Night Light cast on gloom BARENAKED LADIES' KEVIN HEARN TRIES TO LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF FAILED RELATIONSHIPS
By JANE STEVENSON, TORONTO SUN

IF KEVIN HEARN's second solo album, 2001's H-Wing, documented his near-fatal battle with leukemia, the just-released followup, Night Light, deals with the relationship fall-out. But the naturally jovial Toronto musician, best known for his day job as keyboardist with the folk-pop outfit Barenaked Ladies, sincerely hopes that it's not all doom and gloom.

"I'd hate to think I made a record that's whining and complaining about a broken heart," says the singer-songwriter, 34, seated near a roaring fire in the bar at the Drake Hotel on Queen Street West earlier this week.

"Some relationships don't make it through a health crisis, some do. I think that was my way of getting those feelings out and writing about them. There are so many love songs in the world, I thought it was a unique perspective. Have a love song about a relationship that didn't make it. And they were hard songs to write but they come from an honest place."

And while Night Light could be interpreted as a bit of a downer, it does have its bright moments. Take, for example, that bluegrass cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs.

NEW FATHER OF A BABY GIRL

"That was my idea," says Hearn. "When I first started learning guitar, I studied bluegrass style. And my voice has been compared to Kermit the Frog's. So I thought Kermit singing Black Sabbath would be a good combo. And we've been doing that song in our live show for five years. And then, just by coincidence, Ozzy's show became huge, and then there was a huge bluegrass revival and then, of course, George Bush took America to war, so that's why we put it on the record. Just as a little bonus treat."

On a positive personal front, Hearn just had a baby girl named Havana, in December. The mother, who's Cuban, is someone he's known for a long time. They just started dating a couple of years ago and now they live together.

"The doctors said I'd never have children and she's our little miracle baby," he says with a smile.

Meanwhile, Hearn has been cancer-free for five years, the benchmark recovery period for a bone marrow transplant, but he says, "it's been a real roller coaster. Last year was really rough for me but this year I'm feeling better. You have to roll with the punches a little bit. I've won, in the sense, that I'm alive, but the road is bumpier for some."

Hearn, who also did Night Light's colourful, cartoon-like artwork, recorded his new disc two years ago but was only able to promote it now because the Ladies are on a brief hiatus from their tour.

"I get to realize a musical and, as far as the CD artwork goes, a visual vision from the ground up," says Hearn, of why he enjoys his solo work. "And I get to enjoy a different creative dynamic, which is important because it helps me continue to grow as a musician, to play with other people. So it's a chance to explore and have fun. I mean, I pay for it all myself, so it's really just a labour of love for me."

LADIES HEAD TO THE U.K

Next up for the Ladies is a two-and-a-half week trek in the U.K. followed by yet another summer road trip through North America to promote their 2003 album, Everything To Everyone. A July stop at the Molson Amphitheatre with co-headliner Alanis Morissette is expected.

The Ladies' current show, which already played the Air Canada Centre on Feb. 26, sees the band trying out some new things, including a Hearn idea to gather around the microphone, bluegrass style, for a trio of tunes.

It's an approach the band repeated for their recent performance at the Juno Awards in Edmonton, except on that occasion Hearn was a lot more self-conscious.

"We did it on the Junos and I ripped my pants just before we went on stage," he says. "I dropped a guitar pick, I hadn't worn these pants before on the show and the whole ass ripped out of them. But luckily I had a blazer on and it just covered. And on my way up to the stage I said, 'Steve, can you see my underwear?' And he went, 'What? Uh, you're okay!'

"Me and Steve and Alice Cooper knew," continues Hearn. "'Cause I showed them to Alice Cooper afterwards. He said, 'I have some advice for you. Next time wait 'til you get on stage and then rip them.' "

KEVIN HEARN, BARENAKED

- BORN: July 3, 1969, Grimsby, Ont.
- RAISED: In Montreal, but moved to Toronto at age 5.
- MUSICAL INFLUENCES: The Beatles, the Beach Boys, Claude Debussy, Lou Reed.
- FIRST BIG BREAK: Getting asked to join the Lollapalooza tour in 1992 when he was with his first band, the Look People.
- INSTRUMENTS PLAYED: Piano, guitar, accordion.
- FIRST ALBUM: The Look People's More Songs About Hats And Chickens in 1988.