Jeff Martin Storms the Seas with The Armada

Jeff Martin - ex Tea Party songwriter and frontman, and more recent acoustic troubadour - talks to Citysearch about opening a big, black sexy door with latest musical adventure, The Armada.

Editorial Review

CS: Your musical journey - from the Tea Party to acoustic troubadour and The Armada - looks to have come about in a circle?
JM: I knew it was inevitable to get back into heavy rock'n'roll … I'm a rocker at heart. I needed to find a reason and the passion to do it again. One of the ways was to strip it down to acoustic music - it was a way of re-connecting with my muse, the passion I have for music. It's been quite a journey over these last few years since the Tea Party broke up. Now I feel like I'm in the right headspace to go back into the ring and I'm really looking forward to it - this Armada record that Wayne [Sheehy] and I have come up with really stands up to anything I've done in the past.

CS: Irishman Wayne Sheehy, the other half of Armada, is a well known drummer and percussionist, how did you two get together?
JM: It was sort of serendipitous. The part of Ireland where I live is very rural - it's just sheep, farms and about three pubs - Wayne is based in Dublin, but he was raised in a village not far from where I live and so he would frequently go back there to see old friends. We met in a very old pub one night ... he's a like-minded soul and someone who shares the same passions that I have for music. We knew eventually we would start to work together, and when we did things started to steamroll. As the process when on I built a recording studio in Ireland because that was one of the things I'd been missing since the demise of the Tea Party - it was important for me to get my laboratory back! Once I did, and Wayne and I started to write songs together, all the musical influences I'd collected over the years came through on the songs.

CS: And where did the name Armada come from?
JM: Down where I live in Ireland there's a village called Bantry - it's quite famous in Irish history for the French Armada, so there's a lot of that Armada imagery around. Wayne came up with the term and I quite liked the idea - because it's coming at you from all fronts. We thought “that fits” and so that's where the name came from. The music definitely follows suit.

CS: Your studio is called Kingdom - it's a word that pops up a lot around you. What's its significance to you?
JM: The Kingdom for me is more a philosophical state of mind - it has a lot to do with me focussing my will again. It took a while for me to get back there because, to a certain extent, particularly at the end of the Tea Party, I was becoming damaged goods. It was very hard for me to concentrate - a lot of it was my fault and a lot of it was just the situation that I was in. To try and find that 'kingdom' again was quite a journey and it started when I wrote a song called The Kingdom. It was the start of a healing process for me, which isn't over! With the Armada it's that first step again, and it's great. It feels like everything is brand new.

CS: You're keeping The Armada's debut album very much under wraps, only releasing an instrumental version of one track, Morocco, so far …
JM: These days, especially with the internet, we're careful not to give away the farm! The lyrics that go hand-in-hand with Morocco are very powerful and I'm looking forward to people hearing the puzzle being put together. But I wanted to give people a taste of the musical tapestry. It can't be the Tea Party, because there are two people missing, but because of my involvement in it, it's very reminiscent. But at the same time, I'm moving on. My style of song-writing that I brought to the table with the Tea Party has definitely evolved - it's going to be what it is - I'm looking forward to it. People who were fans of the Tea Party will certainly be fans of The Armada.

CS: Can you describe The Armada sound?
JM: It's very intense, very sensual, very exotic … it's just going to have to be heard. It's early days yet - give me a couple of years and after we've been around the world 10 times I might be able to describe it better. This is brand new days - it's a new baby boy and I don't know how it's going to talk yet. I'm hedging my bets that when it talks, it's going to talk really loudly.

CS: When is the album coming out?
JM: Armada's new record coming out at the end of October - I'm only releasing 10,000 copies worldwide. That's it.

CS: 10,000? You've sold hundreds of thousands of records in the past?
JM: It's for the real hardcore fans. Come January 1, something much bigger is going to happen. Those first 10,000 are for the people that have really stuck around through thick and thin. Come January 1, things change and everything goes global.

CS: Any more hints?
JM: Nope!

CS: Ok, moving on … the Armada's debuting live in Australia this November …
JM: It's my thanks to the Australian fan base. Australia was the first country to take on the Tea Party and really embrace it. Because of that, and because of what this country has given to me, our first tour with The Armada will be in Australia.

CS: We're looking forward to it!
JM: So am I! I believe that this band can be global. There's definitely an audience - around the world - for what the music will be. I don't need to do music to make a living any more - to me music is a about the passion and the love of doing it, and that's the greatest motivator.

The Armada will tour Australia in November - click here for dates and venues.

Kelly Ford, Citysearch, September 2008

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