The Tea Party

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"We´d love to get out, on a bus, right now and start conquering new territory!"
Interview by Willa Slater, December 19, 2003

I was able to interview Jeff Burrows again today and, much like the last interview, none of this was recorded. I wrote as many notes as possible and things I´m not 100% sure of are in square brackets so keep that in mind. This time I asked more questions, like in a real interview, so things were a little less chaotic! :-) It was a great conversation and I hope you all enjoy reading it.

TTP.de: Hi Jeff, how are you?
JB: Fine, fine, thanks, you? Are you all ready for Christmas? Do you guys have snow there?

TTP.de: We have a little snow but it´s melting.
JB: We have none here but we saw a lot of snow at Tremblant so that´s OK.

TTP.de: How were things at Tremblant? It looked cold!?
JB: Yeah, it was minus 30° at the top of the mountain!

TTP.de: I heard the show went well though.
JB: Yeah, it wasn´t much of a concert though, not like a regular Tea Party concert. I mean, you´re playing and people are skiing by, it´s weird.

TTP.de: I saw pictures on one of the sites and Stuart and Jeff looked pretty bundled up. Stuart looked like he couldn´t even bend.
JB: Well there were heaters and it was only half an hour. I started off in a jacket and then I took it off and played in a shirt and then I ended up in a t-shirt. But, then, when you start sweating you get chilled and start stiffening up. It was good though. And we helped them reach their goal of raising one million dollars in three years, that was their goal and they did it!

TTP.de: That´s great!
JB: Yes! And they have a sister event in Switzerland that they invited us too. We can´t do it this January obviously but we agreed to go in January 2005 so that will be cool.

TTP.de: I heard the bar show later went well too.
JB: It was fun. That kit I rented was pretty small so it fit.

TTP.de: Was it ever small. Only, what, 4 cymbals?
JB: Three, a ride and a crash and... but that´s all I needed.

TTP.de: Is it hard to get used to playing with so few cymbals?
JB: No, that´s the way I play at home, and in Hawaii too. Most of the songs are only using 3 or 4 cymbals so the studio kit is small too.

TTP.de: So, when you have all those cymbals when you play live it´s because you need different ones for different songs?
JB: Yes, that´s it!

TTP.de: Did you take your own kit to Hawaii?
JB: No, Tommy Lee let me use his. He has more drums than I need so I just put my kit together from his stuff. That´s the way it works... you just borrow someone´s stuff. Drums are drums, as long as they´re the same type as mine, the same size and ply and stuff, then they sound the same. And one of my favourite cymbals was this cracked one. It gives you a really [crunchy] sound. You can´t duplicate that because it´s broken but it sounds cool!

TTP.de: So it´s not like guitars where they all have their own sound.
JB: No. Jeff took 5 or 6 of his favourite guitars with him and then, like I said, he had over 100 to pick and chose from.

TTP.de: Did you guys work on some new stuff when you were in Toronto [earlier this month]?
JB: Yes. We recorded a cover and it´s being shopped for a movie soundtrack.

TTP.de: Really? Which song, which movie?
JB: I can´t say yet.

TTP.de: Which band?
JB: I can´t say that either! [chuckle] It´s a band we´ve enjoyed and admired for a long time. We know they want this song for the movie so...

TTP.de: Sounds good! What else have you been doing?
JB: We did some work on "Writings on the Wall", added some lyrics and some tracks to the demo we had. It´s sounding great. And "If I Promise You the Ocean" is magnificent. A&R is saying it´s the best song we´ve ever written but I find it hard to listen to.

TTP.de: Oh, how come?
JB: Because there is so much of Steve Hoffman in it. Things he´d say, his catch phrases. It makes it hard for me to hear. Anyone who knew him will know what I mean.

TTP.de: Ah, I can see how that would be very difficult then.
JB: It´s a great song though, really magnificent.

TTP.de: Are there any instrumental songs?
JB: No. There´s "Angel Dust". It´s an acoustic song that might be included as a, well not a hidden track, but a bonus track, but it´s not an instrumental. And there is one song that doesn´t have lyrics yet, the "Glock Song". It might end up being an instrumental, I don´t think Jeff has lyrics yet, but that would be a rock instrumental.

