After two stellar LP's of power driven drama rock.., Our Lady Peace is well on their way to becoming a group with the staying power to enjoy a career long oppurtunity producing quality music.

Their debut Naveed earned them a superstar status in their native Canada while setting the pace for their american breakthrough. The album highlights suck as the stark U2ish 'Birdman' and the eloquent 'Julia'.......... introduce the basic ideas of where they were coming from.

Raine Maida (vocals) and Jeremy Taggart (drums) recently explained why their debut proved to be a learning experience for them.

Raine: We got a lot out of Naveed. It introduced us to people and gave us a really good foundation to spring from. You also gotta understand that when we did that record, we hadn't even done a tour yet. We were just a bunch of kids.

Jeremy: Everything was so new to us. Our experience level didn't compare to what we were thrown into. The shows throughout the album.

Modern Rock jumped all over the records lead single "Starseed" and the title track. The attention provided the building blocks for them to refine their approach and delivery of their sentiments.

Looking at the facts, there's some serious truth to those statements. Prior to OLP none of these guys (rounded out by bassist Duncan Coutts and guitarist Mike Turner) were in other bands.

Raine:None of us ever were in cover bands or anything serious. When we started writing songs, it was the four of us. This is definitely the only lineup I could function with.

Its a rare oppurtunity to genuinely watch four individuals simultaneously grow and gel as a unit and as indviduals as their songs and abilities grow.

Clumsy the year-old sophomore LP has continued their wining streak at home where they "sell out hockey arenas" and in the US where they continue to grow on a steady basis.

Raine: Things have gone really well for us in Canada. I can't bitch or complain about our success at all. But I like how we're doing things over here too.

Jeremy: Exactly, since we didn't come out and sell 3 million albums over here right off the bat, we have the luxury of being able to do things at a gradual rate. Things like word of mouth exposure has been great over here.

Raine: I really feel for the bands that come out with one hit song and then fall into a black hole. We feel that in alot of ways we are missing out on the scenes that other eras of popular music have had. There's alot of guys going in for the quick cash and disappearing.

It hurts because the scene doesn't have a chance to grow musically. We're looking to build our (personal) identity. Look at how R.E.M. did it. They built a career and you can't do that quickly.

Plenty of road work has served to further the success of the singles '4 AM' and 'Duperman's Dead'. While filling in the middle spot on 3EB's Bonfire Tour (power pop upstarts Eve 6 provided the intro honors) Our Lady Peace often stole the show from the headliners. A revolving setlist and a stirring cover of the late Jeff Buckley's 'Eternal Life' complemented Raine's rising energy and the band's back line of dynamic power.

Jeremy: We've been changing the setlists on this tour quite a bit. To keep everything fresh, we change it at least 3 times a week. This tour has been very relaxed, we're not headlining so we don't have that pressure.

Raine: We're very comfortable with who we are. We really don't sound like anyone else, so it sort of makes us the black sheeps of the bill. Its good for rock fans because they can see a variety of sounds, it gives them a chance to compare and contrast.

Contrary to the presumed catholic overtones, Raine went on to point out that the band's namesake is not a saint, but the genesis of an old war time poem.

Raine: We all just dug how it sounded. It's very open ended. You don't hear it and say 'Oh thats a metal band or an alternative band, or a rock band'. (Thats good for us) because our lyrics are very much open to interpretation (also). I write about things that are close to me but I don't grandstand or preach. i walk that line between my problems and (what other people can take in as their own). I don't get so self-absorbed that I don't realize when what I'm writing may not connect (with people).

Its such a special feeling when people tell you what word or a line may have meant to them in their lives. It's just like a painting that can be viewed through the eyes of the beholder. Its crucial that our material keeps that ability to move (people) individually.

That x factor plays a huge part in their overall battle plan. Taggart and Maida both concur on their theory that "People tend to stick with a band they've grown up with. It's that core audience that make it worth it. They are just as much a part of it as we are. Its natural for those people to stick with us no matter what we do."

Our Lady Peace has achieved their goals without the usual controversy, VIP girlfriends or gossip chatter that often propel's a band into the charts. When the subject comes up the duo laughs off the thought as if it's the first time they've been posed the question.

Jeremy: We are so not involved with that sort of thing. We all grew up in small towns, we've had regular lives, there really is no big story besides the music.

Raine: If anything it would probably hurt us if people knew how boringly normal we really are. If you want to look at our (tour) rider to see what we eat and drink you can, but do people really care about our personal lives that much?

The answer to Raine's remark is yes and no. As they connect with individual after individual, it's only a matter of time before high school flames and disgruntled former friends begin selling "I knew them when..." stories to the media.

The beauty of the situation is that the personal deep sonic relationships that are developing between them and their audience should always keep the number one priority the exchange of words, music and experience. Time should bear them out as one of the more stable and proficient acts of the 90's.