Raine Maida is a Canadian
musicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
best known as being the lead vocalist and primary
songwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
of the alternative
rock bandRock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Our Lady PeaceOur Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Headed by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band additionally consists of Jeremy Taggart on percussion, Duncan Coutts on bass, and Steve Mazur as lead guitarist...
. He has come to be known for his unique
countertenorA countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
nasal
falsettoFalsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
singing voice, as well as his cryptic and
poetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
-influenced song lyrics. He occasionally plays certain instruments, such as the
acoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, while performing with Our Lady Peace.
Maida began a
solo careerA solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
in 2006, releasing his first solo album
The Hunters Lullaby in 2007. He also self-produced Our Lady Peace's seventh studio album,
Burn BurnBurn Burn is the seventh and most recent studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released in North America on July 21, 2009...
, in 2009. Maida has been married to Canadian singer
Chantal KreviazukChantal Jennifer Kreviazuk is a Canadian singer-songwriter of the adult contemporary music genre. She is also a classically trained pianist, and can play the guitar.-Albums:...
since 1999, and together they have three sons. Maida has been intimately involved with
War ChildWar Child is a non-governmental organisation founded in the UK 1993, which focuses on providing assistance to children in areas of conflict and post-conflict. They use their film and entertainment background to raise money for aid agencies operating in former Yugoslavia...
and other charities since 2003, and was an outspoken critic of the
Iraq War and former U.S. president
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Early life
Maida was born
Michael Anthony Maida in Weston,
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada in 1970. His parents split up when he was very young. Prior to pursuing a musical career, Maida studied
criminologyCriminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
at the
University of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, and prior to that attended
Ridley CollegeRidley College is a co-educational boarding and day university-preparatory school located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, 20 miles from Niagara Falls...
in St. Catharines. Around late 1991, Maida changed his
given nameA given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
from "Michael" to "Raine". This was done to avoid confusion over having two Mikes in Our Lady Peace, the other having been former member
Mike TurnerMike A. Turner is a musician and producer. He is the former lead guitarist of the band Our Lady Peace. After his departure from OLP he began producing music and played guitar in the Canadian band Fair Ground, with Harem Scarem guitarist Pete Lesperance...
.
Our Lady Peace
Raine Maida is the vocalist and a founding member of the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. Maida started the band with guitarist
Mike TurnerMike A. Turner is a musician and producer. He is the former lead guitarist of the band Our Lady Peace. After his departure from OLP he began producing music and played guitar in the Canadian band Fair Ground, with Harem Scarem guitarist Pete Lesperance...
in 1992. Especially on the albums prior to
GravityGravity is the title of Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace's fifth studio album. It was released on June 18, 2002 by Columbia Records in North America. The album became a worldwide success, charting highly both in Canada and the U.S...
, he often sung in a high, nasal voice. This singing style, along with Maida's cryptic lyrics, became one of the features of Our Lady Peace's music. After working with producer
Bob RockRobert Jens Rock, , is a Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer best known for producing bands such as Aerosmith, The Cult, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, 311, Metallica, Our Lady Peace, The Offspring and most recently Bush.-Payola$ and Rock and Hyde:Rock began his music career in Langford,...
on the album
Gravity, this changed: His voice got less nasal. His tone became slightly deeper, and his lyrics were less Delphic. Maida has released seven albums with Our Lady Peace, plus a
live albumLive is Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace's first live album. It was recorded during their cross-Canadian "Fear of the Trailer Park" tour in support of their 5th studio album, Gravity. The dates recorded for this album included January 27, 2003 and January 28, 2003 in Calgary and...
and two greatest hits collections, namely
A Decade-See also:*Our Lady Peace discography*The Very Best of Our Lady Peace...
and The Very Best of Our Lady Peace.
Solo work
Maida released a four song EP called
Love Hope Hero on November 14, 2006. The EP contains the songs "One Second Chance", "Earthless", "Sex Love and Honey", and "Careful What You Wish For". The EP was sold on tours with Chantal Kreviazuk, on his website, and on
iTunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
His full-length solo album,
The Hunters Lullaby, was released on November 13, 2007 by independent label Kingnoise Records. The album was recorded in Maida's own studio using mostly acoustic instruments, and is described by Maida as "a collection of poems put to music". Maida's wife is featured on several tracks, singing and playing piano.
Maida is currently working on not only a new Our Lady Peace record, but also on his second solo album
We All Get Lighter. It was stated that songs from the album would be released starting August 24, 2010 with the song "Bury Me with a Gun" and from then on, every few weeks a new song would be released until the release of the completed album in early 2011. While "Bury Me With a Gun" was indeed released, the rest of the tracks have failed to appear. In January 2011 Maida's official website was updated to give the album a release date of November 29, 2011. Known songs recorded for the album include: "How Far Will You Go?", "We All Get Lighter", and "Bury Me with a Gun." Potential songs that may be included on the album are "S.O.S" and "Not Done Yet" as they were performed live.
Producing and writing
Maida has also been producing music since 1999, when he co-produced Our Lady Peace's albums
Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can CatchHappiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch is the third studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released on September 21, 1999 by Columbia Records. The album was very successful in Canada, debuting at #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album was certified 3x...
and
Spiritual MachinesSpiritual Machines is the fourth studio album by the Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released by Columbia Records in December 2000. Although not initially intended, the project evolved into a conceptual interpretation of futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil's 1999 book The Age of...
. He has developed numerous indie bands, including Texas-based
Sleepway,
Lightbreak, and
Billy the Kid.
He produced four songs on the dance punk band
Men, Women & ChildrenMen, Women & Children was an electropop band formed in 2004 by ex-Glassjaw guitarist Todd Weinstock. They released their self-titled debut album in 2006....
's self-titled debut for
Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
. He co-wrote and produced five tracks on
Avril LavigneAvril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
's second album
Under My Skin, released in 2004.
Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk contributed to
Kelly ClarksonKelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...
's song "Where Is Your Heart?"; Kreviazuk co-wrote it, while Maida produced and played the guitar. Maida and Kreviazuk also helped write the international hit "
Walk Away"Walk Away" is a song by American singer Kelly Clarkson on her second album, Breakaway, and was the album's fifth and final single.In March 2006, the single was certified gold by RIAA and has sold over 500,000 copies in all formats in the United States...
", another song on Clarkson's album,
Breakaway. They also co-wrote "One Minute" for Clarkson's third album,
My DecemberMy December is the third studio album by American pop rock singer Kelly Clarkson. The album was released on June 22, 2007 throughout most of Europe , on June 23, 2007 in Australia, on June 25, 2007 in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Poland, and on June 26, 2007 in North America...
.
Maida and Kreviazuk contributed to
The VeronicasThe Veronicas are an Australian electrorock, pop-punk and rock band. Twin sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso formed the band in 1999 in Brisbane. They have their own line of clothing which was released in 2007....
' first album
The Secret Life Of...The Secret Life of... is the debut studio album by Australian pop rock band The Veronicas, released on 17 October 2005 on Sire Records. It reached #2 in Australia and is certified 4x platinum. The album also reached #5 in New Zealand and #3 in the Billboard Top Heatseekers. The Secret Life of......
; they wrote and produced the song "Revolution". Maida and Kreviazuk also co-wrote "Outside of You" with Pink but the song ended up on
Hilary DuffHilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
's 2007 release,
DignityDignity is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Hilary Duff. The album was released on April 3, 2007 by Hollywood Records. Between the releases of her previous studio album, Hilary Duff , and Dignity, she had an eventful personal life; she was stalked by a man who threatened her...
. The two wrote and produced both the first single and theme for
Cheyenne KimballCheyenne Nichole Kimball is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her debut album, The Day Has Come was released in July 2006 coinciding with an MTV reality series following her entry into the music industry...
's
MTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
reality show and album
The Day Has ComeThe Day Has Come is the debut album of singer-songwriter/guitarist Cheyenne Kimball. The lead single off the album, entitled "Hanging On", peaked at number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was released on July 11, 2006. Kimball co-wrote all the songs featured on the album. The album debuted...
