Barenaked Ladies and more as Steven Page hits Brighton

It seems like just yesterday – in fact it was October – you were last in the UK. It seems you just couldn’t wait to get back?

Yeah that’s right. It was ten years between visits, and now less than a year between visits.

You’ve spoken about that last trip to the UK. How pleased were you with the response you got having been away for so long?

It was really excellent. I had no idea whether people would care, or remember, or anything else because it had been so long

A year prior I took my kids to the UK on vacation, and I just put something on Twitter asking if I showed up at Regent’s Park at 1pm on Saturday if anybody would want to hear me.

One hundred people showed up and I played for an hour, and I wanted to do something for the other people who couldn’t make it.

So I get on the phone to my booking agent and he said “let’s do this”.

I went over in Fall last year and had an incredible time.

The response from the audience was just as emotional as mine was towards them.

What do you like most about touring the UK, and how does it differ from touring America?

I mean, from the age of about 15 I was somewhat of an Anglophile anyway; whether it was British music, or culture, or history, or anything else, it was always something I fantasised about in a certain way.

In the early days over here, getting the ball rolling, and playing everything from clubs to Glastonbury, every stage was a dream come true.

In my experience, I don’t know if UK audiences go to gigs more often that Americans but that’s how it feels.

It seems like music plays a more important role in the lives of British people than it does – maybe - in most North Americans’.

The negative side to that as a musician is that the audience your playing to has seen so many artists that you have to live up to, but I like that challenge.

I’d rather have to step up for every audience and do the best job possible.

On the plus side, people who are fans know all the words, they sing along, they’re right there with you.

They’re not quite as unashamed to sing along as some other audiences.

You’re kicking off the tour here in Brighton, is it somewhere you’ve played before or visited before?

I’ve played there a few times.

The last time was in 2007, at The Dome, with The Barenaked Ladies.

I’ve played there several times over the years, and I always like being by the seaside anyway.

It’s cool, it’s uniquely English too.

Do you get that chance to explore the cities you’re playing?

It really depends on the day.

If you have to go do a radio session then your day is really taken up between that, and the soundcheck, and doing the gig.

But even just walking to find a place to eat helps you ground yourself inside the town and get a sense of where you’re at.

Most places on this tour I’ve been to a few times, so I have some kind of sense of direction when I’m there.

If it was up to me, and economically feasible, I’d have a day in every town to walk around and experience it and then the next day do the gig.

So what can fans expect from this UK run?

Well it’s the same trio we brought in the Fall of myself, Craig Northey and Kevin Fox, who is playing the cello.

Now sometimes, especially in America, a trio with a cello can sound more serious and adult, and potentially dull.

This is not that.

We have the energy of a band, and an intimacy, where you can really connect with the audience.

The best thing for me is the rapport, musically and personally, with the two or three of us.

It’s so good and so easy that I think it’s infectious to the audience.

We’re going to play everything; from stuff off my upcoming album, which comes out in September, back to early Barenaked Ladies songs.

Let’s talk about the new album, Heal Thyself Pt. 2: Discipline, when did you begin that process?

It started several years ago.

Heal Thyself Pt 1: Instinct came out in 2016 and I originally envisioned it as a 30 song album, but that’s a lot to digest all at once.

I didn’t want to waste it all and I didn’t want people to feel like I was forcing 30 songs and them and expecting them to have a connection to all of them, so I cut it in half.

Over the course of those two years things change; songs seem to drop off that don’t work as well.

You picked up on playing a lot on the BNL songs, do you feel a pressure to play them as they’re the group you’re best associated with?

I think anybody who has been playing music for as long as I have, more than 30 years, if you’re lucky enough to have fans who remember, or want to hear, your old material, you have to look at it as a gift.

You’ve build a catalogue that people feel connected to.

Of course you want to move forward, but I feel really lucky.

I used to make jokes all the time about how acts will play something new and they’ll make some sort of self-deprecating joke like “Now the thing you’re really here for, the new material”.

I have this theory that we actually want to hear new material, if you’re checking in with an old friend you want to know where they’re at now.

So I’m able to play both with a clear conscience, and the BNL material is a big part of who I am, where I come from, and my collection of songs.

I don’t feel like I have to play cover versions of my own songs, I just play the catalogue.

Can it add more pressure having your own name on the marquee rather than the entire band?

I think I may have felt like that in the past, I feel it less now.

There is something about being in a band that you can certainly share both the credit and the blame for any success or failure; whether it’s a show that night or a particular record.

When it’s your own name it’s all your fault, there’s nobody else you can blame or give credit.

But I’ve learnt over time that the credit needs to be shared with all the people you work with; whether it’s people who work behind the scenes or the people who are on stage with you.

Even though it’s a solo outing, with my name on the marquee, when I’m playing with the trio it feels like we’re a band, we’re all playing for the same reason.

Can fans expect a similar set to what you’ve been playing in the USA?

It will have a lot of similarities. The hits and well known songs will stay the same, but there will be some different songs.

Some songs that we played last time round will be changed out because I don’t want people thinking they saw the exact same show.

If they enjoyed it I want that same feeling, but you don’t need to hear the same stories, so we’re changing some of the songs for sure.

So to close up, why are the Steven Page Trio the show to see this summer?

Well if you like the old stuff, if you’re a fan of what I do in BNL then it’s a no brainer.

It will feel foreign in that way but it’ll be fun.

Or if you’re a new fan then come on board.

There are some good songs and it will be a memorable evening out, nobody is excluded from the club.