Jason Pierce

Drummer

Our Lady Peace

CHANGEOVER: Tell us a bit about who you are, where you're from and how you got into the music industry.

Jason Pierce: I’m Jason Pierce. I grew up in London, Ontario, Canada but moved up to Toronto when I was 19 to try to start playing in bands. I actually grew up in the industry. My mom and dad were both techs. My dad did sound and my mom did lighting so I kind of grew up on the road my whole life. Then I just started playing in smaller bands and working the grind as a session player for a long, long time. Eventually, I started playing with bigger and bigger bands and ended up joining a band called Our Lady Peace six years ago. I stopped with the whole touring drummer game and just focused on that, which actually opened a lot more doors for me because I started songwriting more. I'm still busy with that now, luckily.

How did COVID-19 affect your job in the industry?

Well, no shows and finances changed. Last year I think we did something like around 100 shows and this year all of our bookings ended up either canceling or moving into 2021. We're just trying to spend this year focusing on finishing a new record so we're ready to kick the door down next year.

What have you been doing on your downtime since everything has been put on hold?

My wife and I had a kid last August when I was out on the road. The silver lining in all of this is that I've been able to spend the first year of my child's life with him, which, in this industry is not realistic to expect if you're working. What I've been mostly doing in the downtime is writing. I'm down in my own studio every day. I start my day practicing drums and then I do my dad duties. As soon as he's napping, I'm down there writing.

What do you find are the pros and cons of being in a studio as a session musician with whoever to being on the road with one particular band?

There's a comfort you totally feel when you're with one band, especially when you've been with that band for a more extended period of time. As a session player, I think the longest I had worked with one act would have been around three years, so there was always more of a turnover rate that way. I did enjoy the variety of music I got to play as a session musician. It was a lot broader. For example, one day I'd be out with a pop artist and the next day I'd be out with a punk band so the spectrum was a lot wider. However, with that said, there's something just way more organic about being with a real band and people actually wanting to be in the same room with each other and create.

You’ve worked with some pretty big acts in your past. What was it like working with Justin Bieber?

Bieber was amazing. He’s a super sweet kid. I did a bit of work with him when I think his single “Baby” was coming out. I think I actually played the debut of it when we did a TV thing. He was amazing. There was also a guy named Dan Kanter, who was his guitarist and musical director. I played in at least 12 bands with that guy before Bieber so it was a pretty comfortable relationship already.

What do you feel is the future of the industry?

Well, my fingers are crossed that we can get some sort of normalcy back and get back to live performances. I'm really hoping that is in the cards for us. It's going to be more remote work if not, so at least I have a studio. When we were in lockdown here, I thought, “oh great. At least I have drums here.”

Do you find you're able to do a lot more work because you have a studio right there at your fingertips? Are you able to still maintain a sense of work because of that?

Oh, 100 percent. Since this started, I've probably written well over 100 songs. I write every day and I can't stop so it's great to be able to have that at my fingertips. The only real obstacle I found is having a kid. Sometimes it’s just really hard to find time.

What do you feel is some of the best advice you've ever received?

Tough times don't last, tough people do. That always resonates with me because I feel like time after time things get tough. You've got to weather some storms.

For more information on Jason, please visit his website.

Drummer

Our Lady Peace

Deon Rexroat

Todd Ögren