the frontman of one of the world's most cutting-edge rock bands wants to turn WA into an international recording destination.
Jeff Martin is wearing black from his bandana to his boots.
With a black motorcycle helmet in his hand and gothic pendants swinging
in the gap of his black shirt, the frontman of brooding Canadian rockers
the Tea Party is old-school rock and roll - except for one detail. His
skin. It's tanned.
"I have been getting out in the ocean a bit," says WA's newest
rock import.
"it's been ruining my image but, yeah, I've been loving it. It's
just funny to see myself out on the ocean on a bodyboard, but I wear a
black leather suite when doing it, so it's all cool."
It has been a big shift for the rocker who's fans still believe he'll
turn to ash if exposed to pure sunlight.
His band, the Tea Party, have a melancholic reputation and
their music reflects the long, dark winters of their native Montreal.
They have sold millions of albums and toured the world, but now Martin
is settling under the enormous blue sky of Perth. It's his wife Nicole's
hometown, it's the place they want to raise their six week old son Django,
and it's where Martin plans to record his first solo album and start a
career producing local and international bands.
Our meeting is arranged for 10:30am at the Subiaco Hotel.
Early for the pub, but you know what these rockers are like. I councel
myself to stick to beer, avoid tequila and make sure I find some mints
before going back to the office. But instead of the bar, Martin leads
me to the pub's cafe and orders a sparkling mineral water.
"I love WA man; it is a little piece of paradise." he says as
the late breakfast eaters around us struggle to identify the rock star
at table 12.
"The Indian ocean is a very magical thiung. It seems like the ether
here is really clean. Everything is sort of innocent. It's a good clean
template to create."
"I find that now, especially with all the life changes that have
happened to me, there is alot of light in my life now and I don't need
all the rock'n'roll trappings anymore. When I was doing Seven Circles
(the band's latest release) back in Canada there was alot of distractions,
bad appetites, things like that."
Martin first came to Perth in 1994 for the start of the
Tea Party's first Australian tour. But it was the flight home to frosty
Canada that would irrevocably connect him to our city.
Lounging foggy brained in the Qantas first-class cabin, Martin's eyes
drifted to the beautiful young flight attendant serving him.
"I fell in love," he says plainly.
He and Nicole have since lived in Montreal, but try convincing a Perth
girl that a city with an average January minimum of -15C is a place to
raise a child.
Django James Martin was born in Perth on December 30 and the new family
are looking for a house in Fremantle to spend at least half of every year.
Martin is applying for Australian residency.
"Nicole is over the winters and all that. And I like the awareness
that seems to be in Freo. It just seems to be the epicentre of culture
in Perth. I'm just starting to venture out and it is just wonderful, man.
I'm really enjoying it."