(Or How I Quit Worrying About Money &
Security and learned to love my Chevy Nova)
Fred Wilhelm was raised on a small family
farm in New England. After graduating high school he moved
to New York City on a Bonanza bus, carrying a suitcase and
a sleeping bag. It was while attending NYU in Greenwich Village
that Fred became a founding member of The
Astorians, a fixture on the New York rock scene
for much of the late 80's. They played up and down the east
coast opening for acts like The Replacements, Living Colour,
and The Psychedelic Furs; put out an independent record; and
received a great gob of critical praise. Then like many promising
bands before them, they imploded at CBGB's before a house
full of record executives, publishers and general music industry
dorks.
From the ashes, Fred and guitarist Richard
Pearce soldiered on as the duo The
Rails. Again, they put out independent records
and garnered critical acclaim and awards--including a New
York Music Award as "BMI's Best New Songwriter"
and a Billboard Songwriting Award for Fred. They secured the
questionable talents of an unscrupulous business manager and
even had a short-lived record deal with Elektra Records. With
five songs completed, the label decided the act sounded "too
much like The Incredible String Band" and dropped them.
Towing a U-Haul of guitars and studio gear,
Fred moved to Nashville to ply his craft as a songwriter.
His quirky pop songs were not met with indifference. "I
love what y'all are doing, but don't do it so much" was
a familiar refrain. It seemed the Nashville publishing community
agreed with Fred's mother - that being "fresh" was
not an endearing quality.
Then, in 1999, Jeff Giles offered Fred a deal
on his Grab
Bag Records label. The stars shifted.
Fred's song "Beneath You" was featured
in the film "Oxygen" starring Adrien Brody and Maura
Tierney; more film work followed. A tape caught the ear of
Billboard Magazine's Larry Flick, who wrote a glowing feature
on Fred in his "Continental Drift" column in which
he predicted that "Wilhelm wont be (major) label-free
for long." Even the Nashville skeptics changed their
tune, with two of Fred's songs being recorded by major label
acts in the past year .
In February 2000, "amidlife" was
released. Largely recorded in Fred's attic studio, the record
is a compelling mixture of Fred's varied locations and influences;
a mixture of pop melodies, folk/country instrumentation, hip
hop beats, samples, and surprisingly effective rapping.
"I wanted to mix all these elements up
and sing about things that affect my life, a guy in his mid
30's, still struggling to succeed," explains Fred. "Most
records today are young guys whining or old guys reflecting--I
thought I could offer a more unusual perspective."
The album caught the attention of several
local radio stations. Live, Fred performs accompanied only
by his acoustic guitar and a drum machine, lovingly referred
to as "Nine Volt Posse"-think the opening performance
by David Byrne in the film "Stop Making Sense."
The result is an engaging folk alternative: lyrics that demand
your attention and beats that'll make you shake your hips.
Extensive touring and more writing/recording are the plan
for the immediate future. "I want to make another record,
that's my goal."