. They wrote "Meant to Fly" for
Eva AvilaEva Avila is a singer and songwriter. She won the fourth season of the CTV reality show Canadian Idol in 2006.-Early life:...
, the winner of the fourth season of
Canadian IdolCanadian Idol is a Canadian reality television competition show which aired on CTV, based on the British show Pop Idol. The show was a competition to find the most talented young singer in Canada, and was hosted by Ben Mulroney. Jon Dore was the "roving reporter" for the first three seasons...
, and wrote the first single of
Rex GoudieRex Goudie is a Canadian singer, songwriter and was the runner-up of Canadian Idol 3.-Biography:Rex Goudie was born in Dawson Creek, British Columbia on November 18, 1985 and moved back to his father's hometown of Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada with his family when he was a year old....
's second album
Look Closer, called "You Got to Me".
Most recently, they co-wrote the song "Permanent" with American Idol winner
David CookDavid Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...
. Maida also collaborated with Cook on the songs "Heroes," "Mr. Sensitive," and "I Did It For You," on the self titled album,
David CookDavid Cook is the first major-label album from seventh season American Idol winner David Cook. The album was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States, was certified platinum and has sold over one million copies in the United States. It has produced two top twenty singles, "Light On" and...
. Maida has also been co-writing with the
pop punkPop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
band
Hawk NelsonHawk Nelson is a Christian rock band from Peterborough, Ontario. The band has become very popular in the Christian music scene and was voted "Favorite New Artist" by CCM Magazine in their February 2006 Reader's Choice Awards. In 2006 Hawk Nelson won a No...
for the 2008 released album
Hawk Nelson Is My FriendHawk Nelson Is My Friend, stylized on the album cover as Hawk Nelson... Is My Friend!, is the third full-length studio album from Christian rock band Hawk Nelson. It was released on April 1, 2008, debuting at #34 on the Billboard 200 and #13 on iTunes top hundred chart. In the first week of its...
. Maida has co-writes on numerous forthcoming releases this year including Alternative rock bands Green River Ordinance, Marianas Trench and Toronto based
Die MannequinDie Mannequin is a punk rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are fronted by 23-year-old guitar player and singer Care Failure . They played the "Next Big Thing" Stage at Edgefest 1 in 2006, have toured across Eastern Canada several times on their own as well as opening for Buckcherry on...
. Maida also co-wrote a song, "Unapologize" for
Carrie UnderwoodCarrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...
's 2009 album
Play On.
Other work
Maida had a small role in a Canadian movie released in 2001,
Century HotelCentury Hotel is a 2001 Canadian drama/mystery/romance film. It is directed and co-written by David Weaver and Bridget Newson.The film explains seven different stories, that happen in the same hotel room in different eras, from the 1920s to the 1990s...
. He played the character Damon Riley. In 2005, Maida contributed
Liar to
Act 1: Goodbye Friends of the Heavenly Bodies Act 1: Goodbye Friends of the Heavenly Bodies is a 2005 multi-artist collaborative album by Neverending White Lights. Conceived by Daniel Victor, it features lead vocal performances by members of different bands, including several well known Canadian acts, such as Our Lady Peace, Finger Eleven,...
from
Neverending White LightsNeverending White Lights is a Canadian music collaboration project fronted by Daniel Victor from Windsor, Ontario, and featuring several artists mainly from Canada and the United States. Daniel Victor performs all musical instruments, with most of his songs featuring guest singers...
. Maida received special thanks on
People in PlanesPeople in Planes are a five piece Indie rock band from Cardiff, Wales. They are signed to Wind-up Records. Prior to 2003 they were known as Tetra Splendour and before that they went by the name of Robots in the Sky...
album
Beyond The Horizon. Maida and Kreviazuk wrote an original song for the HBO documentary
IthutengIthuteng is a 2006 documentary film about the Ithuteng Trust School in Soweto, South Africa, its students and leader Jackie Maarohanye, referred to as Mama Jackey...
, and composed music for the restored version of
Helen GardnerHelen Gardner was an American film actress, writer, editor, producer and costume designer.She was the first actor to form her own production company, the Helen Gardner Picture Players in 1912....
