Steven Page
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Steven Page | |
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 Steven Page in 2005
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Steven Jay Page |
| Born | June 22, 1970 Scarborough, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Singer Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals Guitar |
| Associated acts | Barenaked Ladies The Vanity Project |
Steven Jay Page (born June 22, 1970 in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada), is a Canadian musician. Along with Ed Robertson, he is a lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies (BNL).
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[edit] Early life
Page was born to a Jewish family in Scarborough, Ontario. After skipping first grade, he was enrolled in Scarborough's gifted program at Churchill Heights Public School.[1] Page's father, Victor, was a drummer,[2] as is his brother, Matthew. As a child, Page would attempt to play songs on the piano, while his dad would keep the beat on the drums.[2]
During childhood, Page had his best friend "stolen" by a schoolmate, Ed Robertson, and resented him for some time. The two went to high school at Woburn Collegiate Institute but steered clear of each other until Page spotted Robertson at a Harvey's restaurant after a Peter Gabriel concert and was surprised to find that Robertson was also a fan. This led to them talking, becoming friends, and ultimately, forming BNL.[3] They were both counselors at the Scarborough Schools Music Camp in the summer of 1988, where some of their early collaborations in music were born. Page wrote songs with his friend Geoff Pounsett and made tapes of those songs; Robertson had obtained a tape the two had made, and knew some of Page's songs.[1] Page was flattered by this and the two eventually became good friends.
[edit] Barenaked Ladies career
Robertson invited Page to perform with him at a charity show under the name Barenaked Ladies in 1988, and ultimately the show led the pair to full time careers in the band. Page attended York University in the English program, but dropped out to focus on the band's rising success.
Page has been the band's main lead singer since the beginning, though he has always shared some of the lead vocal duty with Robertson. Early songs principally featured Page's vocals, but as the band's career has progressed, Robertson has been featured on more tracks as a vocalist (as well as other band members). He has played acoustic and electric guitar (and on one song, flute) for the band. Most of the time, he plays rhythm parts on songs he wrote, allowing Robertson to play more of a lead guitar role; but occasionally, he plays a lead guitar role to Robertson's rhythm guitar. Page sometimes assumes guitarist duties on tracks he is not singing on.
Ever since the band's formation, Page has been a main songwriter. A majority of the band's material has come from Page alone, or co-writing with Robertson. Since 2003's Everything to Everyone, the rest of his bandmates have had more songwriting input.
[edit] Partnership with Stephen Duffy
Page was a fan of songwriter Stephen Duffy, and began corresponding with him after Duffy replied to a fan letter. Page was ultimately invited to co-write with Duffy, and several co-written songs subsequently appeared on BNL albums, starting with Maybe You Should Drive. With the aforementioned shift to a stronger intra-band writing process, Page/Duffy material found itself without a forum.
In June 2005, Page released his first "solo" album, of which all but one song were Page/Duffy co-writes (the other was written by Page alone). The duo's collaborative project is called The Vanity Project, which is also the title of the album. Page has implied in interviews that the project is his alone, and that it is a forum for him to collaborate with writers/artists outside BNL. He suggested that future albums might not involve Duffy, but could feature other collaborations. Currently, there does not seem to be any active plan for a follow-up album.
[edit] Other activities and interests
- Page is an avid member of the NDP, and is a notable supporter of federal NDP leader (and his riding's MP), Jack Layton.
- He is a member of the board of directors for World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF-Canada).
- Page is also a member of the WindShare co-op that built/owns the wind turbine at Exhibition Place in downtown Toronto.
- Page owns a farmhouse somewhere in the region surrounding Toronto. At some point prior to the recording of Barenaked for the Holidays, he invested in building a recording studio at his farmhouse, which he has named Fresh Baked Woods. The band's first record there was the aforementioned Holidays album. The band also used the studio for the recording sessions for Barenaked Ladies Are Me, including the bonus tracks that were later released separately as Barenaked Ladies Are Men. Page acquired the console from Le Studio, where the band recorded Gordon (among the many famous albums recorded at that studio), and integrated some of that equipment into the console at Fresh Baked Woods.
- In the original 2002 edition of Canada Reads, Page advocated for Michael Ondaatje's novel In the Skin of a Lion, which won the competition. In the 2007 edition of Canada Reads, an "all-star" competition pitting the five winning advocates from previous years against each other, Page returned to champion David Bezmozgis's short story collection Natasha and Other Stories.
[edit] Personal life
Page married his wife Carolyn on Dec 28, 1993. They have three sons: Isaac, born November 19th 1996; Benjamin, born December 1998; and Jonah, born April 16th 2001. He has since separated from his wife. Among his many relatives in the area is Canadian reggae musician Snow.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Moll, George (executive producer). Behind the Music [TV-series]. New York, NY: VH1.
- ^ a b Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart. The Barenaked Truth [Television documentary/DVD]. Take 3 Productions/Casablanca Media Television.
- ^ Robertson, Ed & Frohman, Lorne (Interviewer/Host). Distinguished Artists [TV-series]. Toronto, Canada: Humber College School of Media Studies.
[edit] External links
- Barenaked Ladies official website
- The Vanity Project official website
- RollingStone.com review "Barenaked Page Goes Solo"
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