Source: Meat Magazine, September 1995
OUR LADY PEACE
Story by: Kim Carter
Interviewed on: August 17, 1995

Toronto's Our Lady Peace have actually been together for a few years now, yet most Canadians don't realize that. In the spring of '94, OLP released their debut Sony album Naveed first here, then in the U.S., and have toured both territories in support of it. Their single "Starseed" is now a big U.S. hit. Naveed has recently gone platinum in Canada (currently over 150,000 have been sold), and stateside it's sold more than 250,000 units. Congrats!
OLP consisists of singer Raine Maida, guitarist Mike Turner, bassist Chris Eacrett and drummer Jeremy Taggart. Their story isn't completely unique, but as told by Raine and Jeremy, it's kind of interesting...
Kim: I'm told that you put together a demo, sent it out, and Sony signed you without even having played a show.
Jeremy: "That's pretty close."
Raine: "We played a few gigs. Maybe three or four. We opened for The Tea Party a few times. We wanted to quit music after playing with them."
Jeremy: "We knew we'd made it all the way when we played with Led Zeppelin (OLP played four shows with Page/Plant)...and, of course, The Tea Party."
Raine: "Yeah, really."
Kim: So how has touring been?
Raine: "Nice, but we're tired! For the last six months we've been playing six days a week. But we don't mind the work."
Kim: So how's the Van Halen tour going?
Raine: "It's had a couple of tense moments. Their crowd is a lot different than ours. I've said a couple things that have offended a couple of people, but I think we've gotten past that."
Kim: How'd you hook up with them?
Raine: "Their management and ours are from Toronto. We actually turned down the tour about four or five times, and over two or three weeks we kept getting calls about it from them. I still don't know why we took it."
Kim: How do you feel about the possibility of breaking really big?
Raine: "We're happy where we are right now, just working. We really want to go make another record. I mean, it's about time, as we've been working this one for almost two years now. That's where everybody's head is. We'll keep touring for Naveed as long as we have these tours set up, but all in all, the slower things happen, the better."
Kim: How much longer do you figure you'll be on the road?
Jeremy: "We're booked until Christmas."
Kim: Do you have a lot of new material?
Raine: "Yeah, ideas. Not crafted songs, just ideas."
Kim: Have you followed closely your album sales?
Raine: "Sure. At the beginning we were watching the sales and charts, but we learned the lesson real quick that there's no point in doing that. I mean, it's all about music. When 'Starseed' finally hit the top ten, that was great. But to watch it go from 18 to 17 to 12 was so fucking pointless. If you're in music and you're doing that, then get outta music."
Kim: What's your view now on the Canadian music scene?
Raine: "It's real healthy. Bands like Glueleg, I Mother Earth, Salvador Dream...I don't think (Salvador Dream's) record is selling very well, but they're a great band."
Jeremy: "There's a lot of underground cool stuff happening. There's enough good bands in Canada to compete with any other market."
Raine: "Even in the U.S. -- with all the radio stuff we've done, and all the people we've talked to -- there's this whole new perspective on Canadian music starting to form, which is good."
Kim: Have you been out of North America?
Raine: "Not yet, but we're going to Australia soon."
Kim: So the band is now something you see as a career?
Jeremy: "Yeah, we're supporting ourselves now, we're not asking much. We just want to be able to keep playing."
Raine: "We'd prefer our success to come slowly. That's how it's built in Canada. The record's been out a while, and it just started selling a lot like two months ago, and that's after like 16 months. I think our career will take the same shape."


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