Alpha Male Tea Party are a British math rock band from Liverpool, England, formed in September 2009. The band currently consists of Tom Peters (vocals, guitar), Ben Griffiths (bass, vocals), and Greg Chapman (drums).[1][2]

Alpha Male Tea Party
OriginLiverpool, England
Genres
Years active2009 (2009)–present
Labels
MembersTom Peters
Ben Griffiths
Greg Chapman
Past membersDaniel Leadbetter
Pedro Ribeiro
Websitealphamaleteaparty.co.uk

History

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Alpha Male Tea Party began as an "escape from the drudgery of full time employment" for Tom Peters, who began putting together demos for math rock songs on the music program Logic and advertised for band members on Gumtree. The earliest carnation of the band was initially called Safe In A Shell. Many singers were auditioned, but none were deemed a fit for the band. Debut album 'AMTP' and early shows featured Peters along with bassist Daniel Leadbetter and drummer Pedro Ribeiro. Greg Chapman was recruited to play drums in January 2012, the day after his last project had disintegrated. From the recording of 'Droids' onwards; the final lineup consisted of Peters, Chapman, and bassist Ben Griffiths, whom Peters had never seen play bass but was recruited on the basis of being "a funny man".[1]

Their third full-length album Health was released in June 2017 through Big Scary Monsters, and was produced by Tom Peters and Dan Wild-Beesley of the former Manchester band Cleft, a close friend of the band. Wild-Beesley worked through a period of ill health while producing the record, which influenced its "darker" sound.[1][3]

Infinity Stare was recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown of May-June 2020 at Trapdoor Studios, a recording facility in Liverpool owned by Tom Peters. Released via Big Scary Monsters one day after its announcement in December 2020, after the death of Wild-Beesley. The grief of his passing strongly influenced the album, and led to a creative block for the band until the COVID-19 pandemic allowed them to focus more strongly on their work.[4]

Alpha Male Tea Party have played at ArcTanGent Festival in Bristol in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018.[5] In 2019, the band played a set as 'The Beft - A Tribute to Dan Wild-Beesley´ featuring Mike Vennart formerly of Oceansize and John Simm, former drummer of Cleft. The set consisted of a 15 minute Cleft medley and an original piece written for the occasion featuring a guitar orchestra consisting of 20 guitarists. They were scheduled to play at the 2020 festival before it was cancelled, and were on the line up for 2021,[6] which was rolled over into the 2022 edition after it was cancelled.

Discography

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Studio albums

  • AMTP (2012)
  • Droids (2014)
  • Health (2017)
  • Infinity Stare (2020)

EPs

  • Real Ale and Model Rail: The Lonely Man's Guide To Not Committing Suicide (2013)

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Alpha Male Tea Party stream 3rd album 'Health' with The Independent". The Independent. 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Listen to new track from Alpha Male Tea Party". TeamRock. 4 May 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  3. ^ Lynham, Alex. "Alpha Male Tea Party's Tom Peters: "Throwing a simple major-key riff together wasn't doing it for me any more… I thought, 'How can I use melody differently?'"". Guitar World.
  4. ^ "ALPHA MALE TEA PARTY RELEASE SURPRISE NEW ALBUM "INFINITY STARE" VIA BIG SCARY MONSTERS". CIRCUIT SWEET.
  5. ^ "FESTIVAL REPORT: Arctangent 2019". God is in the TV.
  6. ^ "Alpha Male Tea Party announce surprise album for 2020". Louder Sound.