Van Hechter: From Stonewall to Orage - A Life Between Montreal & NYC

I saw his Stonewall Inn performance a few days ago and was simply wowed. He has Bowie & Freddie M. energy, he sings a bit like David Gahan crossed with Ronnie Jones, his lyrics are modern and on point. He appears onstage super stylized, dressed to the nines, and charms the room, flirts with it literally. Then, just when you think you’ve grasped the full personae, he camps it up alongside the man he calls his “Disco Brother”, Chauncey Dandridge, performing funny yet socially critical duets.
I can’t get enough of Van Hechter- now that I’ve discovered him, and I believe your reaction will be similar if you don’t know him already.

So, you are Orage’s headliner MC in Montreal, you have signature parties in various venues, such as Neo-Disco Cabaret or Funk-à-Folies, and once a month you perform in NYC… How did that come about?

Chauncey Dandridge hired me to be a regular performer at his Freakout event, which is held at The Stonewall Inn once a month. Of course, I said yes. Then I filed for the proper paperwork, and when all was in order: tadahhhh!

Freakout is a wonderful variety show. I get to meet other artists, I get to see acts I normally wouldn’t, and it’s also a great excuse to perform my singles & all of our Disco Brother duets- duets I only perform with Chauncey.

First thought that went through my mind when you popped onstage was: ”This is as if Freddie Mercury and Bowie’s Thin White Duke merged and gave life to Van Hechter”…

So I’m the cosmic child of one gay man who somehow mated with a bisexual man, and created offspring? See, that’s very funny to me. I never did feel totally human. Maybe you’re onto something… You’d think I’d be more talented, though. I mean I know I’m talented but nothing compared to those two: they must be very disappointed in me! (Van roars)

And how did you wind up headliner MC at Orage?

They just trusted me to do me. We all sort of fell in love: I loved the bosses right away, then the staff and our members. Walking into Orage the first time, I felt at home. I knew about the club: it’s a Montreal staple. I liked the idea of a Libertine club. It’s atypical, and those are the environments in which I do best.

So, you like unconventional settings…

Yes. Nothing creative or even evolutive ever comes from sticking to narrow conventions.

When you were, say, 5, what did you think you’d become?

Exactly what I am now.

Really?

I had this vision of myself, in a dark room, lit by a huge bright spotlight, wearing a suit, throwing glitter at spectators and they were all smiling or laughing. The room wasn’t necessarily huge but it was warm and filled with silliness. I can never say I didn’t get my childhood dream: I’m living it now, 2 to 4 nights a week.

And so you don’t care to play big arenas in front of huge crowds?

I wouldn’t mind the money that comes with playing big arenas, I won’t lie. But even then, I think I’d do just enough shows to fluff up my bank account, then go right back to smaller venues. I love the direct contact with each spectator; high-fiving them, looking them in the eye.

I have to ask: what do you like about Montrealers, what do you like about New Yorkers? I’m sure this is a question that comes up regularly.

It is, but ok, I will answer. Francophone Montrealers have a sense of humor I’ve never come across anywhere else because it’s a cross between Brit, French, Native, and oppressed. It’s cutting, absurd, and “pinch without laughing”.

I could never do without it.

New Yorkers just make me cry! I walk around Manhattan, and strangers will walk up to me, strike up conversations. I never end a meal at a restaurant alone: inevitably someone will sit at the next table and off we go- often talking extensively. I don’t know what this bond is, but it’s unique, and I never want to do without it either, even if I am based in Montreal.

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Van’s newest song: