Tea Eater is a Brooklyn-based art punk band led by Tarra Thiessen, known for their eccentric and campy sound. Their fuzzy, high-energy songs serve as both music and spells to inspire new realities. Featuring members of Gustaf and Sharkmuffin, they’ve toured the East Coast, Midwest, UK, and EU, played LA residencies, and performed at Montreal’s Distorsion Psych Fest. Their debut LP, Obsession, released in October 2023, was mixed and produced by Drew Vandenberg (Faye Webster, Of Montreal, Bambara). We caught up with the band to discuss the music writing process:
In your opinion, what are the essential qualities that make a “good songwriter”?
Wow, I’ve never thought about this! I feel like a sense of detachment is necessary for my songwriting. If I let myself overthink or get too precious about it, I probably wouldn’t ever release anything. I like to create characters and different voices in my songs that are different aspects of myself. I’m into David Lynch’s view on catching ideas and serving the idea the best you can. So in general, an essential quality is to serve the song the best you can.
What is the basis for writing attention-grabbing music in this day and age?
My attention span is so short that all my song demos are never longer than a minute and a half. I write punk songs so this makes sense, but I do feel like getting to the point fast is a good basis. I also enjoy music that presents normal mundane things in fresh, interesting ways.
Can you pinpoint some specific songs and songwriters that changed the way you write music?
Violet by Hole made me realize how amazing it feels to scream. Prince changed the way I screamed- particularly the scream yelp that’s at the end of Computer Blue. I love writing girl-group backup harmonies inspired byThe Marvelettes and The Ronettes. The Oh Sees, Ty Segall, and Jack White all inspired me to aim to be prolific and explore all the directions of rock n roll.
Do you find it hard to be inspired by your peers? Can you name any new artists you find inspiring?
I’m very grateful to have such a great community of artists and friends in NYC, Chicago, and LA who inspire me all the time: Lydia Gammill of Gustaf, Mel Lucciola of France Moon, Tine Hill, Haley Dahl from Sloppy Jane, Sophie Sputnik of Waltzer, Jasno Swarez, Vanessa Silberman, Bonnie of Death Valley Girls, Lyzi Wakefield of Gesserit and Scout Gillet all are amazing friends and songwriters that everyone should check out!
For your new album, what inspired the lyrical content, album title, and overall vibe?
The record’s lyrical themes revolve around shadow work, accepting that you might be the villain in someone else’s story, and finding magic in mundane things like waffles, butter and bugs. I wrote this batch of songs at the tail end of lockdown and after our first tours we were able to go on in late 2021. The songs were influenced by my transcendental meditation practice, occult books and podcasts, and The Gateway Tapes.
I’ve been reading tarot cards for about 20 years, but when we were finishing up the record I started working as an online tarot card reader. The caricature of myself I created in I Don’t Believe in Bad Luck is a hotline psychic who is sick of everyone- especially herself. The title track is written from the perspective of Bad Luck itself, who is sick of everyone blaming it for everything and not taking responsibility for their own experiences. The overall vibe of campy, cunty, wall-of-fuzz songs that double as spells to inspire new potential realities was partly inspired by Ursula from the little mermaid.
Do you find that you ruminate over writing songs and hold on to them for a long time before including them on a record? Or do you prefer to write them, release them, and be done with them? Do you ever re-visit old material to do a re-write or once it’s done it’s done?
I prefer to write them, release them and be done with them. But there are some demos from the past that I come across and then will rework and change the lyrics or structure occasionally. The song ‘Saint Sardine,’ off our first record Obsession, was a song I originally wrote for a song-of-the-week club I was in in 2014. I found it when going through old demos and updated the lyrics and it became one of my favorite songs on that record.
Were there any lessons you learned in the writing and recording process for your current release that you will take with you into your next project?
Trust the process and the power of friendship!