The reality of the music business is that almost all musicians have a past. Although it may seem that so many of today's pop acts are overnight sensations, chances are that unless the average age of your favorite band is twelve, the members of that group have done time in cover bands, bar bands, club bands or any combination thereof. Vitamin C is no exception. The singer, whose real name is Colleen Ann Fitzpatrick, just happened to do her pre-fame stint in a nationally signed alternative band that went by the witty name of Eve's Plum (named after Eve Plumb, the actress who played Jan Brady on The Brady Bunch).

Fitzpatrick's ascent to Teen People cover girl has been all the more remarkable in the music industry because of her public past in the alternative music scene. The metamorphosis from lead singer of a semi-anonymous club band to teen pop star is one that would not only do famous music chameleons David Bowie and Madonna proud, but even Franz Kafka would be impressed.

With the release of the aptly titled More, her second solo album under the name of Vitamin C, Fitzpatrick could've laid to rest her alternative past if she so desired. But Fitzpatrick seems to have gone the other route; embracing her songwriting roots and even introducing a new generation to the sassy, playful Waitresses' classic "I Know What Boys Like." The result is a much stronger album than her debut; one that is sexier, more confident and much more musically diverse.

Fitzpatrick, who recently had a starring role in the film Dracula 2000 and will appear in the Kirsten Dunst flick Get Over It and Metal God with Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston, is, in her words, "Having a great time these days." With More's first single, "The Itch" cracking the Top Ten, she's also proven her debut success was no fluke.

Where did "The Itch" come from?

"The Itch" was an accident. I responded to [co-writer] Billy Steinberg's lyric because I thought even though we set it in this particular story of a girl in a relationship who isn't getting what she needs, it's really a metaphor for desire. Everything just coincided without my realizing it. I was playing Lucy in Dracula 2000, and she's a character who is totally open, sexual and curious and definitely has "The Itch" on many different levels. And it was just coincidence that all this stuff kind of like came together for me. Because I get the itch all the time. And to me that really means something.

What is it like for you when "The Itch" comes calling?

You know that weird cat dance that cats do late at night where they go completely stir-crazy and they run around the apartment and you don't know what the hell they're doing? I often feel like that. I dye my hair constantly because I can't sit still with one hair color. That's a perfect example of trying to satisfy some hunger. I want change; I want constant stimuli. I love to fly because I love the high. All of these are like itch kind of things. Sometimes I need to completely get away. I'll get in the car and I'll drive for as long as I can drive. Sometimes it's a sexual urge. I don't need to explain that; it's pretty self-explanatory. It's a craving, a desire. Sometimes it's food. I'm just a giant, big ol' consumer. I want, I need, I crave, I can't say no. I have no control and I'm a complete control freak. It's just crazy [laughs].

How do acting and music do to complement each other?

I'm not quite sure that I know how they complement each other, because I use them for the opposite reason. I find music to be an intensely personal kind of thing, perhaps it's because I write a lot of the stuff. I use acting to escape from being me, and I use music to explore being me. I think that's the best way to put it.

You mention writing, which is interesting because you come from a rock & roll world where people mostly write their own lyrics. Now you're in a world where that's not the case. Has it been difficult to marry the two worlds?

I haven't found it difficult because I find this very enjoyable. It's really challenging. And I'm really proud of the record because it's a really good record. There's nothing harder than to write a pop record with meaning. I think it's much easier to be alternative. It's much easier to be different and take a different path outside of a commercial context. To try and write a pop song that is not cliché, to try and write a pop song that has meaning and fits in under three minutes and five seconds and has a hook that people want to listen to is the most difficult thing in the world to do. So in lieu of that you have to write what you know and what you like, what you're feeling. That's all I can basically do. I don't begrudge the other people that don't write their songs. And I don't judge them. I'd like to see more people writing their own songs, because that's just personally what I like. Just for me, as an artist, so many people only care about being popular right now. Whatever happened to trying to write a song that means something? When I was growing up, artists meant something. They had opinions, they looked different than the person working at the store on your street. They opened your eyes and taught you something about life. And I would like to aspire to be that kind of artist.

What did you learn from the writing of this album?

I learned I'm not the kind of artist that can just sing someone else's songs, for a lot of reasons. I have to have some sort of understanding of the song, or some sort of attachment to it.

STEVE BALTIN
(February 27, 2001)