OLP’s follow up album, “Clumsy” was greeted with critical raves but went on to certify gold in the United States. A 3rd album, 1999’s “Happiness…Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch” was followed in 2001 by “Spiritual Machines”, which ultimately led to their latest and greatest effort where they seem to have struck musical gold with “Gravity” and with their smash hit single, “Somewhere Out There” which is currently climbing the charts in many formats and is swiftly becoming one of the defining songs of the summer of 2002 . 

Recently nominated for five of Canada’s esteemed Juno awards, it seems their star is finally shining brighter then ever before. I recently had the opportunity to catch up with drummer Jeremy Taggart to discuss childhood hero’s, baseball, Eminem, paying back favors, and what it was like to change guitarists mid album.

MR Its about 3 o’clock where you are isn’t it? What are you up to this afternoon?

JT I am just hanging out at home getting ready for our show this weekend. 

MR You guys have had a pretty relentless touring schedule so far.

JT Yeah we start touring quite heavily, beginning this month. We were just in DC last weekend for Edgefest, and then this weekend we play Detroit , then we will pretty much be down in America for the rest of the summer.

MR Do you have a favorite city or venue to play?

JT It was nice to play the Garden in Toronto, that’s a pretty historical building. We grew up seeing all the great bands there and its nice to play in your home town. We just love to play music, and get out in front of people everywhere.

MR How long have you been playing drums?

JT I’ve been playing since I was fourteen. I was a late bloomer, back in 1989 is when I really started playing seriously.

MR I read that you wear the number 7 on you’re shirt all the time, why is that?

JT I’m a big Mickey Mantle fan, and that’s his number. I’m basically a big baseball fan, I played a lot growing up.

MR What was the first album you ever owned?

JT The first album I ever owned was “Joe’s Garage” by Frank Zappa, then I went on to “Quadrophenia”. It’s still one of my all time favorites.

MR Have you bought anything new, or been listening to anything in particular lately?

JT I’ve been digging in the vaults a little bit , listening to some older stuff but as far as new stuff I have been listening to a lot more hip hop.I like Wu Tang clan a lot, I just heard the new Eminem, and I really like that record a lot. It’s very good, we just played with them last week at Edgefest and he is definitely a talented individual. His dressing room was right next to ours, and I guess he was running through his set in his dressing room and he had the same PA set up that RFK Stadium was using, it was so loud it was insane! It was like Eminem’s here, and now everybody knows it!

MR Can you name any one person, whether it be musically or just personally that has been an inspiration to you?

JT I would say as a musician, long time jazz drummer Elvin Jones, from Coltrane’s band. He’s probably the most influential drummer I can think of. I got the opportunity to hang out with him and he took me under his wing as a friend, and as a father figure for a little while. He’s the kind of guy that I don’t really talk about music with, but life in general, and sharing his wisdom. He has traveled the world constantly, and he is one of those people, one of a handful of musicians, who since the beginning of time as a musician have achieved something that most people just don’t achieve on a natural or regular basis. And his ability as a drummer ties in with his ability as a human being. He is one of the best musicians to ever have walked the earth.

MR He’s probably a pretty amazing person just to sit down and have a conversation with.

JT Yeah, he is a pretty intense individual, and a really funny guy when you get to know him, very jovial and entertaining. His wife Keiko is amazing too, she is a Japanese lady and she is really an incredible person.

MR How do you feel about the instant success of the single “Somewhere Out There”?

JT It’s awesome, we’re really excited about it. It just makes things a lot easier to have radio. 

MR I think this album has such an incredible amount of good songs on it.

JT That’s awesome, thanks a lot. We spent a lot of time trying to make this record right and trying to make a collection of songs that are really easy to listen to and that people will enjoy. We can't expect everybody to like it, but all we can do is just try and get it where the four of us enjoy it. We’re all pretty different people so it paints a pretty wide stroke.

MR I think that’s the most important thing, that you guys are happy with it. Is there anything that was different that made it all come together so well?

JT I think a lot of the changes that we made as a band have evolved, and working with Bob Rock producing it, going to Maui, being in a different environment. It was a bunch of positive changes that led up to it.

MR Was it difficult after parting ways with Mike Turner, and finding your new guitarist Steve Mazur? He seems like a great fit. 

JT It actually all flowed together quite well. He is one of the greatest guitar players I have ever seen, let alone played with. It has already made our live performance better, and now we cant wait to just get out and play.

MR I hear that you worked on the video for “Hero” off the Spiderman soundtrack. What was it like?

JT It was cool! It came about as a favor for Matt Cameron, I got hurt after being mugged during our last record and he played a couple of tracks on the record for me, so when he had an emergency and had to leave during the filming of “Hero” he gave me a call and I was happy to sit in. It was a lot of fun. We were just making fun of each other all day. We were sitting around, me Josey Scott, Craig, Matt and Nigel, the video director, and I just kind of turned to Nigel and said “Hey, since when does Mankind sing in the second verse?” and Josey fell down and started dying, laughing his head off and from then on it was just all day, since when this, since when that, “Since when does Barry Gibb sing the songs?” and “When is Neil gonna come and kick Chad’s ass for writing that?”. Yeah, we were just going off on each other, “Since when is Ronald McDonald without makeup playing drums?” It was pretty funny, we were all just cracking up all day, it was hilarious.

MR Do you miss Canada when your on tour?

JT It’s nice to be home when were home, but I’m not here so much that home seems like the road. It’s all blurred together, were so used to going out now.

MR What would be the perfect day off for you?

JT Perfect day? I don’t know…..maybe a baseball game.

MR I read an article that you did on Eugene levy. How did it feel to be on the other end of the interview?

JT It was terrific, because he is one of my heroes, that made it really cool.

MR Do you have any advice for new artists looking for a career in music?

JT Yeah, I would say…..just try and write good songs, try and be great live, try and have a lot of interesting sounds and ideas, and everything else comes after. Good songs, good performance and having fun, that’s what its all about.

MR Do you have any favorite songs off the album?

JT I like them all honestly. Its hard to pick one.

MR It is really hard to choose, you can listen to it again and again and not get bored with it. I think it’s really going to rock the music scene. Things have been stagnant in rock music lately, people are tired of nu metal already. I think people area ready to hear rock and roll again.

JT Cool…I hope so. We just set out to make a simple rock record, and make it the best we know how. We just want to play music.  

And playing music is what Our Lady Peace is all about. After ten years they have arrived in the Rock arena with force, armed with a new legion of fans and a brilliant record that is easy listening from beginning to end, without a single “filler” song, each one unique and amazing in it’s own right, and an energetic live performance that will keep people returning to their shows time and time again. Many times changes can break a band, but in this case what resulted was instant synergy, and a new chapter in the careers of Our Lady Peace.