Michael A. Turner (born June 5, 1963), also known as Emtee, is an English-born Canadian musician and producer. He is best known as the former

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

ist and founding member of the band

Our Lady Peace Our Lady Peace (sometimes shortened to OLP) is a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Led by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band currently also features Duncan Coutts on bass, Steve Mazur on guitars, and J ...

Billboard - Our Lady Peace Bio
', Retrieved fro
Billboard.com
on 2016-06-05 and current member of alternative rock

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Crash Karma Crash Karma is a Canadian alternative rock supergroup consisting of lead singer Edwin (of I Mother Earth), Mike Turner (formerly of Our Lady Peace), Jeff Burrows (of The Tea Party), and Amir Epstein of Zygote. History Crash Karma was founded ...

.
Sound of Music - Our Lady Peace Bio
'', Retrieved fro
Sound of Music.ca
on 2016-06-05

Life and career

Born on June 5, 1963, in Halifax,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Turner grew up heavily influenced by punk rock. His first guitar was a gift from his mother on his seventeenth birthday. He played in a variety of bands during the 1980s. Turner moved to Ontario, Canada at the age of eighteen. He studied English literature at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

. He lived in Saugeen-Maitland Hall at the University of Western Ontario along with fellow

band member Duncan Coutts.

Our Lady Peace

1991–2001

In late 1991, Turner placed an ad in Toronto-based '' Now newspaper'' in search of musicians. Michael Maida, a

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

student at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, was the first to reply. The two formed a band called As If, inviting Jim Newell as drummer and a friend of Turner's, Paul Martin, to play bass. After they played a number of gigs in

Oshawa Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

with sets containing a mix of original and cover material, Martin departed soon after, and the band placed an ad for a replacement bassist. Chris Eacrett, a business student at Ryerson University, replied and was accepted after an audition. During that time, Turner and Maida attended a music seminar where they met songwriter and producer

Arnold Lanni Arnold David Lanni (born May 4, 1956) is a Canadian record producer and former member of Frōzen Ghōst and Sheriff. He wrote Sheriff's most successful song, " When I'm with You." History Lanni was a founding member of Canadian rock band Sher ...

, the owner of Arnyard Studios. The band, with Lanni, commenced writing new material and recorded some material under the As If name. Soon thereafter, the band's name was changed to Our Lady Peace, with Maida changing his first name to Raine to avoid confusion, after a

Mark Van Doren Mark Van Doren (June 13, 1894 – December 10, 1972) was an American poet, writer and critic. He was a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thin ...

poem of the same name. It took the band eventually a year and half of constant back and forth talks with Sony to secure a record deal. With encouragement from their producer Lanni and his management team, the band performed some gigs in Eastern Ontario and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in conjunction with

The Tea Party The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with industrial rock, blues, progressive rock, and Middle Eastern music influences, dubbed " Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s and up until 2005, the band re-formed in 2011. The Tea P ...

eventually supporting acts. It was not until

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

heard a song of OLP on the radio that he asked them to be a support on his tour.
Serious Rock With Our Lady Peace
'', Retrieved from jam.canoe.com on 2016-06-05 and

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...

. Turner left Our Lady Peace in late 2001, citing musical and creative differences.
Guitar World - Our Lady Peace
', Retrieved fro
Guitar World.com
on 2016-06-05 Following his departure he stated that he and the band were growing in different directions.

2021–present

In the summer of 2021, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida announced that Mike Turner was involved with the production of their tenth studio album, '' Spiritual Machines 2''. Maida stated that it wouldn't "be right" to make a sequel to '' Spiritual Machines'' without Turner. The first ''Spiritual Machines'' album, released in 2000, was the last Our Lady Peace studio album Turner had been fully involved with prior to his original 2001 departure from the band. Turner was also a featured special guest during Our Lady Peace's 2022 cross-country "The Wonderful Future Theatrical Experience" live tour, where he appeared in holographic form as well as performed live on stage at select venues. It was Turner's first time playing live with the band in over 20 years.

