Steven Page opens up for Hope Award Gala
It’s easy for depression to go untreated and unchecked in the arts
Steven Page recalls how depression was once “romanticized” in the arts – the more miserable you were, the more serious people seemed to take you.
Not just the ‘80s icons like Morrissey of The Smiths and Robert Smith of The Cure, it’s going back centuries, he says, to famed writers and classical composers.
“In a way, it’s easy to go untreated and unchecked when you’re in the arts,” says the former Barenaked Ladies singer. “That can be dangerous for people. Now we’re seeing a reckoning when it comes to the behaviour of mental health struggles.”
The recent suicides of rock icons like Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington confirmed depression wasn’t just a major factor in their music, but a burden they couldn’t overcome.
For Page in the early ‘90s, his own depression was a stark contrast to the glorious, feel-good pop songs of his band. They became Canadian icons with songs like “Be My Yoko Ono” and “Grade 9,” but perhaps it was the more sombre “Brian Wilson” off of their first album “Gordon” – about another famed songwriter battling mental health issues – which revealed what Page was going though (“And if you want to find me, I’ll be out in the sand-
box / Just wondering where the hell all the love has gone”).
Though he started seeing his family doctor 25 years ago, it was a frustrating process to pinpoint the problem.
“My self care was pretty spotty in my 20s and 30s,” he says. “And with the public, they assume the one dimension of your personality. It’s an honest part, but it’s a part of how you project as a performer.
“As you get older, you realize there’s more to you than that. My job is only a fraction of who I am as a person.”
On June 1, Page will be the guest speaker for the annual Pathstone Foundation Hope Award Gala at the Fallsview Casino’s Grand Ballroom. A mix of music and personal stories, it’s part of Page’s increased efforts in recent years to raise awareness of mental health.
“I started bringing my guitar to those things, realizing I had a catalogue of material that refers back to my own mental health journey. It ends up being a nice way to blend the two.
“I’ve found my sea legs doing it now, but it wasn’t that hard at the beginning. It was just one of those things I wasn’t particularly open about. But I don’t know how open I was with myself about it until the CBC show The Current asked me to host an episode of their show about mental health.”
There’s plenty for Page to talk about. But one thing he can finally stop talking about is whether he’ll ever reunite with the Barenaked Ladies. It happened earlier this year at the Juno Awards in Vancouver, to mark the band’s induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It was his first time playing with them in nine years, closing the show with their trademark tunes “One Week” and “If I Had $1,000,000.”
“I was happy to do it,” he says. “It was nice to find some peace in that side of things.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but once I was there it was totally fine. The performance part was the easiest. That was a piece of cake.”
Of course, now he’s getting questions about a reunion tour or album. Those are less likely, says Page. For now.
“If that was the end of it, I would feel okay about it. I would feel there was a reconciliation in a sense of appreciation of what each other does, and also all of us feel secure in where we are now.
“We all worked really hard to get to our own place without each other now,” he adds. “If there was an opportunity to do more (with them), I’d be happy to do something more, but I don’t have any desire to make that my full-time job again. Which is a nice thing to realize too.”
(This year’s Hope Award recipient will be the late Dianne Sheppard, whose work uniting educators and citizens eventually led to the formation of Pathstone Mental Health).
Who: Steven Page
What: Hope Award Gala Where: Fallsview Casino Grand Ballroom
When: June 1, 8:30 p.m. (dinner 7 p.m.)
Tickets: $155 per person, $1,550 per table for 10 www.pathstonementalhealth.ca