When Van Hechter walks into a room, sound and style arrive with him. He’s equal parts crooner, philosopher, and provocateur — a man who dresses emotion in rhythm and confession in melody. Over the years, Music Authentic has followed his evolution from the sleek romanticism of Love Elastic to the unapologetic groove of Hot Damn! and now to his latest bilingual single, Boy Problems — a dance-floor anthem that dares to explore heartbreak without self-pity. It’s universal, it’s intimate, and it’s quintessentially Van Hechter: elegant, human, and brutally honest. We’ve been spinning it frequently on the show, and it feels like the kind of song every man — and everyone who’s ever loved — can find themselves in.
Today we sit down again with Van Hechter to talk about duality, honesty, image, collaboration, and what it means to keep dancing through the heartbreaks.
Music Authentic: With “Boy Problems” now out in the world and getting spins on radio stations across the US and Canada, it’s a growing hit. During the highs of launching it who was the first person you called to celebrate with, and why?
Van Hechter: OMG I don’t celebrate these things. To me it’s another day on the job. I think I sent the song to a handful of very close friends and that was it- had wine and went to bed! Launching the song, breaking it in at Orage in Montreal then officially releasing it at Stonewall in NYC were two wonderful parties, but again- all in a day’s work. What I do isn’t more exceptional than what billions of humans do daily: we work- we go home and rest.
Music Authentic: You’ve been performing monthly in NYC since October, turning it into a ritual of sorts. What’s been the most surprising moment from these shows so far, and how does the energy there compare to your Montreal gigs?
Van Hechter: 2 huge surprises in NYC: my longtime estranged music partner from decades ago came to see me launch ”Boy Problems” and the entire Stonewall crowd jumping up & down when Chauncey Dandridge and I were singing our campy duet ”Disco Brother”. Wow!
How does the energy compare between Mtl and NYC is a very interesting question… Ehmmm. I think I am the only one in Montreal who hosts like a 1950’s cabaret MC- so the reaction is often that of surprise. In NYC that culture has always existed therefore they embrace me and I don’t need to explain who I am- they get it right away.
Music Authentic: On Boy Problems, you give voice to a man’s heartbreak in a way that doesn’t feel “victim-y” but rather self-aware and strong (you’ve said: if it’s not right, walk away). In your evolution as an artist, when did you shift from writing “heart broken” to writing “heart awakened”?
Van Hechter: When my marriage failed and I was 92% to blame. I was very sad but I’d done most of the breaking therefore it would’ve been very immature to even allow a sentiment of broken heartedness! Some lessons are learned the hard way.
Music Authentic: Looking back on your own experiences, is there a piece of advice you’d give your younger self about navigating love’s complications?
Van Hechter: To a 22-year-old me I’d say: ”You never put your ego in friendship which is why most of your friendships stick- that’s great. But the same rule should apply to love- no ego in love or you’ll make mess after mess after mess. Also: stop being afraid of your own shadow, know your worth! You’re being an idiot, right now!”
Music Authentic: You’ve spoken about “open relationships” as the conceptual underpinning of Boy Problems. In a world where dance music is sometimes about escape, how do you reconcile the escapist, celebratory genre of disco/pop with deeper emotional themes like relationship boundaries, trust, and self-worth?
Van Hechter: I think there’s no reconciliation to be had. Disco is all about transcending deep issues through dance. Anyone who only perceives disco/pop as shallow entertainment is missing the bigger point. We are wearing that much glitter precisely to sublimate raw pain.
Music Authentic: Your album “Hot Damn!” from last year still feels timeless, but with 2025 wrapping up, are there any tracks from it that have evolved in meaning for you through live performances?
Van Hechter: ”No Answer’s Not An Answer” went from being about one specific person to something way broader: ghosting in general, which I absolutely find unacceptable. I am outraged that we’ve come to believe that it’s ok the just disappear in a cowardly way. It’s rude and disrespectful.
Music Authentic: You’ve hosted supper-clubs (Funk-à-Folies) and live events where you mingle stage, MC role and audience interaction. With nightlife and clubs now re-emerging post-pandemic, how do you envision your live show evolving this year (especially with Boy Problems in the mix)?
Van Hechter: I just want to keep doing what I’m doing, whether in night clubs or supper clubs. And ”Boy Problems” will just be added to the list of songs to sing, it’ll fit in perfectly. Once I started MCing, greeting guests at the entrance, teasing them on top of singing there was no turning back for me. I’d found my formula. I’m not interested in conventional shows. I’m like a Bob Barker who also sings (winks to my friend Gary).
Music Authentic: You have a strong track record of making songs that work on the underground charts and in the club scene, yet your intention is often reflective, introspective. How do you maintain that “under-the-glitter” dimension — that sense of depth — while still making songs that are clearly calibrated for the dancefloor?
Van Hechter: I’m back to this: fabulousness always comes from a place of pain. You don’t throw on that much glitter unless you’re really hurting. The dancefloor is a place where, often times, in motion people reveal their true self. If you pay attention you’ll pick up on their wounds, joys, inner tears. All things they probably wouldn’t express verbally. You’ll make a deeper connection on a dancefloor than in a formatted well to do conversation, I’ve always found.
Music Authentic: Your collaborator Eryck Wyseman is clearly central. When you two are in the studio, what’s the moment when a song “clicks”? Is it the beat going down, your lyric finding its voice, or a visual/wardrobe idea that sparks the sound?
