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Interveiw
Talking to: Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace
By GABRIELLE GRUBKA
Special to NeXt
6/12/2002
Raine Maida, lead singer of the Canadian rock group Our Lady Peace, sometimes goes a little crazy on stage.
During a concert last March at the Tralf, Maida climbed up on a tall set of speakers. Standing close to the edge, he proceeded to sing "One Man Army." No cables supported him. If he had fallen, no safety net - other than the fans below - could have caught him.
Since that show, Maida and his bandmates have taken more risks - risks of a musical kind.
Last fall, Our Lady Peace decided to record its fifth album, "Gravity," due June 18, without longtime producer Arnold Lanni. The group instead went into the studio with producer Bob Rock - noted for his work with Aerosmith, Metallica and Motley Crue.
"It wasn't going to be cool to find a producer just for the sake of finding someone," Maida said in a recent phone interview. "(Bob Rock) is a real rock producer. He made us feel like we did something different instead of making another record that kind of sounds the same."
Rock pushed Maida, well-known for his ambiguous lyrics, to write in a straightforward manner for "Gravity."
"It was a challenge for me," Maida said. "If I was standing at the mike and feeling a little bit nervous, I took it as, "OK, this is how it should feel.' (Bob Rock's) philosophy is, if it's simpler, it sounds more powerful. He told me that I really needed to connect with people."
Our Lady Peace and guitarist Mike Turner parted ways in December. Artistic and creative differences started as early as 1999, Maida said.
"Everyone wanted to have a guitar player who stepped up," Maida said. "Mike was never that type of player. He was more about ambience and atmosphere."
With Turner gone, Our Lady Peace started searching for a replacement. Thousands of guitarists from all over the world responded with audition tapes, but the group found guitarist Steve Mazur relatively close to home, in Detroit.
"We needed a guy whose guitar was like an extension of his body," Maida said. "Steve is that guy." The risk of making lineup and production changes seems to have paid off for the band. "Somewhere Out There," the anthemic first single from "Gravity," has received considerable airplay in Canada and on modern rock stations in the United States. While pleased with the song's success, Maida said the group doesn't expect much, either.
"We never wanted to be a band where it was about one song," Maida said. "We're pretty proud of the fact that the fan base we have is passionate about our records."
Maida's passion for music began at a young age, and soon turned into a desire to become a musician. A cousin even caught a 9-year-old Maida on tape mimicking David Lee Roth's moves in Van Halen's "Jump" video.
"My mom was like, "Oh my God, what do I have here?,'" said Maida, laughing.
By his teen years, Maida was playing guitar and writing songs. Despite his musical inclinations, the Weston, Ont., native ended up studying criminology at the University of Toronto.
While at university, he answered a classified ad placed by guitarist Mike Turner. The two recorded a demo with Arnold Lanni that generated interest among major record labels, leading to auditions that brought bassist Duncan Coutts and drummer Jeremy Taggart into Our Lady Peace. Just a few months shy of graduation, Maida decided to quit school to focus on the band.
"It wasn't a difficult decision," said Maida, adding that he often spent more time playing music than studying. "I look back at how I was and realize that everything I gave up, and every time I didn't go out with friends because I wanted to write songs, wasn't even about making a choice. I just knew I wanted to be a musician."
Our Lady Peace signed with Sony in 1993 and kept complete control over its music and image (a rare arrangement in the music business). "Naveed," the group's debut album," sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide and produced the hit single, "Starseed."
The group relentlessly toured in support of "Naveed." In turn, OLP gained a fiercely loyal fan base that helped "Clumsy," released in 1997, debut at No. 1 on Canadian album charts. The album, featuring the title track and "Superman's Dead," also became the group's American breakthrough. Suddenly, the spotlight was on Maida, whose photogenic looks attracted many female fans. "I'm very uncomfortable with it," Maida said. "I don't want that kind of attention placed on just me. I want the music to speak for itself."
A year after "Clumsy," OLP organized Summersault, a touring festival featuring alternative rock acts. The group, in between releases of 1999's "Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch" and 2001's "Spiritual Machines," also organized and performed in a 2000 edition of Summersault.
"It was a blast," Maida said of the festival. "I can't think of a better job than playing with bands you dig and, when you're not playing, watching music that you like. It's kind of selfish, but it was so much fun."
Although OLP hasn't completely ruled out another Summersault festival, the group wants to focus on its own tour in support of "Gravity," which began May 15 in Dayton, Ohio. A Buffalo date has yet to be scheduled, but Maida said OLP will be coming here sometime this summer.
Maida also hopes to release an album with his wife, Canadian singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk. The album may include songs that were inspired by the couple's trip to Iraq last year with War Child, a non-profit organization that aims to help children living in war-torn areas throughout the world.
"War Child is really close and dear to my heart," Maida said. "That trip was just so powerful. It changed my life and allowed me to put things into perspective. It's about being able to appreciate what you have."
A few of Raine Maida's favorite things
Movie: "The Insider"
Song: "Pride," U2
Album: "Nothing's Shocking," Jane's Addiction
Place: Italy
Hobby: Martial arts (Maida has a black belt in karate.)
Source:http://www.buffalonews.com
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