One Less Lady: Steven Page leaves BNL
“Page says ‘These guys are my brothers. We've grown up together over the past twenty years. I love them and wish them all the best in the future.’
“The band also wish Steven well in all of his endeavours. Ed Robertson says: ‘It's the start of a new chapter for all of us. Here's to the future!’
“Everyone is looking forward to making new music and thanks their fans for their support.”
Then on Page’s blog, The Stephen Pages, it says, “Yes, it's official. I am no longer a Barenaked Lady. After twenty years (plus a few months), I'm heading out on my own. I'm really excited about all the opportunities coming my way: I have an album's worth of songs and will be putting together a new solo album on top of the work I'm doing for this year's Stratford Festival, and a studio recording I did with The Art of Time Ensemble, which will be released later this year with a tour to follow. You can click here to hear what we did live last June.”
And just like that it was an end of an era: the Barenaked Ladies would now be moving on without the man that’s arguably its most familiar face. For those of us of a certain age bracket this is, well, it’s not like when the Beatles broke up. Maybe Blondie, or Smashing Pumpkins.
Still, it’s more troubling news in these troubling times. Especially when you consider that it’s been a while since we’ve really had to think about the band. Sure, they’ve been busy making music for Stratford plays and producing an album of children’s music while touring to support that, but it feels like it’s been a long time since the Ladies have hit us where we live. And that’s too bad because I think that BNL can, at least in part, be credited with helping Canadian music evolve to where it is today.
No, seriously.
Somewhere between Glass Tiger and Avril Lavigne came Barenaked Ladies, and I think somewhere along the way they helped grease the wheels that Can Con can be fun and funky and catchy. Along with acts like Sarah McLachlin, Moist and Our Lady Peace, BNL helped cement the idea that musically speaking, Canada could be cool in ways beyond the meteorological. (But that’s not to say that Anne Murray couldn’t be cool of course. I’d never say that. Bryan Adams on the other hand…)
In what must be an interesting little factoid to someone out there, I was actually in Grade 9 the year Gordon came out. Naturally, for the high school set, that album was huge and not just for those of us in that certain, aforementioned grade. And while I can’t claim to have had a “blue and red Adidas bag and a humongous binder,” I can say that everyone that didn’t have Gordon on tape or CD was getting a tape off someone who did. (It’s hard to believe youngins, but there was a day before CD burners.)
I’m trying to not make this sound like a eulogy, but it’s hard. What’s weird is that I can’t even remember the last time I talked about BNL. Sure, every now and then, one of their songs surfaces from somewhere amongst the scramble of a playlist on my iPod. Unless I’m mistaken, the last time one of their singles got really widespread airplay was “Another Postcard (Chimps)” or “Testing 1,2,3” way back in 2003. But they did keep busy, and they’ve had several different projects on the go in the last five years. And the band that plays together, stays together, right?
I guess that all changed last year when Page was arrested on allegations of cocaine possession, a development that forced the band to cancel numerous Disney Music Block Party concerts that they were headlining. At the time, the band said in a statement, “Members of the band completely support Steven Page, but we don’t want to put Disney in an awkward position before issues involving Steven’s arrest are resolved.”
But things seemed to be going better for the Ladies since. In an article in Billboard before Christmas, the band was looking ahead at celebrating their 20 years together by putting together a commemorative box set and planning an anniversary tour that was to start in May. Page himself had seemed to get beyond the drug charges, for which he was put on probation; he even lost 40 pounds.
“Adversity, if it doesn't kill you it makes you strong, I guess,” said Stewart, the band’s drummer. “We've rallied through adversity before. In some ways I'm looking forward to getting together and making some great music based on all these intense and emotional experiences. That's when we feel the most alive, the most energetic.”
But yesterday, according to Robinson, Page’s departure “was not a shock to everyone involved. It was a decision none of us took lightly or flippantly, but it was something that had to happen for the future of the band.”
But Robertson didn’t expand on the reasons why Page left, and it appears that neither he nor other members of the band are going to and will instead focus on the future. In an article on Billboard.com yesterday he added that the band is “really excited about the future,” including moving forward with the band’s anniversary disc-set. “Certainly it's the end of an era, but things change and the creative process is always changing. We're really excited about getting into the studio and exploring that.”
As for the new band dynamic, Robertson says that the band hasn't figured out what to do with Page's vocals when they perform live, but they will. “A lot of the songs that Steve sings were co-writes with me, and I feel very attached to all of that music,” he told Canadian Press. “So maybe some keys will change, (because) Steve sings a little higher than I do.”
In the meantime, Robertson says that he hopes that the group's fans will understand the reasons behind the change. “We know inside that everything about this is right, and necessary,” he said. “What's daunting is how it's freaking everybody out. So I guess that puts a lot of pressure on the recording and the next tour, but I know we're up to the challenge of that.”
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