One of Canada’s most influential musical couples, Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk are bringing their latest musical collaboration, Moon vs. Sun, to the main stage at Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough on Tuesday, October 23rd.
The Winnipeg-born Kreviazuk is a singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress who released her critically acclaimed full-length debut album, Under These Rocks and Stones, in 1996. Since then, she has released five more studio albums, earning five Juno Award nominations and winning Best Female Artist and Best Pop Album in 2000 for Colour Moving And Still.
Maida is best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the rock band Our Lady Peace, which has garnered 25 Juno Award nominations, winning Rock Album of the Year in 1988 for Clumsy and again in 2003 for Gravity.
Maida, who was born in Weston, Ontario, also embarked on a solo career in 2006. (He changed his given name from Michael to Raine in 1991 to avoid confusion with fellow Our Lady Peace member Michael Turner).
Married in 1999, Kreviazuk and Maida are also recognized for their social activist work both in Canada and internationally. They support War Child Canada, and received the 2014 Allan Waters Humanitarian Award that recognizes outstanding Canadian artists whose contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada. In 2014, the couple was jointly appointed to the Order of Canada.
VIDEO: “I Love It When You Make Me Beg” – Moon vs. Sun
Along with pursuing their own musical careers, the couple has been co-writing songs for other artists since they’ve been together, including Kelly Clarkson, Drake, Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne, and Carrie Underwood. In 2014, Kreviazuk and Maida co-wrote a tune called “I Love It When You Make Me Beg”, which inspired them to carry on further with a collaborative musical project.
“It was one of those incredible moments,” Kreviazuk says in a phone interview. “A late night in the studio and a song was born. It was a watershed moment for us. We both felt like, ‘Wow, this is really special!’ And we need to actually go and do this.”
The couple decided to write more songs together, to be performed together, and Moon vs. Sun was born.
To work on the tunes, the two musicians agreed they should get away somewhere and they ended up in the French islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, just south of Newfoundland. This would seem to be a perfect way to spur creativity and to cement some songs — however, Kreviazuk and Maida have three young boys who remained in Canada.
Kreviazuk says that being so far away from their sons was really difficult, but ultimately the songs that came from that time were worth it. To her, the songs and that time away now have a deeper meaning.
“It’ll be a gift to us every time we get to go out and play [those songs] together,” she says.
Maida agrees, saying the trip was essential in building their repertoire, despite missing their children.
“We were torn,” he admits. “But some of the music that was made there and written there is really profound for what Moon versus Sun is going to be moving forward.”
Kreviazuk and Maida were essentially left to songwriting in a small hotel room far from home. They decided to film the process of working on the songs, a documentary that will accompany the album release. Maida suggests that the documentary will be an interesting look into the process and the struggles that can accompany songwriting, especially with a loved one.
“We just never had time,” he says. “We’d go into the studio to write and we’d hear our kids fighting or other things, and we’d literally never get things done. So the film highlights us leaving home to work on it, and the process we went through to build those songs.”
VIDEO: Moon vs. Sun Music Teaser
Musically, Moon Vs. Sun is quite different from their own previous work. Kreviazuk describes it as a maturing approach, as they both departed a little bit from older versions of themselves.
“It was a bit like hitting a reset button for both of us,” she explains. “We get to be who we are now, and we get to explore our influences that we have become curious about and inspired by in recent years.”
For Maida, who has been in the rock world for a majority of his musical life, this is a great opportunity to let the songs breathe.
“I love that there’s a lot of space,” he says. “It’s essentially acoustic instrumentations, which creates a lot of dynamics and space, whereas {Our Lady Peace) is a lot more full blast.”
While the concert at Showplace will be centered upon the new record, a lot of their back catalog will also appear in the show.
“We do amazing version of each other’s songs and the new material is really inspiring and we enjoy playing it,” Kreviazuk explains.
Instrumentally, the couple will be joined by a cellist and a drummer, and there will also be a full light and video show.
The Moon vs. Sun concert takes place at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 23rd at Showplace Performance Centre (290 George St. N., Peterborough). Tickets are $53 and are available in person at the Showplace Box Office, by phone at 705-742-7469, or online at www.showplace.org.
