Barenaked Ladies |
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Wed. October 15.2003 3:38 PM EDT |
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Barenaked Ladies: Everything CountsThe wry rockers don't mind being called quirky or Canadian; the new Everything to Everyone brings back the gags that disappeared on Maroon. by Gil Kaufman |
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Barenaked Ladies (Publicity) |
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Class clown or class comedian?
There is a difference, you know, and given a choice, you would probably want to be the latter. The class clown is the naked guy wearing a chicken head and swinging from the flagpole. The class comedian is the
For the past decade, the Barenaked Ladies have proven themselves to be silly but smart. You can snicker at their whimsical hits like "If I Had a $1,000,000" and "One Week," but it's the quirky Canadian outfit that has laughed all the way to the bank. A couple of goofy white guys, singers Steven Page and Ed Robertson formed the band after meeting at summer camp in 1988. Touring incessantly, they became known for a high-energy stage show that often ended with the unusual sight of the pair busting rap medleys of then-contemporary hits. With 1998's Stunt, the band finally got some respect; their fifth album debuted at No. 3 and spawned the rap-pop hit "One Week." Just as they were finally breaking through, keyboardist Kevin Hearn was diagnosed with leukemia, which sidelined him for six months and inspired 2000s Maroon, an album that Page said was the Ladies first "no jokes" disc. That set the stage for the new Everything to Everyone, a rich album that features the return of their carefree rapping on the first single, "Another Postcard." Though mostly bright and sunny, the album is an otherwise mature look at the not-so-funny subject of isolation. "Do we try to recapture past success, or move on?" wonders the 33-year-old Page. "If you move on, you risk losing your fan base. If you stay the same, then you lose something of yourself." The band will test the waters with an upcoming theater tour in which theyll play most of the new album and take questions from fans. A few warnings about the tour are in order: dont ask dumb questions like "Whered you get the name?", and dont challenge Page on Canadas refusal to join President Bushs war on Iraq. The singer spoke to VH1 about lobster-related stage invasions, getting performance advice from jugglers and fire-eaters, and the funniest album he's ever heard. VH1: Why do people insist on calling you Canadian rockers? Steven Page: Its funny, isn't it? People find it quaint. See, in Canada, we rock on the left side. In the States you have a lot of corporate rock. In Canada, we have socialized government-sponsored rock. VH1: Will you ever get tired of being referred to as "quirky?" Page: It's almost as good as wacky. On this tour, we are playing our whole new album and a bunch of old songs. Our goal was to play every song we've recorded. Listening to some of our old songs I realized, 'Hey, it is quirky!' VH1: How did the rapping bit get started? Page: We used to listen to the radio a lot in an attempt at egalitarianism, to understand what was popular. [The bands] image was not one of cool, Top 40 personalities. To have five nerdy, suburban guys rapping and dancing fairly authentically was novel. We did this festival once and ended with the rap. This juggler comes up to us and said, Always end with the rap. We'd never thought of it before, but we've been ending with the rap for 10 years. Sometimes you can learn the best showmanship from jugglers and fire-eaters. VH1: Has any MC ever given you props for your flow? Page: I don't think so. The closest we ever got was backstage at some show Ed was trying to get his picture taken with Oasis Noel Gallagher. His people said, Sorry, he doesn't take pictures. When he found out it was us, he said, Oh the 'chickadee fried chicken' song guys! I guess that's when you know you've made it. VH1: What's your MC name? Page: Ed's is MC Escher. Mine is Marcus Welby, MC. VH1: You started getting more serious on you last album, Maroon, what happened? Page: We were making Stunt and Kevin got sick. I think that made us all think a bit harder about what we do with our lives. As we've been rehearsing these songs, I realized there have been these straight-faced songs on all the records. But Maroon was the first record with no jokes. This time we have "Shopping" and "Another Postcard" for a bit more balance. We're not dour, but we have a sense of responsibility and disdain for the way things are. We wrote the last record coming off a big hit and having to deal with major life and death issues. We wrote this one as the U.S. was going to war. VH1: But the record doesn't necessarily have that feel. Page: We did 30 songs and the more biting ones didn't make it. The tone of the record, though, is about how dangerous it is to separate yourself form those around you and the world at large. VH1: Is "Celebrity" the inevitable sob story about the burdens of being famous? Page: We're not famous people. We're not recognizable. Over the past five years we've gotten the opportunity to go to award shows and parties and we have this blessing/curse that we blend in. We see so many people willing to sacrifice their art for fame. When a karaoke show is the pinnacle of American culture ... VH1: Do you ever get mistaken for someone else? Page: I get a lot of, You look just like my friend's husband. A lot of guys say, People say I look exactly like you! And they're, like, 350 pounds. VH1: You're doing a Q&A thing on this theater tour. What's the dumbest thing a fan has ever yelled out at one of your shows? Page: The most embarrassing thing was a show in Detroit. Ed was talking about lobsters and trying to figure out if they are cephalopods or crustaceans. He asked the audience if anyone knew what lobsters were. This very large woman in the front row started talking about her sister and she tried to crawl up on stage. I stopped her because I didn't want to hear a diatribe about lobsters, but she kept struggling to get up on stage and she eventually rolled up there and was spread out, prostrate, unable to get up. I can just picture it now and it is one of the most embarrassing things I've ever seen. She obviously couldn't move, but was still yelling frantically about her sister who is a scientist. VH1: What kinds of movies do you watch when you're on the road? Page: There's a comedy club in the back of the bus where slapstick movies from Jerry Lewis and David Spade/Chris Farley rule, but we're basically art house snobs. I sit up front with the snobs and watch Fellini, Truffaut and John Sayles movies. VH1: What's the funniest album you've ever heard? Page: I was traveling by myself in England in the summer of 1989 and there was a rail strike. I had to take a bus from York to Sheffield and I had just bought the Beastie Boys' Paul Boutique. I put my headphones on and sat down next to these two old ladies and I laughed my head off for an hour. VH1: Class clown or class comedian? Page: Class comedian. My best friend was really popular and everyone knew him. I was always to his right. Invisible, but subversive. VH1: You sing about scrapping in "Take it Outside." When's the last time you got into a real fight? Page: I almost got in a fight the other day. I was in a bar and somebody came up to me, recognized me and badgered me about how Canada didn't join the war. He was Irish and I badgered him about the Irish being complicit with the Nazis. He got real quiet, but I thought he was going to pummel me. VH1: Finish this sentence: The Barenaked Ladies were the (blank) of their generation. Page: Spanish fly. |
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