Total Rock Interview with Raine and Duncan September 5

Total Rock Interview with Raine and Duncan
September 5, 2002
Transcribed by Tanya

Sarah Miles) We will be graced by Our Lady Peace very, very soon. The poor blokes yesterday they had to cope with fire alarms and allsorts. Apparently there was a fire at ULU last night at the gig. And it interrupted just a tiny bit, which is a bit annoying. Oh. I think I can hear a buzzing sound. It might be them downstairs. This is total rock, If you wanna get some last minute questions in to them, email them, though I've quite a few, I shall see what I can do, try to fit them in. Especially the one on wrestling (MY QUESTION). Hmm. Thank-you.

SM) And with a creak of the chair that was Our Lady Peace, who I actually thought when I first heard the title that you were gonna be a Goth band.

Raine) Goth?

SM) But you're not at all

R) No, not today we're not

SM) No you're not, okay you played a gig last night

R) We did

SM) At ULU and a strange natural phenomenon occurred. A fire alarm and maybe even fire?

R) There was fire…

Duncan) Yeah, there was fire

R) We heard there was fire

SM) God, this is the explosive nature…

R) Yeah…

SM) of your shows

R) Exactly

D) We burned down the house

SM) Yeah, oh my god.

R) Thank God, it happened during the last song rather than the second or third song.

SM) Which song was that, was that from the new album Gravity?

R) Actually no. It was an old song, It was a song called 4am that usually the crowd sings, I don't usually sing it, they sing it and…I didn't even hear it goin' off. I just saw people in the back leaving.

D) I thought it was a…

R) It was like…what's wrong?

D) I thought it was a, literally I thought it was an effect on Steve's guitar. I thought he'd put on a wrong effect cos I could hear something. And then some guy came running up on stage and was shouting at me to stop.

SM) Well hey it happened to Rammstein as well, when they were at Brixton Academy.

R) They probably started it though

D) Yeah

R) All the fire they use

SM) Our Lady Peace. Thank-you so much for coming in.

R) Oh, our pleasure.

SM) Raine and…?

D) Duncan.

SM) Fantastic, and you play, you sing?

R) I do.

SM) And…

D) I play the bass

SM) And there's two of them still in bed…

R) Oh

D) Mmhmm

SM) You left in the hotel

R) They'll get theirs

SM) God, they're lazy bastards aren't they.

R + D) Yeah, they are.

SM) Well I got the cream.

SM) God, you started in 1994 didn't you?

R) Yeah

SM) With er…how do you pronounce it? Naveed.

R) Naveed

SM) Naveed single

R) Yeah

SM) And that exploded into our earholes. And just it's like, it's a whole great big kind of snowboard effect. I mean you're getting really, really big, you're getting really well known now. It's brilliant music, it's well crafted, lyrically it's great. It grabs me very, very much.

R) Cool

D) Thank-you

R) I mean we're just about. We've made three records in three years which is kind of, it's not very normal in the rock business, you know, to make records that quickly. So we're happy to just to keep doing what we're doing.

SM) You're like a little contain unit as well. You like you film all your own videos and stuff don't you as well?

R) Yeah we directed a lot of our own videos.

SM) Yeah, you direct them you star in them, obviously, and…

R) We like to, we kind of like to just keep as much control, when we make records, no-one really hears them until they're finished, you know our record company doesn't really get involved which is, it's pretty…

SM) really

R) Yeah, it's really nice.

SM) Absolute isn't it.

R) Yeah

D) mmhmm

SM) ABSOLUTE

R) Yes, we're very lucky

D) Yeah, absolutely rare too.

SM) So they kind of nurture you a bit from behind the scenes

R) They don't really, no. They don't even do anything, it's like. We say look, we want to go into the studio, they write a cheque, we er, we get back a few months later and say here it is.

D) Here it is, do you like it? We hope you do.

SM) And you had Bob Rock producing your last album.

D) We did

SM) This, current album, Gravity. Oh my God. Bob Rock - Metallica

R) Oh, its it. That's why basically.

D) It's because of that.

R) This footage that you know, a lot of people have seen this footage from the making of the Black Record, where Bob's kicking Bud, you know, and he's telling those guys what to do and…

SM) Enter Sandman

R) That's it you know, he's an amazing, amazing producer and a really good friend of ours.

