IN CONCERT
What: Steven Page with Port Cities
Where: Capital Ballroom, 858 Yates St.
When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $29.50 at Lyle’s Place, 770 Yates St., and Ticketweb.ca
Steven Page wrote from the heart on his latest recording, Discipline: Heal Thyself, Pt. II. That meant songs about life and love took a seat alongside others about rage, frustration and helplessness.
One song stands out. The former Barenaked Ladies frontman poured every bit of vehemence at his disposal into the album’s first single and video, White Noise.
The song was inspired by the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, two years ago, when a car was deliberately driven into a crowd protesting a white nationalist rally, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring 28 others.
Nearly two years after the incident, the 48-year-old is still angered by it.
“I’m not normally the type of person who sees something and runs downstairs to bash out a protest song, but I couldn’t help myself at that point,” Page said. “I wasn’t surprised by the election of [Donald] Trump, but I was saddened by it. I could feel it coming. I could feel the normalization of racism and xenophobia that was happening, and when Charlottesville happened, it didn’t make any sense to me.”
Page, who grew up in Toronto, has lived in Manlius, New York, with his wife and her son since 2008. The move, which coincided with his departure from the Barenaked Ladies, has not resulted in U.S. citizenship for Page, who said he feels a bit like an outsider south of the border.
He kept a low profile until he saw Nazi salutes and heard the chant “Jews will not replace us” on TV news coverage of the Charlottesville rally.
The singer — who is Jewish — decided to speak through his songs. He wrote about topical subjects during his time with the Barenaked Ladies, but had stopped short of being politically active after moving to New York.
That has now changed, Page said. “I used to be politically active when I was living in Canada, but living in the United States, I have a work visa but I can’t vote. It felt like I had no real say. I kept my mouth shut for the most part on social media.”
He enjoyed the experience of the past few years, writing songs that matter. Not that he didn’t do that on previous records, but the mixture of old and new material on his current tour (with guitarist Craig Northey and cellist Kevin Fox) is being presented with newfound energy and purpose.
He feels different about singing them now, and the results are more rewarding, he said. “I’m a person with a huge degree of privilege. Imagine what it’s like being somebody with none. I have the power to at least write a song.”
Evidence of his anger runs through the new album — he uses profanity on three songs, which is a rarity for him. Page said he once wanted to use an F-bomb in the Barenaked Ladies’ single Call and Answer, but knew “that it would stick out like a sore thumb,” so he ditched the idea.
He didn’t have many second thoughts about the lyrics to White Noise, however — he swears three times during the opening stanza.
Page said he recorded a clean edit of the song, for radio purposes, but never liked it. He felt the sanitized version of the song diminished its intent. “I really make sure every word is there for a reason. Everything is conscious.”
Elsewhere on the recording, Page tackles religious hypocrisy and his own anxiety.
He has battled depression for the majority of his life, and in recent years has become a spokesman for mental-health treatment.
He was forced to confront his personal issues following an arrest for drug possession in 2008, and, with the help of a therapist, peeled back layers on a side of himself that had been under wraps.
Heal Thyself Pt. 1: Instinct was released in 2016, kicking off Page’s two-part series about healing and growth, both as an individual and as a society.
He’s working on a new album, but said it will not be tied thematically to the Heal Thyself series. Politics might rear its head again, however.
“If we resign ourselves that this is the new normal, that’s when that side wins — when hate wins,” Page said. “I’m so inspired by young artists and young politicians who are making their voices heard, and who are articulately winning over hearts and minds.”
