Our Lady Peace

Former band members include Mike Turner (founding member and guitarist), Jamie Edwards ("Stunt Musician"), Mike Eisenstein ("Stunt Musician"), Chris Eacrett (bassist), and Jim Newell (drummer).

Currently, the band is on tour in North America with a fifth stage member, Joel Shearer (of the band Pedestrian).

Band History

Our Lady Peace (1995). L-R: Mike Turner, Jeremy Taggart, Chris Eacrett, Raine Maida.

Mike Turner placed a "musicians wanted" ad in a Toronto-based Now Magazine in 1992. Michael (Raine) Maida, a criminology student at the University of Toronto, was the first to reply and they formed a band with the name, As If. The band was short-lived due to mixed priorities between the members. Later, the remaining two band members, Raine and Mike, went to a music seminar and this is where they met Arnold Lanni (owner of Arnyard Studios).

Mike Turner and Raine Maida soon formed another band with bassist Chris Eacrett. After the release of Naveed, Eacrett left the band. He was replaced with Duncan Coutts. Jamie Edwards, a keyboardist, joined in 1996 and was an unofficial member until 2002.

The band refused to do a typical showcase for the few labels that were interested in them. The most prominent of these labels was Sony Records. Sony Music Canada president, Rick Camilleri, along with vice-president of A&R Mike Roth and Gary Furniss, director of music publishing, made a visit to their practice space and signed the band, despite the obvious risks. That same day, Jeremy Taggart joined the band.

The original members first recorded a 4-song demo with Arnold Lanni. The strongest song on the demo, "Out of Here", was made into a video (produced, edited, and directed by Sam Siciliano) in 1992 and received airtime on Much Music. The soft-loud alternative technique employed by Turner mixed with the unique voice of Maida was well-received on the local scene.

After a few more demos and strong fanbase support from both Toronto and Montreal, Our Lady Peace was signed to Sony Records and won recognition with their debut album Naveed. Naveed was released in Canada in 1994 and then in the United States in 1995. The title track, "Naveed" became a hit in Canada, while "Starseed" a hit in both Canada and the United States ("Starseed" would later appear on the Armageddon film soundtrack).

Their second album, Clumsy, was released in 1997. This album is widely considered the group's best effort. It established OLP as a leading band in 1990s rock music in Canada, and made them an internationally notable group. This album featured the hit songs "Superman's Dead", "4AM", "Automatic Flowers", and the title track "Clumsy".

In 1999, the band released another album entitled Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch. The album included such hits as "Thief", a song centered around a young girl the band met who had a cancerous tumor, as well as "Is Anybody Home".

In 2000, the band released Spiritual Machines, a concept album inspired by Ray Kurzweil's The Age of Spiritual Machines. This album featured the singles: "In Repair", "Life" and "Right Behind You (Mafia)".

Our Lady Peace (2005). L-R: Duncan Coutts, Raine Maida, Steve Mazur, Jeremy Taggart.

In December of 2001, Mike Turner left the band citing creative and musical differences. Turner later joined Fair Ground. In April of 2002, Steve Mazur was announced as the new guitarist for the band.

In the early 2000s, some critics contended that the band's new music changed, adopting an increasingly mainstream sound. Some critics of the band's fifth album, Gravity, called it "overproduced" and "too mainstream". However, its chart-topping first single, "Somewhere Out There", became the band's biggest international hit to date. The second single released off the album was "Innocent". Also, "Made of Steel" was a large hit across North America.

In 2005, the band released their sixth album, Healthy in Paranoid Times. The band disclosed that during the making of this album, they nearly broke up.

The band's song "Whatever" is used as the entrance of professional wrestler Chris Benoit.

The group took part at the Canadian Live 8 concert in Barrie, ON on July 2nd, 2005.

At a November 2005 concert at Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, it was announced that the concert would be filmed for the purpose of creating a DVD. This DVD rumoured to be released in 2006. Content, such as pre- and post-concert interviews, and photos, can be found at [Rogers.com/OLP].

Discography