Hamilton drummer Gene Champagne recovered from COVID and back behind the kit
Fifteen months ago, Gene Champagne was lying in a medically induced coma, his life dependant on a ventilator. COVID-19 had attacked his lungs. Doctors told his wife Julie to be prepared for the worst.
She wasn't given much hope," Champagne says in an interview from the backyard of his Stoney Creek home. They actually told her a couple of times, You need to prepare yourself.' They weren't saying I was going either way, but they didn't want to give her false hope."
Champagne, best known as drummer for Hamilton rock bands Teenage Head and The Killjoys, was on that ventilator for eight days in intensive care at Burlington's Joseph Brant hospital.
Somehow, Champagne survived. He's now ready to take the stage again, first as frontman (guitar and vocals) for his own band The Un-Teens, with a show July 22 at The Casbah opening for Blue Coupe (Dennis Dunaway of Alice Cooper, with Joe and Albert Bouchard of Blue Oyster Cult).
Champagne is also rehearsing on drums for upcoming shows with Teenage Head (Aug. 20 in Saskatoon, and Sept. 10 at Kerrfest in Oakville) and a reunion show with The Killjoys, the Juno-winning band he cofounded back in the '90s, scheduled for Oct. 1 at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern.
While in that coma, on the ventilator, Champagne's battle against COVID became a national news story. Vaccinations weren't yet readily available, but he was relatively young, just 52. He wasn't a smoker or a drinker. He and Julie wore masks, practised safe distancing and tried to remain in their bubbles. Yet, he still got it bad, proof that it wasn't just seniors who were at risk.
The social media outpouring from friends, fans and fellow musicians was massive and the major news outlets picked up on it.
It was overwhelming," Champagne says. I couldn't believe the outreach of so many people contacting me with messages and putting me in their prayers. The entire musical community from small local bands to international bands were getting hold of me and saying how you doing, thinking about you.' It was crazy."
Champagne still feels foggy" at times. It sometimes takes him a moment to remember things, but he's not sure if that's COVID or just part of aging. He will turn 54 just two days before his show at The Casbah.
I feel great," Champagne says. I'm outside listening to the birds in the trees and that's a good thing."
A very good thing indeed. His road to recovery was not an easy one, almost eight months before he started feeling himself again. He spent about a month in hospital and then was discharged to his home, able to breath without the aid of an oxygen tank, but still unsteady on his legs.
When you lie in a bed for that long muscle mass goes and you're very weak," Champagne says. They teach you how to get up, you're pretty wobbly. When I got home, I was on a walker. I would try to walk every day. Eventually I would push the walker ahead and try to catch up to it. I was determined to get out of it."
After about two months, he was able to return to his full-time job working dispatch for a local transport company.
One of my friends that I worked with passed away," Champagne says. He got (COVID) at about the same time I did. When I woke up Julie had to tell me that he didn't make it. I had to live with that too, the guilt. Why me? He was an older fellow and had some other problems, but it was hard to deal with."
Returning to music was a much longer process.
I started very slow with a little demo (recording) where I played everything at home," he says. Singing was really hard because I would cough so much."
Early last month, he began rehearsing with The Un-Teens, singing and playing guitar. The rehearsals went well. Then he started working on the drums, knowing that gigs were being lined up for both Teenage Head and The Killjoys. The drum workouts were tiring, but he got through them and is confident he'll be in good shape for those shows.
The Un-Teens recently released a new single, recorded by the band before Champagne's illness. The song is called You Can't Break Me" and it's lyrics now seem prescient.
It was a song I wrote for the Un-Teens before I got sick," he says. When I got better, I thought that song was so fitting for the times, not only for myself, but for all of us."
The last 15 months have given Champagne a new outlook on life and music.
There's going to be more Teenage Head and there's going to be more Killjoys," he says. I'm going to work on it every day. I have a thing now - don't wait for anything. Now is the time. We are fragile and we don't know when it's our time."
Since his hospital stay, Champagne has received three vaccination shots. He'll get a fourth as soon as he is eligible. Give it to me now," he laughs. I'll drink it."