Max Fracas - An American Rock and Roll Band

31 December 2011
New Years Eve - Pavillon, Sindelfingen. Ticket Info.

MaxFracas

MaxFracas got its start as a duet in September of 2001 when Vic convinced Tracy to blow the dust off his guitar and get back into music. It didn't take long for their gear to overflow the closet-sized practice facility in Musberg, forcing a move to Magstadt and the spacious but kerosene-scented basement of Tracy's house. And it didn't take long after that for them to realize that while Sam (the electronic drummer) was always on time and always sober, his personality just wasn't cutting it. So in May of 2002, Whit joined the band. No drummer would willingly play without a bassist, and Whit brought along Mike, a guitar player who somewhat reluctantly said he'd take care of the band's low end work.

After several months of practice as a quartet, the band formed under the name "Kitchen Pass" and played its first gig in September 2002, performing during the annual 24 Hour Marathon fundraiser at Patch Barracks in Vaihingen. Since then, the band's membership has changed a number of times, starting with Mike's decision to accompany his family back to the US rather than staying in Kitchen Pass as he really wanted. Mike's departure precipitated a long hunt for a replacement, only for his replacement, Chad, to return to the US after hanging for only a few months in the band. The band lost little time finding and convincing Simon, a local sound engineer and guitarist, to pick up the bass.

After a forced hiatus because of Tracy's yearlong sabbatical from Stuttgart, Kitchen Pass came back to life as MaxFracas. Simon said he really wanted to get back to running sound, which led to bringing aboard David, a cellist by training but electric bassist by necessity because hardly any rock band wants much in the way of a cello. To complete the lineup and put the “max” in MaxFracas, the band added Aaron on guitar and Florian on keyboard. Aaron brings a unique love of both metal and classical guitar, and Florian, the band’s native German, brings an encyclopedic song list and an uncanny ability to push those 88 keys at just the right time.

Vic

Vic got a guitar on his 13th birthday. His mom ordered it from the Montgomery Ward catalog. It was a Silvertone archtop and it cost $27. Vic was disappointed to find out that he couldn't immediately play something.

Like most kids when he was growing up, Vic wanted to be in a band. But there wasn't enough talent or interest to get one going in his tiny high school (25 students) in rural Oregon. He took exactly one guitar lesson, getting his mother to drive all the way to Astoria for it. Vic hated the lesson, as all the teacher wanted to do was practice scales.

Dumping the idea of actually learning how to play the guitar, Vic hooked up with an older woman (Randi was a senior) who had a beautiful Fender bass and amp. Their enthusiasm exceeded their talent, and they flopped trying to play the song "Winchester Cathedral" during a high school dance. Except for occasionally picking up a guitar to sing lullabies to his daughter, Vic didn't make any music at all until convincing Tracy to join in the duet which grew into Kitchen Pass and now MaxFracas.

Tracy

Tracy started playing guitar when he was 9. He is self-taught and started playing in bands when he was 12; by his early teens, he was a unionized musician working in several bands through a booking agency in his home state of Montana. Tracy continued playing until starting university studies, after which he quit altogether until 2001.

After nearly 30 years of concentrating on his day-job, so to speak, Tracy was convinced to pick up the guitar again by Vic —the lead singer for MaxFracas. They had intended to form a duo just for fun, but the music bug rapidly infected both, and Tracy — after selling almost all of his band equipment nearly three decades earlier—once again began acquiring all the trappings guitarists are known for once infected with gear acquisition syndrome (14 guitars, 5 amps, 1 drum set, PA speakers, a vast array of stomp-boxes and effects pedals, etcetera).

Tracy plays electric and acoustic guitar, bass, and drums—but rarely simultaneously. His favorite style is rock, and his influences are “The Beatles,” “The Who,” and “Led Zeppelin.” Specific individual influences are Joe Walsh and Jimmy Page with a smattering of the bizarreness of Kate Bush. Tracy is also an admirer of John Mayer’s guitar skills.

Tracy plays Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, and Epiphone Elitist electric guitars through Fender tube amps. He also uses a Roland Cube-60 for backup, and plays his Yamaha bass through a SWR Black Beauty. His primary, preferred guitar amplifier is a Fender Vibrolux Custom, and his favored electric guitars are generally the semi-solid body types such as the Gretsch 6120 (actually closer to a true hollow-body with minimal internal tressling), Epiphone Sheridan Elitist, and the Gibson ES-335. Of course, the ubiquitous Fender Stratocaster is always in the line-up somewhere.

Tracy’s musical taste runs to serious forms of music that require a musician to actually know how to play an instrument. This would include rock, country, and classical. He also prefers studio work and writing, and has written all the originals that MaxFracas, mainly a cover-band, sometimes slips into its set list just for fun. He is looking forward to what is shaping up to be a very busy year with MaxFracas!

Whit

Whit started playing drums when he was 12. His father played drums in a jazz band in his youth and that sparked Whit’s interest in percussion.

Although he didn’t join a true band until his college years, while there he spread himself between a jazz quartet and a rock trio. Jazz taught him some interesting time signatures and a sense of syncopation whereas rock provided a sense of true power drumming.

Whit packed his drums away after college for almost 20 years and spent much of that time trying to improve his acoustic guitar playing and song-writing skills. He started drumming again about 10 years ago accompanying some of his favorite jazz recordings in a basement studio in Virginia.

Moving to Germany and meeting fellow rock music enthusiasts proved to be an excellent means to get back into performing with a band. Whit has found German audiences to be very appreciative of classic rock and American-style delivery—and that makes all the late night gigs and gear hauling more than worth it.

Of course, living in Germany since 2001, Whit felt compelled to invest in a German-made drum set, and currently plays a Sonor kit that is a dream-come-true instrument. Over the past 7 years, he has managed to learn to play drums and provide backing vocals at the same time with only occasional lapses in tempo management. To still be rocking at this point in his life is a very satisfying experience.

Simon

Simon is the band geek, wirehead, knob-twirler and bass player. He got his start in music by talking his parents into buying a Peavey T-40 bass guitar by explaining that it was easier to play than a guitar because it only had 4 strings. To make up for the 4 strings, he bought a 12 string Yamaha guitar shortly thereafter and learned to play both at his church. A Takamine acoustic 6 string joined the collection later.

His first job was installing sound systems in Baltimore, Maryland and taught him the basics. ProSound, as he discovered, was a hard life for little pay, so he left for greener pastures. In the late '90s he decided to get back into ProSound and has since supported many local shows and events and provides lights and sound for MaxFracas from his extensive collection of heavy and expensive gear.

The Peavey bass is long gone unfortunately, replaced by a Modulus Quantum 5, Carvin LB-70 and Michael Kelly Dragonfly acoustic.

Corporate Party for MC Dean - May '10