Ed Robertson | |
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 Robertson in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (1970-10-25)October 25, 1970 (age 55) Scarborough, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer, songwriter, record producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, bass, drums, synthesizer,banjo,mandolin |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Member of | Barenaked Ladies |
| Formerly of | Yukon Kornelius |
Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (born October 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the bandBarenaked Ladies. He, along with former memberSteven Page, founded the group in 1988. Following Page's departure in 2009, Robertson, bassistJim Creeggan, and drummerTyler Stewart remain the only members from the band's first studio album still active in the group.Kevin Hearn, who joined later, is also part of the current lineup.
Robertson was born in theToronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. He is the youngest of five children, with two sisters, Lynn and Bonnie, and two brothers, Bill and Doug;[1][2] He claims to have been named on a bet. His mother, Wilma, was a secretary forImperial Oil, and his father, Earl, worked both as a shipping foreman forHoneywell, and as an egg grader.[3] He believes that his conception was an "accident" because he is several years younger than his siblings, who were all born about one year apart. He credits this situation with allowing him to have the experience of being both in a big family, and an only child—once his siblings moved out of their home.[4]
Robertson began working part-time when he was 13 years old. He has bragged about being named employee of the month at his localWendy's in July 1985 (he considers this his life's greatest accomplishment).[3] He also answered phones at aCAA office.[3] Robertson appeared in the music video for "All We Are" byKim Mitchell from Mitchell's 1985 albumAkimbo Alogo.
Robertson was brought up in a home where country music was played almost exclusively; he is still fond of it today. He sang harmonies with his family and learned how to play guitar, which his father also played.[5] Once he began playing guitar for other people, around grade five, he knew he wanted to be a performer.[4] He was in several bands during his school days including a band that covered a collection of rock artists, such asRush andKim Mitchell.
In grade four, Robertson entered thegifted program atChurchill Heights Public School. Robertson's first run-in withSteven Page, who was a year ahead in the same gifted program, was when he unknowingly "stole" Page's best friend. It would be several years before the two would really speak to each other. Page saw Robertson at aHarvey's restaurant after aPeter Gabriel concert and was surprised to find that Robertson was also a fan. This ultimately led to their talking and becoming friends.[4]
Robertson attendedWoburn Collegiate Institute with Page and, around grade twelve, realized he needed to focus on passing his courses to get into university, believing his goal of being a musician was something of a "pipe dream". It was around this time that he began playing with Page.[4] The two became counsellors at Scarborough Schools Music Camp in the summer of 1988, and spent a lot of time together singing songs and playing guitar. Page was flattered that Robertson knew some of the songs he had written, which Robertson had learned after acquiring a copy of a cassette tape Page had recorded. Page was also impressed by Robertson's ear for singing harmony.[6] Upon receiving a telephone call from an organizer of a benefit concert to which Robertson had committed his recently broken-up band to play, Robertson quickly advised the organizer that he would still be performing but that the name of the band had changed to Barenaked Ladies, a name he had previously joked with Page about. Robertson then phoned Page and invited Page to be his bandmate in Barenaked Ladies. The benefit concert marked the first performance of the duo as Barenaked Ladies.
Robertson was accepted toYork University, but dropped out after only half a year, choosing to devote his time completely to the band. He and Page spent the next two years building the reputation and following for Barenaked Ladies, joined along the way byAndy andJim Creeggan, andTyler Stewart.
Robertson was the second member of Barenaked Ladies to get married, and the first to have children. He married his longtime girlfriend, Natalie Herbert,[1][2] in June 1994. They had their first child, Hannah on November 17, 1995; their second child, Lyle was born September 29, 1999; and their third child, Arden was born August 7, 2002. As the first in the band to have children, he was also one of the first to advocate for spending less time touring and more time at home with family. When he is not working with Barenaked Ladies, Robertson prefers to spend as much time as he can with his family inToronto, or at theirBancroft-area cottage.
Robertson's brother Doug died after crashing his motorcycle in June 1993.[3] The experience affected Ed, which came through in his songwriting. The song "Am I The Only One?" from the 1994 Barenaked Ladies albumMaybe You Should Drive, which he had been writing about his then-future wife, ended up being about the loss of his brother; the song "Leave" from 1998'sStunt is about the image of his brother haunting him in hotel rooms while on tour; and the song "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" from 2000'sMaroon was based on Robertson's curiosity about what his brother was thinking about in his last moments.[3] His mother died on December 13, 2008, at age 72,[1] and his father died on June 10, 2011, at the age of 76.[2][7] Robertson wrote the song "Moonstone" about his mother dying. It was recorded during theAll in Good Time sessions, and although it was not included in the basic album, it was released as a bonus track.
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Robertson is the primary guitarist for the band, playing dominantly rhythm guitar (evenly split between acoustic and electric) on nearly all of the band's songs. Two of his three bandmates also play guitar with the band on certain songs (Kevin Hearn sometimes on lead, andJim Creeggan occasionally playing rhythm guitar for songs he sings lead on). During his tenure with the band, Steven Page also played rhythm guitar and, occasionally, lead guitar on around a third of the band's songs. Robertson is capable of playing several other instruments including drums,pedal steel guitar,banjo andmandolin, but he rarely plays anything other than guitar, or occasionally6-string banjo, on stage. On each passing album, he has sung lead on an increased number of songs, to the point where he shared approximately equal duty with Page by the time the latter left the band. Robertson performed co-lead vocals with Page on "If I Had $1000000" and "One Week" and solo lead on many singles since the release of the latter. He and his bandmates have taken over Page's lead and harmony vocal parts following the latter's departure. Robertson also often includesrapping andbeatboxing into performances with Barenaked Ladies.
