle, Western Australia, named "Django James Patrick" after Jeff's heroes Django Reinhardt and Jimmy Page. The song "Daystar" was written for him.
[edit] Discography
[edit] The Tea Party
- The Tea Party (1991)
- Splendor Solis (1993)
- The Edges of Twilight (1995)
- Alhambra (1996) (Enhanced CD)
- Transmission (1997)
- Triptych (1999)
- Tangents: The Tea Party Collection (2000) (compilation)
- The Interzone Mantras (2001)
- Seven Circles (2004)
[edit] Solo releases
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Band biography: Illuminations The Tea Party Collection 2001, DVD, EMI Music Canada, Mississauga.
- ^ Bliss, K 2006, Jeff Martin in-studio session, Jam! Music. Jam! Music Accessed 5 April 2006.
- ^ Jeff Martin's equipment Australian Tea Party site Accessed 2 December 2005
[edit] External links
| The Tea Party |
| Jeff Martin | Stuart Chatwood | Jeff Burrows |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums: The Tea Party | Splendor Solis | The Edges of Twilight | Alhambra | Transmission | Triptych | The Interzone Mantras | Seven Circles |
| Compilations and box-sets: Tangents: The Tea Party Collection |
| Singles: "The River" | "In this time" | "A certain slant of light" | "Save me" | "Midsummer Day" | "Shadows on the Mountainside" | "Fire in the head" | "The Bazaar" | "Sister Awake" | "Inanna" | "Sister Awake Remix" | "Temptation" | "Babylon" | "Release" | "Gyroscope" | "Psychopomp" | "Touch" | "Heaven coming down" | "A slight attack" | "The Messenger" | "These Living Arms" | "Gone" | "Walking Wounded" | "Lullaby" | "Angels" | "Soulbreaking" | "Writings on the wall" | "Stargazer" |
| Demos: Capitol Records demo 1990 |
| Films |
| Illuminations (DVD) |
| Related articles |
| The Art Decay |