TTP.de: Cool. It sounds like you have enough for a double album. Have you thought about doing that?
JB: Yes, we thought about it but it isn´t going happen. We have 26 or 27 songs so we are going to pick 10 or 11 and work with those.

TTP.de: Do you think, with that many songs, you might release two albums in quick succession then?
JB: It depends on how busy we are. We hope to be very, very busy after this album! [laughs] They probably will end up on a future album.

TTP.de: Are there going to be any new instruments?
JB: Yes, well, new sounds. There are definitely going to be some eastern instruments and some loops that I´ll putting onto my drum pads.

TTP.de: Is there a theme to this album?
JB: Well, all the songs were written in the same frame of mind. The answer to that question varies with whether you´re talking about the music or the words but, overall we were dealing with Steve´s illness and that [comes through]. It´s an influence. There are angry songs, hopeful, sad and happy ones but, even with the happy songs, there´s a weirdness to them, something weird, wrong. Well... I guess the best way to describe them is that they´re songs about life. There´s no theme like there was for Transmission though. They´re songs about our frame of mind during the time we´ve been writing.

TTP.de: There´s still a lot of concern about Bob Rock´s influence on the sound. What do you think of that?
JB: Well, he´s definitely having an effect, sonically. He´s adding a sonic boom, boosting the level way up there. It´s a definite change but it´s not going to be a "Bob Rock all rock album" , it´s still the same eclectic Tea Party!

TTP.de: But people don´t have to be worried that he´s in there changing lyrics and adding repeating choruses?
JB: No, he´s thrilled to work with Jeff because Jeff can sing. He´s used to boosting the vocals, electronically enhancing them but he doesn´t have to do that with Jeff. So I´m sitting out there with him, with Chats and Eric, the engineer, and Jeff is in his booth, singing, and he [Bob] is just laughing because it´s all going so well, so easy.

TTP.de: And you´re still set to go back to Hawaii in January?
JB: Yes, no exact date yet but yes, we are definitely going back. We´ll be there for about 5 weeks or so.

TTP.de: And is there any word on the collaboration with Holly McNarland?
JB: We´re still planning to do that. I hope we do, I was the one who suggested that in the first place. I really like her voice!

TTP.de: It´s a nice bluesy voice, isn´t it?
JB: It´s a two bottles of white wine voice.

TTP.de: I don´t know what a two bottles of white wine voice is but if you say so! [laugh]
JB: Well, it´s Holly´s voice! [laughing] Jeff just remixed the demo of "Wishing You Would Stay" and it is probably the happiest song so far, well, light-hearted anyway. Well, maybe I can´t even say that because there´s quite a dramatic guitar part at the end. It´s definitely beautiful though!

TTP.de: A lot of people wonder about other possible collaborations. Would you like to work with Loreena McKennitt, for instance?
JB: We´d love to, if the opportunity presented itself. But I don´t think she´s working at all right now, is she?

TTP.de: I saw her on CBC earlier this year and she was talking about working on a new album, so, maybe.
JB: Well, we´d love to work with her.

TTP.de: Or Sarah McLachlan?
JB: I think she´s probably turning down everyone right now.

TTP.de: Right, she´s got her new album.
JB: Exactly. It´s a matter of the opportunity presenting itself. Like, people were asking about a spoken voice track on the new album. See, that wasn´t planned [on Edges of Twilight], it just happened. We were in LA and we heard Roy was in town visiting his son and we said, "Hey, Roy..." and it just happened. That´s the way it goes. You know, a lot of people come to Maui, a surprising number of people so you never know what will happen [laughing] but we don´t have anything set up.

TTP.de: And, of course, a lot of the questions were about the tour... everybody wants you! People want you in Sweden and Australia and in the middle east...
JB: I don´t know but I hope people know that we want to do all that stuff. Absolutely! We´re open to all that stuff. We want to play all the time and go all over and all that but it isn´t all up to us... there are lots of factors involved. But we´d love to do all those things, tour Australia, go to Sweden, hang out in the middle east. You bet!! And we lead lucky lives because we get to do a lot, we get to go so many places and people pay us to come... it´s really a great life. :-)

TTP.de: So you are definitely not playing Big Day Out this year?
JB: No, we really intended to but then Bob came into the picture and the release date got pushed back. The album should be out right now. But we´ve been approached for some sort of Australian tour in late April. There aren´t any details yet but we heard we´ve been asked to come then. I don´t know if we are doing it or not, it´s all up in the air.

