Singer/songwriter Raine Maida is probably best known as the lead singer of the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. He co-founded the group in 1992 and with them has released eight albums (including a live album and a greatest hits compilation), with a ninth album scheduled to be released in early 2009. This year he released his first solo album The Hunter’s Lullaby.
In addition to being a musician, Maida is a dedicated community and social activist. On October 2nd of this year he took part in Busking For Change, a fundraiser to benefit War Child Canada. The event was actually inspired by Maida, who spent twelve hours in October of 2007 busking on the streets of Toronto to raise money for War Child. Footage of this can be seen in his video for "Yellow Brick Road." His efforts raised $22,000 – enough to build the Abala school in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Recently Maida chatted with me about his music, his activism, and his plans for the future.
I was introduced to you and your band Our Lady Peace through David Cook on American Idol. Have you noticed any extra attention because of that?
I don't know, to be honest. I'm in my own little world here. I've actually been writing with David Cook on his first record.
Were you surprised to have somebody perform one of your songs on American Idol?
I guess, in a way. I don't really watch the show, so I wasn't really familiar with that. The day before [the show] I got a call from David, or the management, to get permission. That was a little interesting. [David Cook] is probably a very good advocate for that show, because he's a real artist.
I know you worked with other artists as well, such as Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson. Do you approach songwriting differently when you're writing for someone, as opposed to writing for yourself?
I prefer to work with artists that can start something on their own. Then it's a lot easier. I can get involved in helping shape the song or just changing the melody and stuff. Then ultimately for me - to just write a song for someone - I can't really do that. That's where you want a collaborative thing, which I didn't really used to respect. It wasn't until I [attended] a conference with Brian Eno and listened to him speak for a few hours. It's really a cool thing. The whole lecture was about collaboration, whether it’s writing, or the arts, or whatever. Collaboration is the key to revelation. It gave me a different perspective on it.
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