Van Hechter: He’s always creating beats and chord progressions. Typically, I’ll walk in and he’ll play me whatever tracks he’s come up with that week and I’ll go: ”This one- I want to write lyrics for this one”. From there we build a song. I don’t always write the full text on the spot but the general topic comes to me, often times, as a flash.
Music Authentic: Radio play has been a big win for you lately, with stations picking up your vibe. How does it feel knowing your music is soundtracking people’s drives or workouts, and has any listener story stuck with you?
Van Hechter: One of my very first fans, who eventually became a friend from conversations we had after shows, is dying at the moment. He texted me a few nights ago, that he had ”Boy Problems” on a loop to accompany him through his sentiment of loneliness, and that the song made him feel like someone understood his pain. DAMN! I’ll never forget this.
Music Authentic: You’ve got that rebellious edge in your lyrics, always provoking with a smile. In today’s music landscape, what’s one trend you’re loving and one you’re ready to see fade away?
Van Hechter: Sabrina Carpenter is redefining feminism the way Madonna did back in her hay day. I want more of this. Ladies who are full blown feminists yet enjoy sexual submission to a selected man. Why can’t the two notions coexist? She’s fire.
The trend I’d abolish??? We are truly going through an era of complacency and I’m afraid the tendency won’t fade. Social media encourages us to believe we are so damn important and unique, that what we are living is exceptional- so do songs such as ”I need good news/the devil wouldn’t walk in my shoes”. This is pure navel gazing!! Do you eat daily? Do you fear bombs will explode in your face at any moment??? Do you have a roof over your head? STOP COMPLAINING AND COUNT YOUR DARN BLESSINGS!
Music Authentic: If I may shift a little: you’ve been outspoken about boundaries — how you will cleanly end relationships when you sense division or betrayal. In songwriting, how do you decide when to revisit a wound vs when to close that chapter and move on? Is writing songs your way of revisiting or your way of catharsis?
Van Hechter: I like who I am at this point and I believe my wounds have molded me, therefore I refuse to deny the past: I embrace it for what it taught me. When I sing a song about someone who I feel has betrayed me, I’m celebrating what I learned from the experience. Sorrow fades, lessons we should keep forever.
How I cleanly end relationships after a betrayal? I walk away, abruptly, and if I cross paths with the person, it’s like they don’t exist. They are completely blocked out. Their betrayal transformed me into a new person and that new person has no space for them- although I thank them for the push towards a better me.
Music Authentic: Over the last few years you’ve been working across Canada (Montreal), France and the U.S. (especially NYC). How has shifting between those cultural spaces changed your artistic voice — in sound, in image, in performance?
Van Hechter: NYC gave me the green light, I’d say, to become the fullest version of Van. From then on there was no turning back. I just carry what Manhattan ignited in me wherever I go. I haven’t changed; I just finally came into my artistic self. Montreal and Paris are wonderful, but I was born on the stage of Stonewall Inn after Chauncey Dandridge saw something in me and decided to ”endorse” my character. Before that I was still rather timid.
Music Authentic: You’ve talked about helping “underdogs” and giving people permission to be themselves. With Boy Problems, and your bilingual, multi-cultural identity, what message do you hope reaches someone listening who maybe doesn’t feel they belong — in friendship, in love, in community?
Van Hechter: The most human, open, wonderful beings are or were all outsiders at some point. The very quality that makes you different, that they will try to mock, is your biggest strength.
Rapid Fire Round
MA: Coffee or tea to kick off a songwriting day?
VH: Green tea with ginger and sometimes cayenne in it- I brew my own and drink at least a gallon.
MA: Favorite guilty-pleasure track from another artist right now?
VH: ”Pretty Girl Era” by Lu Kala. She cracks me up. Instant happiness as soon as I hear the first bars.
MA: Montreal poutine or NYC pizza?
VH: Please, I don’t even smell poutine much less eat it! Look at my abs! I will do thin crust pizza in ANY city, mind you!
MA: One word to describe the vibe of your next unreleased song?
VH: Happy
MA: Dream duet partner, dead or alive?
VH: Harry Styles
MA: First song you played on your radio show when you heard it the first time and thought “I could do this”?
VH: Rapture by Blondie, then all the first Culture Club hits!
MA: Disco-floor fantasy venue (real or imagined) where you’d love to debut Boy Problems.
VH: If I play at Studio 54 on one of the rare nights it reopens: I’ll be in disco heaven. I was so envious of anyone who went to the Valentino party a few months ago.
MA: One lyric in Boy Problems that you nearly cut but kept.
‘VH: ‘Tout seul à Montrèal” which means ”All alone in Montreal”. I added it on the spot in our studio, told Eryck ”We’ll see if we want to keep it later but I have an idea- just record”. It’s my favorite bit of the song, as it turns out. It makes it so specifically located.
MA: Your go-to fashion accessory when you’re heading into studio vs stage.
VH: In studio I look like hell! I mean it’s just two guys producing a song- I wear track suits, sneakers and no makeup whatsoever.
For stage: always a suit with pocket square in the blazer, sexy disco boots, 7 shades on my face to mimic abnormally perfect skin + I paint my eyebrows & stache, playing around with shape. That’s the formula- in various variations.
MA: If you had to pick one word to summarise 2025 for you it would be — ?
VH: Rebirth