SM) What's he like? Is he really kind of chilled, is he…?

R) He's totally chilled. Well we recorded the record in Maui.

SM) Is that Hawaii?

R) That's Hawaii yeah, that's where he lives.

SM) Just very, very near the Native American burial ground

D) mmhmm

SM) And your drummer…

R) Jeremy's yeah he's kind of er…

D) He's in touch with that.

R) Yeah he kind of see's the…(all laugh)

SM) What did he get from it? Did you lot get…?

R) You could feel a vibe out there, Bob's studio and his house is on this hill in Maui kind of over looking the ocean and…and at night your very secluded up there and there's not much around you can definitely feel stuff going on.

D) Yeah you had to sort of walk through this courtyard to get from the recording room to the actual studio room and I, I'm not one that's very clairvoyant, but I could've sworn I got passed a couple of times, and I would look around and there would be no-one there.

SM) Do you think this aided the whole Gravity thing…?

R) Totally, you know what it just made it…

SM) the creative process

R) Yeah, there was a lot of magic happening up on that hill.

SM) It's a fantastic album, to me, and I'm gonna get really lyrical now, but it has got a kind of, oh no I'm gonna sound stupid, like a mellifluous. it's just got a whole melodic thrust to it, but really kind of almost grating riffs as well, really kind of epic riffs, I find it amazing. And your middle eights as well, fantastic. I love it when it really builds and you're like screaming, it's so cool.

R) Yeah, you know a lot of that is just the way Bob pushes you to range stuff. He kind of, he really simplified what we do I think. He just took the best parts and said okay don't play so much just let the song speak and breathe, and yeah it's fun.

SM) That's one hell of a producer to have.

R) He's great

D) We learned a lot from him

R) We'll go back.

SM) what about influences and stuff. 'cos I know you had, you used the amps that were in recording Metallica and The Cult I think

R + D) Yeah

D) We used guitars, basses

R) Bob's got incredible gear yeah. Like Pete Townsend…The Cult, you name it he's got it. He's just, he's a guitar player himself so he's kind of a collector.

SM) So is it like going to a history museum

R + D) Absolutely

R) It's like being in a hall of fame and just picking stuff out of the glass cases and playing them.

SM) 'Cos we're all fans aren't we?

D) Absolutely

R) That's what, you know you feel like a little kid when you pick up the one Billy Duffy played in the She Sells Sanctuary video. And you're playing that guitar and you're like…

SM) I played that earlier

R) It's incredible

SM) It's amazing, shall we play a bit more?

R) Yes

SM) Shall we play my favorite song from the Gravity album, Sorry. How did this come about?

R) Sorry? That's a song I wrote really quickly, and we kind of recorded really quickly and just made it rock. It was fun, it was really, really fun to record.

SM) Are any of these based on like human, you're human.

R) Ah, yeah, everything's based on personal experience. It's just you try to keep it a little universal. And not to give away the names of people I'm talking about so they hide.

SM) But no bad bitterness creeping in.

R) No, I think the record's positive, pretty much.

SM) Oh yeah, it is. It floats. Okay this is total rock.

SM) That was an amazing song from Our Lady Peace and the album Gravity, they are rejoining me. Hello

R) Hey

D) Hello

SM) The band

R) It's still early for us

SM) The only band in the world. (All laugh). You got out of bed for me, I mean, that's good. That'll do. So, the burning question. Gravity's a real sort of departure for you, in terms of the rock is getting a bit more, I read on the website, a bit more aggressive. Do you think that was Bob's influence at all?

R) Definitely, I think the writing I'm doing, it felt more aggressive in a very good way, a very honest way. And then you mix that with Bob. I mean Bob obviously comes from the Metallica thing a very heavy background so it was just kind of natural. And one thing Bob said was 'don't bring any gear over' we didn't bring any of our own gear to Maui. So just playing through some of Metallica's stuff obviously, it's gonna sound heavier, you know the amps that they use and stuff. Just sounds big and tough.

D) They have guitars that say 'up on it'

SM) How is the bass different in this album?

