A new age for Page
Wellington just scored another top musician. Photo: Georgia Bradtke
“Wellington is one of the sickest cities I’ve ever been to. I came over for the first time about ten years ago and had this immediate feeling of, ‘wow this place is cool’, and my love has just grown stronger since,” he says. [From urbandictionary.com, ‘sick’: crazy, cool, insane].
Page’s musical training is in classical and jazz, his true love the saxophone – but his most recent accolades have been won through less traditional performances. For the past six years, Page has taken to the stage solo, recording live instruments into loop pedals and spontaneously composing whole songs on the spot. He plays approximately 40 instruments, including bass, keys, percussion, guitar, flute, clarinet, mbira (African thumb piano), didgeridoo, nose flute and, of course, saxophone – in every style from tango to funk, classical to metal.
“I learnt pretty quickly that it’s stupid to focus on one style of music when there’s so much to learn from every style… If you want to survive among so much disposable music, you need to be as original and inspired as possible,” he says.
In February, Page collaborated with composer John Psathas for The Harvest Suite – a 45-miute piece written for sax and loop pedal that Page performed solo at Downstage.
“That show was the absolute pinnacle of my performance career. I even got the classical clap,” he says. The classical clap?
“You know, the applause that goes on at the same intensity and volume for two or three minutes, with no change. Every now and then there’s the odd “wooo!” and then people look around to see who it was.”
Psathas was in the audience for the performance.
“He didn’t move through the whole performance – he’s a very intense listener – but then at the end apparently he was punching the air. He was proud of me, and I was proud of him.”
Psathas isn’t Page’s only musical Wellington crush – he’s also forming a duo with legendary drummer Riki Gooch, who just recently left Trinity Roots.
“We’re both very similar in a lot of ways, which may be why we’ve gravitated toward each other. He’s another reason why I have to live in Welly. You can’t form these collaborations and relationships without being able to see the whites of their eyes. That goes for anybody in the creative business - if you’re passionate about working with somebody, then follow your passion - just pick up and leave, it’s so easy to do. It’s only one overpriced-excess-baggage plane ride away.”
Welcome to Wellington Adam, we can’t wait to see what you do.
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