TTP.de: If you do, will you be playing new material?
JB: We should be [...the album should be out by then]. Believe me, as much as you guys want the new album, no one wants it as much as the band! We´d love to get out, on a bus, right now and start conquering new territory! [smiling]

TTP.de: I believe you!
JB: Actually, I know there was a question about an orchestra tour of Australia and we´ve been approached by a group there to do just that. That would be between this album and the next one though. So we´ll probably do 3 tours of Australia in the next while, a mini festival tour of some sort, a major tour [in support of the album] and an orchestra tour. Then we have to get on the bus with about 13 guys and tour the USA like crazy, and, well you can see we are going to be very busy!

TTP.de: Have you had some US interest then?
JB: There are two companies who would sign us right now, without even hearing the new album, but management doesn´t want to settle. They want to get the properly mixed singles from Bob in January and shop them around the usual way so we get the best deal. So, we have to wait a little longer but it´s coming together! It´s looking good!

TTP.de: You guys aren't booked for a New Year's gig this year are you?
JB: Nope, and we're all looking forward to New Year's Eve off. We're all going to celebrate it in our own ways before we head back to the studio.

TTP.de: We had a few questions about lyrics on previous albums. Like what does Jeff say at the end of "Mantra"?
JB: Oh, yes, I remember asking him when we were recording. He just made up some words there, something that fit the feel of the song. Like the Cocteau Twins do.

TTP.de: Or Lisa Gerard.
JB: Exactly, he just made something up that sounded right.

TTP.de: OK, thanks, and what about in "Cathartik"? Mother fucking what?
JB: Cracker, yeah, cracker. It was a thing he was doing with Trevor. When we were in the studio Trevor was joking around about being Martin´s slave. "Yes, master..." and that sort of thing and Martin called him a cracker. Of course that was after many, many drinks! Good times, good times! [chuckle]

TTP.de: One thing fans constantly complain about is the official site. Is there going to be a new site for the new album?
JB: Yes. I´ve talked to Jeff and we´ve talked to Stuart and there is going to be a site that´s updated daily. And Stuart wants me to do something like what I´ve been doing for the German site, like the Studio Diary. I told Stuart I´d already been doing that and he said it would be something like that.

TTP.de: Like a Tour Diary?
JB: A tour diary? I don´t know, maybe. I´m not sure what Stuart had in mind but something like that.

TTP.de: And on the subject of tours, are you going to start changing your set list more from night to night?
JB: Yes. You know we´ve been playing "Sun Going Down" again and we´re really enjoying that so were going to keep that and we like the idea of an acoustic set so we´re going to incorporate that. And we´re definitely going to rehearse more so we can change the set from night to night a bit. Part of the problem is that we´ve always had such a tight tour schedule that it´s hard to change things around but we are working on that.

JB: But I have to get going.

TTP.de: OK, thanks and hopefully we can do this again some time...
JB: Definitely, that´s one thing I can promise and, to make it special, we´ll do the next one from Hawaii! Maybe we can even let you listen to some music by then...

TTP.de: OH, YEAH!
JB: Oh, one more thing. This isn´t 100% for sure yet but you can share it... April 3, at the Kool Haus, we´re going to have the first fundraiser for the Steven Hoffman foundation fund, you know, the one we´re doing for the Princess Margaret Hospital? (ttp.de: you can go to http://www.pmhf-uhn.ca/html/waystohelp/inmemory_donation_form.asp if you want to make a donation). It´s going to be Tea Party and guests. Sort of like the White Ribbon show but more of a Tea Party show!

TTP.de: I may have to book a flight!
JB: Well, it´s not 100% sure yet for that date but it should be around the 3rd.

TTP.de: OK! You´ll keep us posted?
JB: Yes... I´ll let you guys know!

TTP.de: And... will you be able to play any new material yet?
JB: Early April? That could be cutting it close but we can play the first single for sure... it´ll be out by then! But I really have to go...

TTP.de: Thanks Jeff, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family!
JB: And the same to you, to all of you!