VOX: Why is the band called Our Lady Peace?
Duncan Coutts: It's from a poem by Mark van Doren. He was a teacher, or rather a professor at Columbia University. It a war poem. Funny story - did you see that movie "Quiz Show?"
VOX: Sure.
DC: The character that Ralph Fiennes played was Charles van Doren, who was Mark van Doren's father. That has absolutely nothing to do with us or how the name came about, but it's an interesting reference point.

VOX: What made you play bass?
DC: Hmmm…(A) A love of music. (B) I started off on guitar and this was an easy progression, & (C), there were three bands in high school, and they all needed a bass player. I started off playing cello in the school orchestra, so moving up to bass was easy. I can't play a note on the cello any more, but that is where I started.

VOX: You took some time off to recover. What happened?
DC: Oh, I had surgery. I had some problems with my pancreas. The doctors thought I had a tumor and that it was something really serious - that could have meant either my stomach, intestines, kidneys or pancreas. Luckily, no tumor, and they just had to reconstruct my bile duct.
VOX: So no sordid drug-rehab story?
DC: No, nothing like that.

VOX: What's the creative process like for you guys?
DC: It really all depends on the song. Raine is our main songwriter, far and above, but quite often we'll sit in a room, write collectively, and then Raine puts it to words. Then again, sometimes Raine comes in with a fairly complete song, plays us a demo and then we put our mark on it. It could happen any number of ways.

VOX: How are Canadian fans different from American fans?
DC: I don't know…as far as OLP fans go, it seems to be, no matter where it is or what city we're in, the fans are fierce. If it's a larger crowd or 300 people, it's similar - they're really, really passionate, and not just in knowing the singles, but singing along to all the songs and knowing all about the music. That's huge. We're big music fans as well, and while this is a business driven by singles, it's so satisfying that our fans go so much deeper than that.

VOX: Were you guys disappointed with Happiness, in terms of critical reception?
DC: You know, not really. I love the record, and I know we still feel really good about it. As for critical success, we can't control that. We have to stay the same, remain in our own little bubble, so to speak, and make the best record we can. What means a lot to me is that we would be proud to have the record in our collections. If you're going for mass sales and are purely driven by numbers, this isn't the kind of music you make anyway. While we're driven to be successful, it's got to be success that doesn't make us feel like we've compromised something.

Either way, I love the record.

VOX: What was the recording process like for Spiritual Machines?
DC: It deals a little more with the world, but it's not a concept record, even with the Ray Kurzweil parts in there, which is a concept of the future where man and machine will meld and it will be difficult to discern between the two. The line gets blurred. Its very interesting stuff.

For recording it was sort of the opposite - it was less gadget-influenced. It was a much more organic record than any of the others we've made - the decisions were made on the fly and we tried to do as much as possible right there.

VOX: What's the story behind "Life", the first single?
DC: I didn't…Raine is pretty cryptic, or he can be when it comes to his lyrics. He can be pretty tight-lipped - I think he prefers that it be left for the listener to interpret. I take it to be about dealing with what life throws at you, but that just my interpretation. He's never told us what it's supposed to be about.

All of our favorites have been like that - it's a common thing within the band. We don't really want to be told the meanings of songs. It's better when you hear it, dissect it and put your own spin on it. You hold it more dear that way and it reflects something going on in you.

VOX: How did you guys get into the Ray Kurzweil book?
DC: Mike, our guitar player, read it. He babbled about it, which is what he does when he's in to something, and it gets into our collective subconscious and then we get in to it. That's Mike - when he really is in to something, he talks about it, and eventually you end up wanting to find out about it too.

I haven't read it from front to back yet, but it is interesting…

VOX: Are you guys into the Internet and do you think it's an important tool for the band?
DC: Sure, sure…it's not really about selling a lot of records, but it does allow you to connect with tons and tons of people.

VOX: What should fans expect when they get to see Our Lady Peace live?
DC: A shared musical experience. There are no barriers between the band and the audience. We try to give the best show we can and make the audience a part of it all. That's what it's all about.