Crash Karma, other projects

After his 2001 departure from Our Lady Peace, he began producing music and played guitar in the Canadian band Fair Ground, with

Harem Scarem Harem Scarem is a Canadian hard rock/melodic hard rock band from Toronto, Ontario. Harem Scarem initially (the early 1990s) achieved popularity in their native Canada and Japan. The band was active from 1987 to 2008, and again from 2013 after ...

guitarist

Pete Lesperance Pete Lesperance is a Canadian guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as the lead guitarist for the Canadian hard rock band Harem Scarem. Lesperance was born October 13, 1968, in Scarborough, Ontario. Lesperance was a guitarist i ...

. Turner was approached by Amir Epstein of Zygote and

Edwin The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (die ...

I Mother Earth I Mother Earth, or IME, is a Canadians, Canadian rock band. The band formed in 1990 and reached its peak in popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s. After an eight-year hiatus, the band reunited in 2012. Between 1996 and 2016, I Mother Earth was among ...

about forming a band after they met while recording in Turner's Toronto based studio. With the addition of

Jeff Burrows Jeffrey John Burrows (born August 19, 1968 in Windsor, Ontario) is the drummer and percussionist for Canadian rock band Crash Karma, and The Tea Party. Jeff Burrows begun drumming at eleven years of age and professionally since 1990 when he join ...

, Crash Karma released their first single "

Awake Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world. Being awake is the opposite of being asleep, in which ...

" in 2009 followed by a debut album in March 2010.
Crash Karma lands on its feet
', Windsor Star, Retrieved from windsorstar.com, 2013-09-20 Inspired by his work with producers

The Art of Songwriting With Arnold Lanni
', Retrieved fro
CMW.net
on 2016-06-05 and

Bob Rock Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, 31 ...

,
OLP Are Putty In Producer Bob Rocks Hands
', Retrieved fro
MTV News
on 2016-06-05 he became very interested in the production side of music, and decided to produce and write full-time. He experimented with live recordings, using a small mobile recording rig of his own design. He also built a private recording studio in his home, taking on projects for labels like Capitol, EMI and Sony. Turner then opened a public recording studio in Toronto calle
The Pocket
with a few partners from the music industry. The partnership has since dissolved although Turner remains active at the studio hosting diverse artists including Alert the Medic,

Shaye Shaye was a Canadian pop group, consisting of singer-songwriters Kim Stockwood, Damhnait Doyle and Tara MacLean. MacLean left the group in 2007 and the band folded by 2009. The band is named after MacLean's sister who died in a car accident ...

Luke Doucet Luke Doucet (born June 9, 1973) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has written and performed as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock band Veal and the folk rock band Whitehorse. In 2006 and 2011, Doucet was nominated f ...

Hawksley Workman Hawksley Workman (Born Ryan Corrigan, March 4, 1975) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has garnered critical acclaim for his blend of cabaret pop and glam rock. Workman has released eleven full-length albums throughout his career. A mul ...

, Sloan, and Feist. Recordings from The Pocket, with Turner producing have won two Canadian Broadcast awards, one in 2009 for "Afflicted" by Age of Days
2009 Canadian Radio Music Awards Winners
', Retrieved fro
CMW.net
on 2016-06-05 and again in 2011 for

as Rock Group of the Year.
2011 Indies Nominees/Winners
', Retrieved fro
Indies.ca
on 2016-06-05

Contributions and awards

Discography

Our Lady Peace

*'' Naveed'' (1994) *'' Clumsy'' (1997) *'' Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch'' (1999) *'' Spiritual Machines'' (2000) *''

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

'' (2001) *'' Spiritual Machines 2'' (2021)

Fair Ground

*''Down In It'' (2006)

Crash Karma

*''

'' (2010) *''

Rock Musique Deluxe ''Rock Musique Deluxe'' is the second album by Canadian alternative rock band Crash Karma. It was released on August 6, 2013. Track listing # "Appetite For Life" – 3:50 # "Tomorrow (ft. Ian D'Sa)" – 3:20 # "Man on Trial" – 3:36 # "Everythi ...

'' (2013)

Award wins and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Mike 1963 births Living people Crash Karma members English male guitarists English male singers English rock guitarists English emigrants to Canada Musicians from Bradford Musicians from Toronto University of Western Ontario alumni Our Lady Peace members 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers 20th-century British male singers 21st-century British male singers