OUR LADY PEACE IN CONTROL
Source: Edmonton Journal, February 9, 2000
By: Sandra Sperounes
Raine Maida is in top form, except when daddy shows up to groove

Put Raine Maida on a stage in front of thousands of fans- even those of angry Scottish variety- and he relishes the experience.
Put Maida on that same stage in front of his father, and the singer would rather escape into the wings. It doesn't matter if Maida's father is enveloped by hundreds of others- the devilish, brooding frontman of Our Lady Peace still doesn't feel at peace with his dad around.
Despite six years of touring, Maida only discovered his discomfort last week, a few days after the launch of Our Lady Peace's national tour for Happiness...Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch. Following the moody rock band's show in Toronto, Maida knew he wasn't happy with his performance, but couldn't quite put his finger on the reason. It finally dawned on him during the band's subsequent gig in Montreal.
"Every time I have to play Toronto, I know my dad is in the crowd and it basically destroys me," says Maida.
"This time, I felt like I couldn't even speak properly. I just realized (my discomfort) after the show in Montreal, because it was such a great show. It felt so much more comfortable. I don't know why I'm telling you this.... It was a little bit of an epiphany for me, I guess."
For Maida, happiness... is not a father at his gig. But staying at home with his new wife is.
When Maida and singer Chantal Kreviazuk aren't on the road, the two fill their Toronto home with music.
"It's hard not to-she's always playing the piano or I'm always playing the guitar. There's a huge love of music in general, not just the genre that I play or the genre that she does," he says.
Maida doesn't rule out the possibility of the two releasing some of their collaborations-he has already contributed two tracks to Kreviazuk's latest disc, Colour Moving and Still. But Maida says they would only make their musicavailable if the circumstances were right. In other words, Maida and Kreviazuk must have total control over their work.
It's only natural. Ever since Our Lady Peace signed with Sony, Maida and his mates-bassist Duncan Coutts, guitarist Mike Turner, drummer Jeremy Taggart, and producer Arnold Lanni-have enjoyed complete creative licence in the making of their three agnst-addled albums, including 1994's Naveed and 1997's Clumsy.
"Even with all the art work, the Web site-we do taht," says Maida. "Everything in controlled by us."
That includes music videos. For Naveed, Maida and his Peaceniks directed their own videos. Nowadays, they shoot their own short films to accompany their concerts.
"I think video directors are hesitant to work with us because we're pretty pushy. We're hard to work with on that level," admits Maida.
"But this last video we did, for Is Anybody Home, was by far the most succeddful."