Vancouver punk rockers Childsplay sweep the West with anti-bullying tour

The Mohican-haired lead singer leaped across the stage, screaming into the mike and slamming on his guitar as his drummer let loose his machine-gun blast beats in the finest traditions of Vancouver punk rock, now ripping through Saskatchewan like a prairie wildfire.


Vocalist and guitarist Jayden Faber

This was none other than Childsplay, who came to Kindersley’s Norman Ritchie Community Centre on September 30 as part of their two-week Bullying Sucks Tour, taking the young rockers through B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan, speaking out against a scourge that ruins the lives of thousands of Canadian schoolchildren every day.

“Bullying is one of the factors we feel strongly about and one of the reasons we feel that way is because it’s probably happening right now as we speak. People are getting bullied and name-called consistently through the day because of cyberbullying, and right now as we talk, someone’s probably contemplating suicide as the bullying is so fierce,” said vocalist and guitarist Jayden Faber.

But what makes Childsplay unique is that they’re all aged between 16 and 18, and are either still in high school or have only recently graduated, so they can get their message across to teens in a way adults can’t. That includes first-hand experience of bullying.

“Usually people pick on me as I don’t eat meat. I choose to be vegetarian and they say that they’re sorry to hear I don’t eat meat, and tease me about not being healthy,” said drummer Levin Faber, who’s in Grade 11 at Vancouver’s King George Secondary School.

A vegetarian for six years, Levin was tired of the constant taunts, saying he just wanted it to stop happening, but enjoyed being on tour with his bandmates, as it gave him a chance to meet new people and make new friends.

“I really feel for the people who get bullied, they need help and someone to stick up for them, so I try to step into that spot. One of the main reasons we went with this theme on our tour is so we could take it into ground zero i.e. high school,” said bassist William Hooley.