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Sound Spike Q&A with Raine Maida
by Christina Fuoco
SoundSpike News
May 22, 2002, 12:47 pm EDT
Raine Maida, lead singer of the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace, admits that his method of hiring guitarist Steve Mazur was a bit unorthodox--if not downright mean.
"I figured that the best way to try this guy out would be to sit him in a chair, put a guitar around his waist, and put him in front of Bob Rock"--the infamous producer of bands like Metallica, the Cult and Aerosmith.
"But he was awesome," Maida said of Mazur. "He rose to the occasion. It's kind of cool to watch a kid like that go in there and kick ass."
That was the beginning of massive changes for Our Lady Peace, which releases its fifth album, "Gravity" (Columbia), on June 18.
Maida took time out to talk with SoundSpike about working with Rock, the band's new, streamlined sound, and his relationship with his wife, Canadian chanteuse-pianist Chantal Kreviazuk.
SoundSpike: Why did [guitarist] Mike Turner leave the band?
Raine Maida: The direction we were going, everyone was digging. His thing was more ethereal. We just kind of ended up going in separate paths. He was a great guitar player, just great and solid.
How did you decide to work with Bob Rock?
We talked with some different producers, like Josh Abraham, who worked with Crazy Town and Staind. He was a really nice guy and probably a really good producer. We played some songs for him and talked for a few. But at the end of the week, we wanted to meet with Bob, to go to Maui.
The difference was, we sat with Bob and plugged in and there was this spark that just happened. Also, with Bob, with his experience of working with bands like Metallica, he was just able to pinpoint stuff really quickly. Like, he told us, "You're a rock band but you're not letting yourself be the rock band you want to be." He was really secure, probably because he's sold 300 million records. He has nothing to lose. He just speaks his mind.
What did he do to try to make you "the rock band you want to be?"
First of all, he just tried to really simplify parts. He made Jeremy [Taggart] be a little bit less busy on the drums, and I think he just wanted to start with real simple pieces, to be a little more experimental. Most great rock songs, like those by AC/DC and Metallica, there's a real simplicity in those songs. That was different for us. He said we are busy and we only get busier. He came in and said, "You guys just need to get some balls." That's actually the thing he said. I asked him, "What do you mean?" He said, "If this is a heavy song, just be heavy with it. Don't turn your amps halfway up. I can tell by the way you're playing that you guys want to rock. I can tell you're not letting yourself."
The simplicity definitely shows.
It's a different vibe. Bob really changed things for us. He made things really simple. When I first spoke to him on the phone, he said, "Don't bring any of your gear. Just bring a pair of drum sticks." He's a vintage guitar collector. We get to his studio in Maui, and there's Billy Duffy's Gibson [guitar] from [The Cult's] "She Sells Sanctuary," [Metallica guitarist] Kirk Hammett's guitars. I was like, "Holy shit. It's incredible." It was amazing. We were like kids in a candy store. It was so easy to make music and record it.
How long did it take for you to record "Gravity?"
We started in October and finished in February. ...It was amazing. We're used to 18-hour days and 20-hour days. With Bob, just being in Maui, we would go surf in the morning and go to the studio at 1 or 2. We'd get enough done where we felt like we accomplished something and said, 'Let's get out of here.' It was our first real low-pressure record.
"Gravity" touches quite often on the subject of loss. Was it difficult to share your feelings with your fans, considering many of them are familiar with your wife?
Most of the record is more about the feeling of you can be right beside someone, yet it's like that feeling when you go out for dinner and see a couple sitting at a table not talking. You just think, 'Fuck, this isn't good.' You feel empathy for them. It's that kind of feeling. You're tied to someone but you're just not connecting. Sometimes there's so much distance.
When I went into music, I always said that I would never do music that's disposable and had no meaning five years later. I kind of stuck to that.
source soundspike.com
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