D) I think it breathes more

R) It's simpler

D) It breathes more, the tones are bigger. When we used to record, we did a lot of over-dubbing and we'd sort of fill up every space. And with Bob, I played with Jeremy, and we'd do about three or four takes and he'd pick the one he liked the best. And quite often we'd have most of the bass just done from the first or second take and we didn't spend a lot of time arranging the songs either so. I think not only with the bass, but with a lot of the instrumentation on the record there's a real live freshness to it because it's so new. And you don't have time to over think the parts and you get about two or three chances to play the song the way you want to so…it was cool. It kept us on our toes. Gave us a lot of confidence too.

SM) He only gave you a certain amount of time.

D) Oh, absolutely.

R) Well he just really wants to keep things moving. He wants to keep the energy up. So you don't get bogged down. Which is good.

D) No, like 15 minutes

R) We recorded a song a day basically

SM) And you surfed in the day didn't you?

R) Surfed in the morning, yeah. It was pretty chilled.

SM) That must be a memory burned in your brains.

R) Guilty, 'cos it was so easy, the record was so easy to make

SM) Oh no, don't feel guilty 'co that's usually when things come together

R) We just had so much fun out there. Maui is just paradise it's incredible

SM) I wanna go now. But at least you got good weather over here guys. You haven't got all the rain and the sleet and the snow that we're famous for.

R) Well we're back in November though so…

D) You should keep us around, we've never had rain here when we've been in London.

SM) And you're called Raine. I know that's really cheesy and everything

R) I know the weathers coming though

SM) It's a beautiful name though

D) Our Rainy

R) We did an interview with Bruce Dickinson yesterday and he kept calling me Rainy. I said 'aren't you in that band, Iron Meeden?'

SM) No you didn't?

R) Are you kidding? It's Bruce Dickinson.

SM) And you opened for the Stones in '98 I believe. Which tour was that?

R) The Bridges to Babylon tour.

D) With the big phallic bridge that came out of the middle.

R) The best was when we opened for Paige and Plant. That was even better.

SM) I know. 'Cos I'm a huge Led Zepp fan. And I saw it on the timeline and it didn't actually say on that, that you headlined or supported.

R) Yeah, we did. It was more thrilling than the Stones. Robert Plant was amazing, he's just a very classy, sweet guy. It was great, he said he heard this song on the radio in New York, in his limo and then called us right away. It's totally cool, you think a guy like that probably doesn't listen to music, doesn't really have to anymore but…

D) And who takes the time to say hello. Whereas when we played with the Stones…

R) The only time we saw Mick Jagger was when he almost ran us over in his Mercedes.

D) Yeah, we tried to jump out of the way, inside the arena. And he and Charlie Watts got out about 150 metres away.

SM) So they weren't exactly friendly?

D) They were big business.

SM) It's a shame really that the whole Led Zepp thing isn't still going, 'cos Duncan I don't know who your idols are. But people like John Paul Jones.

D) He's a God.

SM) He is so intelligent and so laid back.

D) Led Zeppelin is way, way up there for me. I didn't discover them until later on, but when I did it was just, I was overwhelmed.

SM) It's like rock encapsulated isn't it.

D) Yeah, I mean I'd heard Stairway to Heaven for years right and then I got Houses of the Holy and then after that I went back and got everything.

SM) Houses of the Holy was made the year I was born

R) There's not a lot of music like that anymore

SM) We're all quite young and everything but we seem to still be influenced by all these '70's bands.

D) They made great records. There are not a lot of bands that make great records anymore. And that's what we've always tried to do, is make great records.

SM) And this is why you're unique, because you're doing that and they stand out. Big time. From the Linkin Park's and a lot of the nu-metal.

R + D) Cool. Thanks

R) Well we're gonna keep doing it.

SM) And certainly from Frankenstein drag queens from the planet 13. Ah bless 'em their lovely. Do you think…oh god yeah, this is what I wanted to ask you about, she says getting enthusiastic. The Belly Flop Communists. What was all that about?

R + D) Oh my God

D) We still have T-shirts

R) Yeah we do. In our hometown of Toronto, we just wanted to do a couple of shows. But we didn't want to use our name 'cos it would've gotten a little bit mad. So we 'em came up with this name.

D) A friend of ours who was having a conversation, was one of our guitar techs, and he said 'something communists' and the guy said, 'what, belly flop communists?'. So it was through a misunderstanding.

SM) You played a lot of acoustic gear too. What do you like better electric or acoustic?

