From The Vaults E04: Barenaked Ladies

When I did this phone interview with Stephen Page (then the frontman of Barenaked Ladies) in December 1994, the band already seemed past its best before date. I recall a palpable 'ho hum' related to doing this interview, although it would be rebroadcast over the CFMU airwaves many times in early 1995, as the band toured Maybe You Should Drive, their second studio album, which was released with precious little acclaim.

Formed in 1988 as a duo (Page and co-founding member Ed Robertson), Barenaked Ladies had spent most of the previous five years as the undisputed darlings of the Canadian campus alt-rock music scene, with independent cassette releases (yes, cassettes!) yielding hit songs that have since become Canadian radio classics and karaoke standards. Heck, I confess myself that I've belted out 'If I Have $1,000,000' on several occasions at one of my favourite Burlington pubs. In 1994, though, fresh off the epic success of their debut album Gordon and months after winning their first JUNO Award, BNL seemed to be lilting towards what some would have called mainstream mediocrity. The Toronto City Hall scandal that catapulted BNL into the international spotlight was a few years behind them. (Sidenote: When that infamous Toronto fell through, BNL booked another show for that evening ... at McMaster!)

Now, the band is on the cusp of it’s 30th anniversary. It will be a little odd to watch as these middle aged men in a still-viable, oft-touring quartet, are inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at this month's JUNOs. These are guys exactly my age. They've been hard at work being BNL for better than half their lives.

They could not have seen it coming, and neither, I'm sure, could I.

Before this interview, I had caught a glimpse of Barenaked Ladies just one time as they opened for Corky and the Juice Pigs. It would have been easy to dismiss them as a novelty act, despite the fact that as a bit of a musician myself, it was clear they had some chops. But that musical talent was overshadowed by a little too much on-stage banter and a lyrically 'cute' setlist. This was NOT a band you would have expected to navigate its way through three decades of grunge, hip hop and pop music to find a place alongside names like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, The Tragically Hip, BTO and Bryan Adams - all previous Hall of Fame inductees.

After this interview, BNL went on to perform on American television talk shows and guest star in popular teen dramas. Their fourth album, Stunt, would assure them a legion of new followers in the highly prized US market with a slew of hit songs, including One Week, their biggest hit song to date. They also perform the theme to The Big Bang Theory, which has been a popular network television mainstay for over a decade.

It can be hard to do an interview with someone you appreciate as an artist. At the time of this interview, 15 years prior to his departure from BNL, Page was as big a name as there was on the Canadian music landscape, as the band’s lead singer and primary songwriter. I've always had a soft spot for BNL and their music even though I'm pretty sure I don't have a single BNL track in my Spotify song library.

Listening now, I think this interview comes off as slightly less conversational than I'd have liked. After all, it was just me and a mic with Page calling in on the phone while Mike Vardy provided button and dial support on the other side of the glass. I needed a few cheat pages of cheat notes in front of me, and you can probably tell I have them.

Hey, I wasn't supposed to be on air at CFMU; I had been brought in to create The Frequency, a newsprint program guide. Still, I jumped at the opportunity to chat with Stephen Page for this interview, and overall, I think I can be proud of the effort. For our full interview, listen below.