Page Upset With Nettwerk Boss

02/27/09 1:33pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Former Barenaked Ladies singer/guitarist Steven Page is angry with Nettwerk Records head Terry McBride, who says Ed Robertson has been the band's driving force over the last few years.

"If you really [examine] the last six, seven years of the Barenaked Ladies, it's very much an Ed and Steve collaboration, but Ed's written probably 90 per cent of the singles," McBride told Canadian Press this week.

"He's really been, in the last decade, the driving creative force behind the band."

Page says that's not the case and the Barenaked Ladies have always been "a five-way democracy." He says he's not sure whether McBride "meant to diminish" his contributions to the band.

"I've written 50 per cent of [the singles]," Page told Canadian Press. "They've been 50-50 splits [between] Ed and I.

"I wouldn't think even Ed would want to diminish that. That songwriting partnership has always been the core of the band.

"As far as the creative driving force? Not to diminish Ed because he's a formidable force, but that's the thing, you had five formidable forces with two very strong frontmen in the group."

Page announced he was leaving the band earlier this week through his Twitter page and blog. This was later confirmed on the Barenaked Ladies' website. Page wants to work on a solo career and theatrical projects, while BNL plan to continue without him and focus on recording a new album that they hope to release this year.