's 1912 silent film version of
CleopatraCleopatra is a silent film created in 1912 by Helen Gardner and the Helen Gardner Picture Players. The film, in which Gardner stars in the title role, was based on a play written by Victorien Sardou....
.
Both Maida and Kreviazuk are strong advocates of the organization
War ChildWar Child is a non-governmental organisation founded in the UK 1993, which focuses on providing assistance to children in areas of conflict and post-conflict. They use their film and entertainment background to raise money for aid agencies operating in former Yugoslavia...
having traveled and filmed documentaries in Iraq, Darfur, and Ethiopia. Maida produced a
War Child CanadaWar Child is a non-governmental organisation founded in the UK 1993, which focuses on providing assistance to children in areas of conflict and post-conflict. They use their film and entertainment background to raise money for aid agencies operating in former Yugoslavia...
benefit album entitled
Help: A Day in the Life. Maida and Kreviazuk both also co-hosted a 2006
Mothers Against Drunk DrivingMothers Against Drunk Driving is a non-profit organization in the United States that seeks to stop drunk driving, support those affected by drunk driving, prevent underage drinking, and overall push for stricter alcohol policy...
video. Raine has also expressed support for the
Green Party of CanadaThe Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...
.
Personal life
Maida married Winnipeg, Manitoba
singer-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
Chantal KreviazukChantal Jennifer Kreviazuk is a Canadian singer-songwriter of the adult contemporary music genre. She is also a classically trained pianist, and can play the guitar.-Albums:...
in December 1999 after meeting Kreviazuk at a Pearl Jam concert September 21, 1996 in Toronto. On January 16, 2004 their first son, Rowan Michael Maida, was born. Their second son, Lucca Jon, was born on June 3, 2005. Third son, Salvador 'Sal' Daniel, was born on June 28, 2008. Kreviazuk and Maida renewed their wedding vows in
Costa RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
in November 2009.
Solo
- 2006: Love Hope Hero EP
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
- 2007: The Hunter's Lullaby
The Hunters Lullaby was the first solo album released by Canadian singer and musician Raine Maida, the vocalist of Our Lady Peace. It was released on November 13, 2007 by Kingnoise Records. The first single off the album is Yellow Brick Road...
- TBA: We All Get Lighter
Our Lady Peace
- 1994: Naveed
Naveed is the debut album by Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was produced by Arnold Lanni, and was released on March 22, 1994 by Sony Music Canada. Naveed became a success in Canada, selling over 100,000 copies by the end of the year. There were five singles released for the album,...
- 1997: Clumsy
- 1999: Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch
- 2000: Spiritual Machines
Spiritual Machines is the fourth studio album by the Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released by Columbia Records in December 2000. Although not initially intended, the project evolved into a conceptual interpretation of futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil's 1999 book The Age of...
- 2002: Gravity
Gravity is the title of Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace's fifth studio album. It was released on June 18, 2002 by Columbia Records in North America. The album became a worldwide success, charting highly both in Canada and the U.S...
- 2003: Live
Live is Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace's first live album. It was recorded during their cross-Canadian "Fear of the Trailer Park" tour in support of their 5th studio album, Gravity. The dates recorded for this album included January 27, 2003 and January 28, 2003 in Calgary and...
- 2005: Healthy in Paranoid Times
Healthy in Paranoid Times is the sixth studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released on August 30, 2005 by Columbia Records. The disc was released on a standard CD as well as a DualDisc, with the reverse side containing a documentary on the making of the album...
- 2006: A Decade
-See also:*Our Lady Peace discography*The Very Best of Our Lady Peace...
- 2009: The Very Best of Our Lady Peace
- 2009: Burn Burn
Burn Burn is the seventh and most recent studio album by Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, released in North America on July 21, 2009...
Singles
- "Lebo's River" (with Chantal Kreviazuk
Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk is a Canadian singer-songwriter of the adult contemporary music genre. She is also a classically trained pianist, and can play the guitar.-Albums:...
, Lebo Kgasapane, and Archie Khambula) from Help: A Day in the Life.
- "Yellow Brick Road" premiere single from The Hunters Lullaby
External links