Raine Maida

I am a singer. I am a songwriter. I am not an entertainer, although I can be entertaining. Alcohol. I never knew how much I truly loved music until I bought The Unforgettable Fire. I write and record music because it is the evidence of life. I have yet to wrap my head around the distinction between pretentious and earnest. I’m either hopelessly misunderstood or an idiot. I am a Monday morning activist. I’ve filmed Documentaries in Iraq and Darfur and work closely with various charities. I drive a hybrid vehicle, shop with cloth grocery bags, buy mostly organic local foods but yet feel as though I’m living a cliché. I dislike Yoga. Love Bruce Lee and the UFC. I know some real activists. They humble me. I feel as though I am a witness and the armed robbery is life happening right before my very eyes. I don’t want to be the guy in the 7-11 hiding behind the candy bar aisle. I started a band named in 1992 named Our Lady Peace. Name taken from a Mark Van Doren World War 2 poem. We signed to Columbia Records, sold millions, did all the late night talk shows and shared the stage with everyone from The Ramones to Willie Nelson to The Deftones and Neil Young. I enjoy producing music. The stuff I’m most proud of you’ve probably never heard of. Men Women and Children, People in Planes. Billy the Kid, Dearly Beloved I spent the last year making a solo record. It was written, recorded and produced by me in my home studio mostly late at night. I approached the music completely differently from anything I’ve done before. Poems, beats then chord progressions. In my studio sits a 2-foot high stack of books and magazines Used sparingly throughout the recordings. Emerson, Banksy, Ginsberg, Adbusters, The Fader, Buckminster Fuller, Nikki Giovanni. See what I mean…that delicate balance between pretentious vs. earnest. Theme of the record …”the quest to be a decent human being” Title…The Hunters Lullaby The explanation…Ultimately you must venture out on your own to determine the meaning of life. “Its hard work” (squinch your face and repeat with a Texas accent) It should all be coming together now. Songs. “Earthless” song about courage from the eyes of a young girl struggling with being a young girl “The Less I Know” religion…raised catholic. Got over it but still say the Our Father before I take off when flying. Jared Paul speaks at the end of the track. War is on his mind. “China Doll” inspired by Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. The Lyric “Sour like democracy” ends up being a sub theme of the record and my love hate relationship with politics. All songs recorded with acoustic instruments only. The players…Victor Indrizzo (Beck, Gnarls Barkley) started the drum sessions with me back in the summer of 06. Joseph Karnes played all the stand up bass (John Cale, Pedestrian, My Brightest Diamond) Chantal Kreviazuk played piano and sang Randy Cooke (Dave Stewart) ended up cutting the majority of the drums and percussion. Jared Paul guested on a track. (Back to what I was discussing earlier…. he’s the real deal. social worker, marched in over 100 protest/rallies ….blah blah blah) Recently I’ve shared the stage with artists such as Saul Williams, Jello Biafra and Peaches I’ve begun performing in spoken word festivals William Blake, Allen Ginsberg, Walt Whitman, Jack Kerouac. University of Toronto Literature classes. Buddy Wakefield, Sage Francis, Suheir Hammad, Anis Mogjani. Poetry Slam DVD’s bought with Visa card from Amazon. Spoken word is what gets me off these days. Probably because it makes feel so damn insecure. It’s much more relevant than music. I get the same feeling from spoken word today as the first time I heard Nirvana’s “smells like teen spirit.” I’m not exactly sure where my record fits in this musical climate. For the first time in my musical journey I own the music fully and completely. This excites me. I’m not sure where it fits in today’s musical landscape. I take comfort in that. I have two very young children who will one day judge me by this work. Fear and courage are brothers. RAINE MAIDA