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 alternative 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 guit ...

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

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Turner grew up heavily influenced by

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

. 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; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

. 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'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

student at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, 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 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 Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

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, 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 is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in conjunction with The Tea Party eventually supporting acts. It was not until

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

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 and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

. Turner left Our Lady Peace in late 2001, citing musical and creative differences.
Guitar World - Our Lady Peace
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Guitar World.com
on 2016-06-05

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. In June 2025, Turner was part of Our Lady Peace's induction into

Canada's Walk of Fame Canada's Walk of Fame () in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of Canadians who have excelled in their respective fields. It is a series of maple leaf-like stars embedded in 13 de ...

alongside his former Our Lady Peace bandmates Raine Maida, Duncan Coutts, and Jeremy Taggart, as well as current band members Jason Pierce and Steve Mazur.

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 guitarist Pete Lesperance. Turner was approached by Amir Epstein of Zygote and Edwin of I Mother Earth about forming a band after they met while recording in Turner's Toronto based studio. With the addition of Jeff Burrows of The Tea Party, Crash Karma released their first single " Awake" 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 Arnold Lanni
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, recording engineer and musician. In 1976, Rock joined Little Mountain Sound Studios, starting out as a recording engineer and sound mixer. During his time there, he coll ...

,
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, Luke Doucet, Hawksley Workman, 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 Crash Karma 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 (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

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

Fair Ground

*''Down In It'' (2006)

Crash Karma

*'' Crash Karma'' (2010) *'' Rock Musique Deluxe'' (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