Nate Smith interviews Raine Maida, singer of Our Lady Peace
Enoch Magazine ) You’ve been playing music a long and time and you had a chance to take a break from Our Lady Peace and work on a Solo Record. What was that like working by yourself?
Raine ) It was a very different thing. When I was younger I got into music because of the word aspect of it. I like beat poetry and creative writing as a little kid in school and I finally started a band. Our Lady peace songs have a different structure and my poetry didn’t always fit into them at the end of the day. So I looked back at my poetry and I just changed the music cause I had the words to support it.
Enoch Magazine ) Being in a band you get to travel a lot and see many different things. I get to travel for work often and I see homelessness as a huge problem. What are some experiences you’ve had with the homeless
Raine ) Your right every city has its overwhelming issues and problems with homelessness. We have a friend of ours who is 12 years old named Hannah who lives in Winnipeg, Canada ,where my wifes from and her mom used to drive her to school and she would see a lot of homeless people. This girl was always asking her mom why are all those people lying on park benches and whats wrong with that person. Her Mom told her straight up that these people are homeless and they don’t have a place to live. So little Hannah had a really heavy heart about it and she started this thing called the Lady Bug Foundation. We are huge supporters and have done some benefits for her and even the Prime Minister has taken notice. She generates a lot of money to help the homeless and it’s really incredible. For me it shows it’s a huge problem but it doesn’t take a lot to help these people out. It takes a little bit of effort but if a 12 year old girl can do it than anyone can do it. Every City should bear a lot of guilt if they don’t try to fix this situation. There is so much to deal with on so many levels with social consequences and homelessness gets swept under the rug and maybe that’s the problem. It needs to be addressed.
Enoch Magazine ) I find so many so many homeless people that will claim Jesus as their savior but they are at the bottom of the barrel. Its intrigues me. What is your perception of Jesus and how did you get that perception?
Raine ) It’s a struggle for me. I grew up in a pretty strict Catholic family and I’ve had my battles with that. I think that spiritually is more broadly defined these days. I see godliness in a lot of things whether its animals or children. That stuff keeps me inspired and I don’t allow the real constraints of organized religion to define me anymore. I find myself more at peace as I don’t have to analyze and question as much. I used to argue with my dad about Catholicism and at some point I realized that’s what he believes and why would I think that I have the right to change his beliefs. I don’t want to impose my views or have other peoples views imposed on me.
Enoch Magazine ) So Our Lady Peace has a new record out and this was the first record that you did yourself without a major label which gave you a lot more freedom. What was that like?
Raine ) It just made the whole experience amazing and inspiring. It was four guys with no bull#$%^, no record label, no producer and no one to interfere or get involved. By virtue we made the best record we’ve ever made. We might not have the biggest hits or it might not sell the most but we’re not judging it by that. It’s the best record we’ve ever made. It was time we got away from everything and were ourselves. In the past we worked with great producers and we have that to draw from. If you’re a new band and you try to do it yourself than you wont have that experience.
Enoch Magazine ) A lot of fans hailed Spiritual Machines as a wonderful concept album and very creative. How did you lyrically come to the process of Spirtual Machines?
Raine ) That record was really about what we talked about earlier with questioning and analyzing religion and spiritually. I used those ideas along with a book I read that said “we’re all going to turn into robots”. It was a pretty heavy subject. I’m not sure we really got into the depths of it on that record. For me it is this great journey and I look back on that record really fondly. I look at the song “In repair” on that record and I see parallels of it in society today. I feel society is still in repair years later after I wrote that song. It’s funny It’s like I’m still learning when we play songs from that record. We played “In Repair” last night and its like I didn’t write it, it’s a gift for me and was channeled through me, and was still teaching me.
Enoch Magazine ) You’ve been playing music a long time and made a career out of it. If you couldn’t play music tomorrow what would you want to do with your life?
Raine ) We live very close to this charity called War Child in Canada and I would probably do something with them. I’ve been in the field and we built some schools in the Congo. Just being in that culture puts a lot of meaning and depth into life. I would probably do something with them. I’ve realized throughout my life it’s about leaving something worthwhile. Whether it’s a song or a house in the Congo. The fact that you’re giving back is important because most people these days are just taking.