Jeff Martin is imposing – he’s tall and broad, with a thick mane of hair and fairly fascinating facial hair, with a moustache that curls up at the edges and a soul patch of a goatee. His voice is deep and resonant, and as the frontman for the Tea Party over the last decade plus, he’s become beloved to Australian audiences for his scintillating live performances.

Recently, he returned to these shores in solo mode, freshly recuperated and relaxed after making his debut solo album Exile and the Kingdom in his new home, the tax-free West Cork, Ireland. ““There’s that,” he says of his reason for moving from his native Canada, “but it’s a place that was a necessity for me – the last four years of the Tea Party’s existence things were disintegrating in the relationship between us, personally and artistically.”

With hindsight being 20-20, he believes that throughout the making of the last two records by the Tea Party he had entered a state of denial, entering a very heavy depression as the Tea Party came under further pressure to make their music more accessible to the mainstream. “Being the principal writer of the band the pressure would fall on my shoulders, and I’d never been put on that before,” he shifts uncomfortably in his chair, clearly still coming to terms with the reality of life as a solo artist. He explains that particularly with the band’s first four records they were essentially left to their own devices, and subsequently produced their best material. “When we tried to do something that was against the grain and against the soul of the band that depression that I was coming under lead me to using the vices that I had which were for some time social became habitual, and dangerous – the lifestyle that comes with rock ‘n roll and whatnot.”

It was Roy Harper, a folk musician from Ireland, who convinced Martin to move there, as he could see the sadness within the singer. “He told me it was time to come home,” Jeff outlines. “All I wanted to do was take some time away from the Tea Party and do a solo acoustic record, and heal myself, get a home for my family, and then I was willing to come back to the band. But that wasn’t acceptable to my other two band mates and to the organisation that we had at the time, and so we went back and forth, back and forth, and I had to make the decision that was right for me and my family, and consequently I had to make that decision last October to disband the Tea Party.”

Looking back at Seven Circles, which has ended up being the final album for his band, he feels that a song such as “Oceans” really captured the soul of the band. That particular album was an experiment to work with different producers, and Martin is clear that he doesn’t think it went the right way. “The reason that I’ve been so involved in producing the Tea Party’s music is that as the songwriter I wanted to see it through until the end, and I want to either be blamed or credited with the end result,” he explains. “I don’t want to have to put that on someone else’s shoulders.”

He believes that with Seven Circles the legacy of the Tea Party is intact, and the music is still there for new fans to discover, and old aficionados to enjoy. “But I think we left at the proper time,” he carries on, “as anything more than that and it would have been one of those fading, shooting stars, so I’m glad that as it stands right now the Tea Party ended right there. I’ve very pleased with what I’ve accomplished with Exile and the Kingdom and I’ve regained my integrity.”

There’s a clear sense of release and catharsis, despite any sense of hesitancy at stepping out individually as whilst with the Tea Party it was mostly his vision as far as songwriting goes, he had two foils who would bring their own creativeness to the group. Whereas the initial plan for his solo release was that it would be very simple. “Once I started focussing on making the template for Exile and the Kingdom I called up my dear friend Retesh Das, who has collaborated with me over the years, and we’ve had a vision of working together on acoustic music with world music influences,” he says of the subsequent plans for the group. “So I had a foil again, and someone to bounce ideas off, and then when Michael Lee came in I had someone else to bounce ideas off. I think this is the most honest music I’ve made in a very long time.”

When drummer Michael Lee came over to Ireland, he was initially set to play on two tracks only, but soon found himself enjoying what he brought to the music. “So then all of a sudden I was shifting away from the acoustic and more to the electric side of things,” he explains. As such, Exile and the Kingdom is like a hybrid of acoustic and electric. “Anything that I’ll put out from now on under my name will be more acoustic-based, so Exile and the Kingdom was a cathartic record, but at the same time it’s a transition – going from a heavy, dark, arrogant, pretentious rock band to a kinder, gentler Jeff Martin.”

He explains that “The truth will set you free, and I want to be free. As far as the way I feel it’s much more tranquil now. All the attention is new again; I feel like I’m starting over but I’m blessed that I do have an audience who’ll listen to the music that I make as long as I maintain my integrity. So the future is wide open. It’s a time now to make new memories, because the other ones were getting old.”

Jeff Martin’s solo debut Exile and the Kingdom is out now, with Martin returning to Australia for the second time in solo guise in 2006 with the Toronto Tabla Ensemble next month. Dates:
Friday 1 September: Metropolis, Fremantle
Sunday 3 September: HQ, Adelaide
Monday 4 September: Prince of Wales, Melbourne
Thursday 7 September: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Friday 8 September: Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay
Sunday 10 September: The Tivoli, Brisbane