Steven Page

:"This article is about the Canadian musician; for the Australian choreographer, see Stephen Page."

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Steven Page


Img_capt = Steven Page in 2005
Img_size = 200
Landscape =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Steven Jay Page
Alias =
Born = Birth date and age|1970|6|22|mf=y Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
Died =
Origin =
Instrument = Vocals Guitar
Voice_type =
Genre =
Occupation = Singer Songwriter
Years_active =
Label =
Associated_acts = Barenaked Ladies The Vanity Project
URL =
Notable_instruments =

Steven Jay Page (born June 22, 1970), 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).

Early life

Page was born in 1970 in Scarborough, Ontario. After skipping first grade, Page was enrolled in Scarborough's gifted program at Churchill Heights Public School.cite video
people = Moll, George (executive producer)
title = Behind the Music
medium = TV-series
publisher = VH1
location = New York, New York
date= 2000 ] Page's father, Victor, was a drummer,cite video
people = Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart
title = The Barenaked Truth
medium = Television documentary/DVD
publisher = Take 3 Productions/Casablanca Media Television
date= 2004 ] 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.

During childhood, Page had his best friend "stolen" by a schoolmate, Ed Robertson, and resented Robertson 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.cite video
people = Robertson, Ed & Frohman, Lorne (Interviewer/Host)
title = Distinguished Artists
medium = TV-series
publisher = Humber College School of Media Studies
location = Toronto, Canada
date= 2005 ] 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. Page was flattered by this and the two eventually became good friends.

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.

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.

Other activities and interests

* Page is an avid member of the New Democratic Party, 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".

Personal life

Page was born to an Ashkenazi Jewish mother and Anglo-Protestant father. Although Page's father, Victor, converted to Judaism to appease Page's mother's traditionalist grandparents, her grandparents disowned her nonetheless.Fact|date=July 2008 As a result, Page never met his great-grandparents. However, his mother's Jewish background was the subject of an episode of a CBC genealogy program called "Who Do You Think You Are?".

Page married Toronto musician and teacher Carolyn Ricketts on December 28, 1993. They have three sons: Isaac (b. November 19, 1996); Benjamin (b. December 1998); and Jonah (b. April 16, 2001). The two separated in mid-2007.cite news |author= Nicholas Köhler and Cathy Gulli |title= Barenaked Mess |url= http://www.macleans.ca/culture/media/article.jsp?content=20080723_87241_87241 |work=MacLean's |date= 2008-07-23 |accessdate=2008-08-16 Also printed in the August 4, 2008 physical magazine.]

Among Page's many relatives in the Toronto area is Page's second cousin and reggae musician Snow. [ [http://www.sonicnotes.com/roadstories/guests/snow.htm Road Stories with Alan Frew - SNOW ] ]

Drug arrest

On 11 July 2008, Page was arrested while visiting the apartment of Christine Benedicto in Fayetteville, New York, along with Benedicto and another tenant.cite news |first=Michele |last=Reaves |url=http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/barenaked_ladies_singer_arrest.html | title=Barenaked Ladies' Steven Page arrested in Fayetteville | work=Central New York News: Syracuse.com | date=July 16 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-16] According to police, just after 2:00 AM, officers were investigating Benedicto's car, which was suspiciously parked across the sidewalk or driveway (reports vary) in front of the home. The officers noticed Page and the other tenant, Stephanie Ford, at the kitchen table through a glass door. The two quickly covered the table with a towel when they noticed the officers.cite news |url=http://www.wstm.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=159570 | title=Singer arrested on drug charge | work=WSTM NBC3 News| date=July 15 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-16] Though initially claiming that the white powder he was snorting was calcium, when Page was informed by the police that it was testing positive for cocaine Page allegedly said, "Yeah, it's cocaine." [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080717.wpagesub18/BNStory/Entertainment/home/ theglobeandmail.com] ] [http://www.wstm.com/uploadedfiles/wstm/News/Stories/PageDocuments.pdf Scan of Pre-Trial notices] hosted by WSTM NBC3 News] ] Officers also found two capsules in Page's pocket. The total weight of the cocaine discovered was .314 ounces. Police subsequently found marijuana in the apartment as well.

Page and Ford were arrested and charged with fourth degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class C felony. Ford was also charged with unlawful posession of marijuana.cite news | url=http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=cb29bd9d-dedf-4107-a167-2c9191257be2 | title="Barenaked Ladies" singer faces drug charge in Fayetteville | work=9WSYR.com | date=July 15 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-15] cite news | url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2008/07/15/barenaked-charged.html | title=Barenaked Ladies singer faces drug charge in N.Y. | work=CBC News | date=July 15 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-16] When Page's car was returned and searched, additional cocaine was found in the vehicle, but no charges were laid in connection to those at the time.cite news |url=http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=659581 | title=Supporters rally around Barenaked singer Page | work=The National Post| date=July 16 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-16] During the arrest, Ford identified Page to police as the lead singer of Barenaked Ladies, which Page confirmed.cite news | url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080715/page_arrest_080715/20080715/ | title=Barenaked Ladies singer faces drug charge | work=CTV.ca News| date=July 15 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-16] Though she was not home at the time, Benedicto was later charged with seventh degree possession of a controlled substance, and possession of marijuana. Page was due back in court on July 17, 2008 after posting $10,000 cash bail, but the date was later adjourned until August 26cite news | first=Cassandra |last=Szklarski |url=http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080716/entertainment/music_page_drugs_1 | title=Barenaked Ladies fans stunned by news of Steven Page drug charge| work=The Canadian Press | date=July 16 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-16] update after|2008|08|27|COMMENT=This statement and the one preceding it will be outdated after his court date. Please update this article with new and verified information at that time. The "update needed" tag is set to display on the 27th (not the 26th) to allow time for an update before the tag ever shows up., then adjourned to October 14 [cite news | url=http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=743082 | title=Court date delayed for BNL singer Steven Page | work=Canwest News Service| date=August 22 2008 | accessdate=2008-08-25] , then adjourned to October 28th. [cite news | url=http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gx0XhEJ-xMlgm4HDSx8mBankq2sg | title=Next U.S. court date for Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page now Oct. 28 e| work=The Canadian Press | date=October 9 2008 | accessdate=2008-10-09] Page also paid Ford's $5,000 bail himself, and Benedicto was released on her own recognizance. [cite news | first=William |last=Kates |url=http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--singerarrested0716jul16,0,979813.story | title=Barenaked Ladies singer arrested on drug charges
work=Associated Press| date=July 16 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-16]

Terry McBride of the band's Nettwerk management refused to comment on the case in a statement but said he was confident Page will be cleared, and that "in the meantime it’s business as usual." Bandmate Jim Creeggan said that "we're fighting the charges and hopefully they'll just go away."cite news |first=Brett|last=Popplewell |url=http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/461034 | title=Cocaine bust nabs Barenaked Ladies' Page | work=The Toronto Star| date=July 16 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-16] Page played a scheduled Barenaked Ladies concert at the Horseshoe Casino in southern Indiana the next night (July 12).cite news |first=Matt |last=Mulcahy |url=http://wstm.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=160287| title=Singer's court documents released | work=WSTM NBC3 News| date=July 16 2008 | accessdate=2008-07-16] [ [http://board.barenaked.net/showthread.php?p=102397#post102397 Barenaked.net message board thread] confirming the concert's occurrence.] On July 16, a statement credited simply to the band was posted on its official website echoing the statements, and noting that "Steven has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and the validity of the charges against Steven will be strongly contested." [ [http://www.bnlmusic.com/default2.asp Barenaked Ladies official website news page] Accessed July 16, 2008. "Many of you have probably read or heard press accounts about Steven Page's recent arrest in New York State. Steven has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and the validity of the charges against Steven will be strongly contested. While this is happening, it's business as usual for Barenaked Ladies. We will continue to perform and look forward to heading into the studio later this year to record a new album. We want to thank our loyal fans for their continued support during this difficult time. -BNL"] McBride also announced that the band chose to cancel its appearance at several Disney Music Block Party concerts to avoid putting Disney in an awkward position pending the resolution of the matter. [ [http://www.bnlmusic.com/default2.asp Barenaked Ladies official website news page] Accessed July 17, 2008. "'Members of the band completely support Steven Page,' said McBride, 'but we don’t want to put Disney in an awkward position before issues involving Steven’s arrest are resolved.'"] Page also hired the Sitrick And Company public relations firm, who reportedly also managed Paris Hilton's legal issues, to help him handle his situation.

References

External links

* [http://www.bnlmusic.com Barenaked Ladies official website]
* [http://www.vanity-project.com The Vanity Project official website]
* [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7360215/barenakedladies RollingStone.com review "Barenaked Page Goes Solo"]