R) I think it's just good to do 'em both.

SM) It works well with both anyway.

R) Oh yeah, definitely

D) It's just fun to play

R) That how we judge a song. If it can stand up on an acoustic and just a voice.

D) Or a piano

R) Or a piano. It's probably a pretty good song.

SM) What about Woodstock. Was that kind of a mind-blowing thing?

R) We got out of there just before the fire started. We played Sunday afternoon.

SM) Not another fire. What are you like? Igniting the world.

R) That was a bad scene. It was very corporate. The backstage was unbelievable, you were treated like royalty. We had runners, we had all the food you can imagine…

SM) grapes

R) Yeah, grapes and cheese.

SM) A lot of rock bands you just see the beer, and then you see a bowl of fruit.

R) You know they treated the fans like hell. It was…water was way over-priced. There was no shade…

D) They wouldn't let them bring their own water to their tents.

R) And you had to pay $8 for a bottle of water.

D) For a little, tiny bottle of water.

R) It was disgusting the way they treated the people.

D) But you know what the funny thing is, is that when we played during the afternoon on Sunday, there was a really great vibe in the air.

R) It was, and then it got ugly afterward

D) 'Cos there were two different stages and we'd seen a bunch of anger going on, on the other stage. But when we played it just seemed to be a really cool vibe happening.

SM) I've talked a little bit about your influences, do you think you've influenced any bands. That you know of?

D) I mean, your hear it from time to time. But I don't know, I find it hard to believe.

R) At this point, yeah

D) Some kid came up to me the other day and told me I was the reason he started playing bass. And I kinda said, come on listen to John Paul Jones, listen to Paul McCartney

SM) But even so, you stand apart.

D) It's an odd thing.

SM) But you are unique in the scene at the moment, and why aren't you bigger than you are already, it's just odd.

R) Well, we're just starting over here. We're gonna keep coming back.

SM) Yeah, bombard us in November. Tell me a little more about that.

R) We're just putting it together now. We were originally trying to tour with P.O.D but Sonny hurt his back and their gonna stay home in California and rest up. I love those guys though.

SM) They speak through their music too. I love that. It's intelligent.

R) Yeah, it's good.

SM) I hate that kind of dumb ass rock.

R) You and I are gonna get along famously. Mmhmm.

SM) What are you planning.

R) No, we're happy to er… last nights show it just felt like this little underground thing brewing. The fans were very intense, very passionate. It was really amazing. I'm still kind of blown away.

D) It was off the hook. It was great.

SM) Now your spirituality, I'm gonna go back to that. Is that like a guiding light for you?

R) Yeah, it's always kind of been there, I mean I was raised catholic and I fought that for a long time and so the last few years even more so. And a lot on this record you find some peace inside yourself. I went to Iraq and did a documentary last year and it brought back a lot of spirituality for me because there's this innocence in the children over there and um you just can't help but feel there's something powerful in the human spirit.

SM) It's just that not many people know how to use it.

R) Yeah, it's something that you just have to tap into. I didn't know how to use it for a long time.

SM) I think experience teaches you.

R) You just over look it. Because you get so caught up in life and your daily problems or anger and you don't realize how powerful it can be.

SM) Do you think many nu-metal bands, I'm not saying that your nu-metal cause I hate that phrase, but do you think many nu-metal bands think the same way as you. Apart from maybe P.O.D who are Christian, and into the whole thing and Creed as well…

R) Uh, (nervously laughs at the mention of Creed)

SM) What? I like Creed.

R) Yeah. No, no. Well you know what, there's only a few bands like you mentioned those couple of bands…

SM) Do you think they're taking spirituality a lot more seriously now.

R) I like how they do it. 'Cos they don't like, hold up a flag saying they're this. But it's just there in their music.

SM) You just know don't you

R + D) Yeah

R) I like that a lot better. It's better than being preached at.

D) Exactly

R) They incorporate it very, kind of loosely into their music. It doesn't try to hit you over the head.

SM) Our Lady Peace may you continue. I'm gonna quite Spock now. Live long and prosper.

R + D) Thank-you

SM) I look forward to you coming along in November as well. You must come back here. Just buy Gravity, 'cos it rocks. This is Total Rock. We're going out with Our Lady Peace.