Review Text
Fred Van Vactor writes lyrically clever, fun and melodic, pop songs! Sometimes melancholy sweet, sometimes irreverent and hilarious, sometimes upbeat and whimsical. If poetry were a karate chop, Fred Van Vactor would break all 10 bricks with his left hand. Reminicant of other clever rockers: Ben Folds, Ben Kweller or Weezer.. but there is only one Fred Van Vactor! His Debut Album; Everything Good All At Once, produced by Christopher Hoffee is out NOW Summer 2009. ****************************************************************************** Fred Van Vactor tells the story about his debut album, Everything Good All At Once. Basically I wanted to make a fun pop record that 'didn't suck' and this is what we came up with! I also didn't want to pigeon hole myself into a specific genre. This being my first album, I wanted it to be broad musically. I didn't want people to get bored. Just as The Beatles can be described as a 'rock-n- roll band,' they still compiled songs like; Back In The USSR, Bungalow Bill, Piggies, and Blackbird together on the White Album. Through a seemingly miraculous series of happenstance's I ended up in the recording studio with producer Christopher Hoffee (of San Diego's Truckee Brothers and Atom Orr.) I had met Christopher through Steve Poltz (one of that area's most creative and influential songwriters). Steve suggested that I work with Christopher, and it was kind of a no brainer. It was too perfect. So, we put our heads together and hit it off really well. We began tracking and called a lot of people to come by and play on it. The process took around a month and a half. Everyone was stopping by and raving about how good it was. I was ecstatic. I came back home to Eugene and sent it to LA. To be mastered. I thought I was done. I wasn't. The artwork (I hired a close friend) was taking a ton of extra time and it was winter. I was back in Oregon. It was cold, freezing and raining and the economy was sinking. I got a house mate to help out financially. I had just put my home on the market so I could move to L.A. and legitimately begin my career. I was trying to pay my mortgage, so I took a job in a local restaurant. I was working nights, so subsequently I wasn't playing gigs. It felt like everything was grinding to a halt. My situation felt like a giant boat anchor that was pulling me down. I had a knowing sense that it was all going to work out in the big picture, but I would be lying if I said I never experienced thoughts of doubt. Then, in an attempt to 'get away' and 'relax' for a few days, I went to Portland to visit some friends and stay at my sister's house. I met up with a friend and had dinner at an infamous 'hot spot' known for it's food, drinks, and hip atmosphere. 2 hours later, I was sick with food poisoning. I threw up all night and had the shakes. I turned into a human squirt gun! It was horrible. I spent the next day lying on the sofa, sucking on ice chips to get moisture in me when my housemate calls, sounding unusually emotional, and says, 'I just came home and somebody smashed a window and broke into the house!' They had gone through every drawer and closet taking anything of value: camera's, guitars, computers, you name it! The place was completely ransacked! It was a rough time. I also discovered a spot on my forehead that appeared to be cancer. It turned out to be benign. Still, my dermatologist removed it to the tune of $4000. The only thing that was keeping me sane and grounded was my daily yoga practice at Bikram's Yoga College of India. I was like, 'bring on the punishment!' (Bikram's yoga, or hot yoga, is not known for being comfortable, or easy. Bikram Choudhury is famous for telling his students, 'I don't sell cheesecake,' and refers to his studio as a 'torture chamber.') At least I was keeping warm and loose! I still (at that time) had not found the right title for my c.d., which was getting very close to being finished and pressed. Then cosmically, on my birthday, I went to see
