Singer-songwriter Stephen Page was a founding member of Barenaked Ladies. His latest solo release on Universal Music is Page One.
Have you ever had the flu?
"Lots of times. As you get older, it gets worse. The strains get worse."
Did you get a flu shot?
"I did get the flu shot. I didn't get it last year. I got it two years ago. It's so hard to know if it works or not."
You didn't get the much ballyhooed H1N1 shot?
"No, I did not."
Why not?
"A combination of busyness, laziness and uncertainty about whether it was necessary for someone of my age (40) and health. They were making a big deal of the fact that people were trying to jump the queue. Children and the elderly were getting it first and it was almost 'You don't deserve to get the flu shot.' "
Does a rock and roll lifestyle - late nights, travel, crowds - make you more susceptible to the flu?
"I get the sickest from the air travel. I tend to be fairly robust but I do get knocked on my ass for about two days a year. People rely on your presence. No one wants to cancel a show. You've got a thousand people coming to see one person and if they are laid up, it's annoying for everyone. You just fake it. You're sick as a dog and go onstage and pretend you're fine."
Do you think Keith Richards get his flu shot?
"Doesn't he get flu transfusions? He has H1N1 flowing through his veins."
A big deal was made of a possible H1N1 pandemic. It didn't happen. Do you always believe the government and the medical establishment?
"One way to look at it was perhaps the reason the pandemic didn't happen is that people prepared themselves by getting the flu shot, taking precautions. So perhaps the campaign was successful. We could only gauge that the campaign was a failure if everyone got sick and died."
Conspiracy theorists are suspicious of the government/medical/pharmaceutical establishment and resist immunization. Do you share their suspicions?
"I always entertain conspiracy theories, but more for entertainment value.
"Sometimes you've got to be conscious. I think there are some medical professionals who listen to their drug reps before they listen to their peers. We have valid concerns about the power of the pharmaceutical industry over people's perception of health. Some of the broader conspiracy theories were that they actually were going to inject us with something so we'd need their medicines to get better. As much as part of me wants to believe that because I want to hate 'The Man,' I think it's a little far-fetched."
Should flu shots be mandatory?
"No. We need to see more conclusive research about their value. You can't enroll your kid at school without certain immunizations. I understand that. I'm not against immunizations. But in general, we're not looking at the kinds of epidemic they had in the early part of the 20th century, when you had millions dying of influenza."
Would you lend your music to a campaign on flu shot awareness?
" If I Had a Million Kleenex? … Probably not. I don't know how valuable that would be. The more that health concerns are publicized in an entertainment-y kind of way, the less gravitas you have. I'd rather listen to the people in the health-care industry speak."