Robertson contributed to the writing for the band from their first album. Much of his contribution initially came in the way of co-writing with Page. As the years have passed, Robertson has written an increased amount on his own. He creditsJason Plumb in part for changing his perspective on songwriting, in that instead of trying to write one great song, he would commit to writing a certain number of ideas and they might not all be great, but parts of the songs would sometimes fit together into great songs. As well, Plumb encouraged Robertson to simply come up with an idea that fascinates him, and then to analyze it. The first song he wrote with this method was "When I Fall", based on the concept of "a window washer who's afraid of heights".
BesidesTyler Stewart, who does not typically compose, Robertson is the only other band member who has not written and recorded songs outside of the Barenaked Ladies for himself in the form of a side project. Robertson has preferred to spend creative energy outside the band in co-writing and producing songs for other people (includingAndy Kim and Jason Plumb).
In 2002, Robertson won an International Achievement Award at theSOCAN Awards in Toronto for the song "Pinch Me" that he co-wrote withSteven Page.[8]
In 2006, Robertson began starring inEd's Up forOLN Canada.[3] The program covers his journeys by plane to various locations given to him only in the form ofGPS coordinates. At these locations, he learns about and participates in a local occupation. The series premiered on November 1, 2006; Robertson filmed a second season in the summer of 2007, which premiered on November 7.[9] A third season was filmed over the summer of 2008. The series was produced byPeace Point Entertainment. Director: Andrew MacDonald, Producer: Craig Flemming, Supervising Producer: Vallery Hyduk.
In 2008, Ed Robertson guest co-hostedDaily Planet onDiscovery Channel for several weeks while one of the regular hosts was away.
He can be seen in a handful of season 8 and 9 episodes ofDegrassi: The Next Generation as the music teacher, Mr. Fowler, which aired new in 2009 on Canada'sCTV andTeenNick in the States.
On May 29, 2012, Robertson was the guest co-host on the U.S. television morning talk show,Live with Kelly.
From 2004, Robertson voiced the occasionally recurring character of Captain Butch Flowers/Agent Florida in the web seriesRed vs. Blue.
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Robertson received his pilot's license in 2005, and the 2007 season ofEd's Up was purportedly designed around his attempting to earn his floatplane license. He also rides a motorcycle, which he has taken on some of the band's tours in the past to ride during off-time.
In April 2009, Robertson was recognized for his interest in aviation and the Canadian military by being named Honorary Colonel of424 Transport and Rescue Squadron of theCanadian Forces.[10] Following the signing, HCol Robertson said that the investiture was "the most incredible honour" he has received. "I have always been thoroughly blown away by the incredible work of our military," he said. "It's a day I thought I would never see come. When I got the letter from the Defence Minister, I was, like, ‘This is real; I am actually going to be an honorary colonel!’"[11] Robertson held the position until March 2012, noting that, although he had not been able to be around as much as he would have liked, the Squadron felt like family to him.[10]
Robertson is fan of video games, and claims to have had almost every console system released since he was a child. He usually brings several consoles and many games on tour with him. Robertson is a fan of the popularRooster Teeth seriesRed vs. Blue, lending his voice to the series to voiceCaptain Butch Flowers, during a time travel episode in thethird season. Originally for a one-off episode, Flowers was re-introduced late in thefifth season, four episodes before the season finale. Flowers later made an appearance in the season finale of thetenth season.Rooster Teeth Productions has also made special videos, usingRed vs. Blue characters, to be shown at Barenaked Ladies shows. In February 2009, he starred as Captain Dynamic, inRooster Teeth Productions live action mini-series,Captain Dynamic, which promotes the video gameCity of Heroes.
Robertson is an avid pinball player and collector. The title of Barenaked Ladies 2015 album "Silverball" reflects this, and the music video for the title track was filmed in Robertson's own collection of 10 pinball machines. In February 2016 Ed appeared on the popular Twitch pinball stream "Bro, Do You Even Pinball?" where he talked about his love for the game and competed against the shows' hosts from Buffalo Pinball.
Robertson wonHumber College's inauguralEuterpe Award at the close of the 2005 Humber Songwriting Workshop. In his honour, the school named a scholarship after him for their summer songwriting workshop.
Having an interest in acting, Robertson had a cameo inCharlie's Angels 2, which was offered to him by directorJoseph McGinty Nichol, who had directed Barenaked Ladies' video for "One Week". Robertson had a larger role in the independent Canadian filmLove, Sex and Eating the Bones, which was directed by childhood friendSudz Sutherland.
Robertson collaborated with astronaut and musicianChris Hadfield in writing a brand new song for Music Monday 2013. Music Monday is a Canadian event to spread the importance of music education.[12] The song, written by Ed and Chris, premiered on February 7, 2013, with Chris joining in from the International Space Station.[13][14][15]
At 12:30 pm on August 24, 2008, Robertson was involved in a plane crash while piloting his amphibiousCessna 206, north ofBancroft, Ontario. He and his three passengers walked away from the crash with no apparent injuries. TheTransport Canada Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Report (CADOR) indicated that the crash occurred after take-off from Baptiste Lake when Robertson apparently lost airspeed and settled into the trees approximately 300 metres in from the shoreline.[16] TheTransportation Safety Board handled the investigation.[17] After several weeks, the TSB was unable to determine a cause of the crash, but cleared Robertson of any misconduct. Additionally, no evidence of mechanical problems was found. Investigator Ray Simpson reported that the investigation was unlikely to produce any further results, and had therefore been essentially closed. Simpson added that undetectable air currents could have been the cause of the crash, but there is no evidence for or against the possibility. He commended Robertson for being "outstanding" in his cooperation with the investigation.[18]
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