Taking the Stage: Christopher Page

El Camino’s English professor converts markers in class to drum sticks for band gigs

Story by Jesus “Jesse” Chan

Photos by Gary Kohatsu

In a dimly lit room, a drum set lies. As the hush descends, a door opens, and Christopher Page enters, drumsticks in hand. He’s ready. Page spent his childhood in Long Beach reading books, skateboarding in places he wasn’t supposed to, and creating a garage band with his pals. Growing up with an engineer father and an early childhood development mother, Page was often given the freedom to pursue many of his hobbies.

Early on, buckets and pots were used for more than just storage and cooking. Instead, as a youngster sitting in his garage on sweltering summer days, he transformed them into drums. He enjoyed headbanging to Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, and Twisted Sister, but his parents were never fans of the music he listened to.The El Camino College English professor and musician, now a drummer for the Los Angeles-based rock band tudors, attributes much of his love of music and writing to his creative youth.

While brushing his slick black hair back, squinting his blue eyes, and crossing his legs. Page recalls certain hobbies that he still pursues and likes that would not have been possible if it had not been for his curiosity as a child Painting, writing, and building were just the beginning of what would become a lifetime of discovery.

Page, on the other hand, jokes that he is not very skilled at such activities.

“My parents were like, ‘Hey, don’t bother me. And do what you want.’ So, you know, that led to me exploring a lot of different things,” Page says. “I found I was interested in a lot of different arts. I’m not good at them, though.”

He chuckles as he reclines on his chair in his ECC office, which is brightly lighted by the wide window behind his desk. Page is naturally drawn to the arts, which is why other interests have never captured his full attention.

During his childhood, he participated in sports such as soccer, football, hockey, and skating, but only skateboarding piqued his interest. Page tried multiple times to convince his parents to buy him a skateboard, but to no avail. The solution? He built his own.

“I loved [skateboarding] the second I saw it, and for a long time, my parents would not buy me one, so I had to find broken ones, or like I would use rollerblade wheels on my friend’s old deck,” Page says.

Aside from skateboarding, Page’s curiosity wandered so far that books eventually captured his attention. Like his love of music and skateboarding, the inventiveness behind books such as “Lord of the Rings” and “Catch-22,” two of his favorites, only fueled his passion for creative literature.

“‘The Fellowship of the Ring,’ I think I was 11, and I brought that on a family vacation. I read the entire thing in two days,” Page says. “I was so captivated by the world and how it was written. That it was like it could transport you.”

Page enrolled in Cypress College shortly after graduating from Cypress High School. However, like many kids fresh out of high school, he was unclear about what he wanted to do and dropped out. Page worked as a manager at a video store, a clerk at a local library, a furniture mover, and a graphic designer on the side.

But those jobs turned into obligations that frustrated him and prompted him to return to college. A pledge made to himself to better his life and return to education represented an opportunity to leave professions he did not enjoy behind. As a result, some students may find themselves in one of his English classes at ECC. Page chose El Camino to teach because it reminded him of his days at Cypress College. Page’s desire to attend college was influenced by two factors: student accomplishment at ECC and how far students go to represent their college.

“I love all the things students create here at [El Camino], for example, the newspaper blew me away when I first arrived. The fact that students here in the forensics club did so well on the national stage and students in the general taking center stage when I came for the interview, seeing student work on the wall, really blew me away,” Page says.

After school, however, Page is often introduced onstage with fellow band members, vocalist/ bassist David Diaz and guitarist Marcus Clayton, as tudors. Page enjoys playing music for audiences of 25 or hundreds, even if it means not selling out most venues where he performs.

“I knew the first time I started rehearsing in a garage that I was like, this is what I want to do. This is it,” Page says.

After spending time in bands such as the Mini Golf All-Stars, Confront, Blank Mind, Kryptonite Condoms, and Virginia Wolf. Page formed the band with Diaz and Clayton after bonding over their love of bands like the Descendents.

“I met him at a tutoring center. Chris intimidated me when I first met him because I just thought he was really smart and good at his job,” Diaz says. “I remember wearing a Converge t-shirt, and he was like, ‘You like Converge, too? Cool,’ and I was like, “This dude likes the same music I like. That’s cool.” For Clayton, the band has been an opportunity to be himself and have fun.

“Generally speaking, it’s a nice outlet for all three of us to be loud and ourselves because of work or the stresses of life. We typically can’t play, but it’s always a nice little release,” Clayton says.

Page, Diaz, and Clayton have shared many unforgettable times, but nothing has stopped them from playing together. Diaz recalls one specific memory that makes playing together worthwhile.

“If I remember correctly, Chris forgot the legs to his drum set because he’d always move his drum set from this rehearsal space we were in,” Diaz says. “He had to set his drums up facing the wall, but it was still tight, which is still a super cool memory for us as a band.”

Page is humble, frequently admitting that he does not believe he is a capable drummer. However, his goal is to continue live gigs and, maybe, produce some new albums with his band.

“Honestly, I’m just going to keep going until I can’t anymore. Until my arms fall off,” Page says.

Known originally as the Point Fermin Landslide, Sunken City in San Pedro is all that remains of a neighborhood that slid into the sea over two decades beginning in 1929. The cliffs are treacherous and the ground unstable. Many have tumbled to their deaths.

Kim McGill | Warrior Life