the original URL of this interview was: http://www.saintrocknroll.com/interview.php?band=The%20Rocket%20Summer&date=2007-09-15

Saint Rock 'N Roll
Article By: Yvonne
Saint Rock 'N Roll
September 14th, 2007

 

As I waited for Bryce Avary, the mastermind behind pop band The Rocket Summer, to get ready for the interview, I was hoping the singer would be as down to earth as I had heard and imagined. I entered the nicely furnished tour bus, and sitting there was a barefooted Bryce, being exactly that. Right before his set on the Sleeping with Giant Tour with The Academy Is, Armor for Sleep, and Sherwood, Bryce gave us his opinion on the music industry, what's going on with the tour and lots more.

1. You started very young at the age of 12. How did you approach writing in the first place?

Bryce: I think I wrote my first song when I was 13. I don't know how I approached it. I just found some chords and started singing.

How about recording? Bryce: I used pro-tools and stuff like that. I had a 4-track and a little cassette thing. You could record 4-tracks. I started learning how to do over-dubss and pretty much recording my songs and nirvana songs.

2. You started playing the guitar but when did you realize you were going to be a singer and that the music career was for you?

Bryce: Honesty, I think I realized I knew I was going to be doing music right when I picked up the guitar. i always wanted to do it when I was a kid. When I finally got a guitar I kind of knew it was on.

What music did you listen to growing up?

Bryce: I was really into lots of different kinds of music. When I was 12, 13, 14, I was really into american indie rock and brit pop - Archbloke, Superchunk. Over time it just kind of started getting into music in general. I dont think theres one kind of music I liked more than the other.

Is there a favourite band you like right now? Or a genre?

Bryce: Not necessarily a genre. I've been listening to a lot of Son Volt and Wilco. And pop-country ish stuff.

3. Everything on your album cover is very unique. Do you get any input on your album art?

Bryce: I did all of it with my friend that works at Island [ Def Jam]. I didn't actually want to be on the cover of the record. But Island [Def Jam] wanted me to be on it.

Why not?

Bryce: Why didn't I want to be on the cover? Honestly because I'm on the cover on Hello, Good Fiend and I don't feel like it looked like me at all and I feel like it kind of damaged me a little bit in my mind. I don't really like that cover very much. But I was like "well I'll be on the cover if it's cool" so I came up with the idea of trying to be there but a cut out. And I'll write "Do You Feel" on my hand and I'll be looking away. Theres a whole bunch of scenery aroudn it.

4. Christianity is definitely a big theme in your music & your life. Do you think it's more influential to the fans because of the religion?

Bryce: Being a Christian and learning about Christ and walking with Him everyday - the struggles and the beauty of the whole thing is a huge part of my life and it comes out in the music. I wouldn't say we're a Christian band but I'm very much so a Christian. And it's very much so what I write about. The main reason we're not a Christian band, in that sense, is because I don't really want to be in a Christian business side of things. I feel like if I'm going to be singing about this stuff, I shouldn't be in a Christian bubble doing it. I should be in the world doing it. So, in the sense of Christian music, whether we're a christian band? We're not a Christian band, but we are. [laughs] It's hard to explain.

Was it your decision to release it to Christian stores?

Bryce: That was Island Def Jam's decision. I was actually really hesitant about it. But now, I dont really have a problem with it. It was more - I was just concerned... I don't know, I'm fine with it, They wanted to put it out there so that it could sell more records. And honestly it's fine with me but I had always avoided the Christian music industry and so when they wanted to do that just because they knew I was christian, I was really concerned about it. But it's really not a big deal. I think it's kind of cool that it reaches certain people. I don't know what records people buy at Christian stores. But maybe it's a kind of audeience that kind of wouldn't otherwise. Maybe we'll make some fans out of it and hopefully they'll hear what i'm saying and latch onto that.

5. Now that you're on Island Def Jam, a major record label, how are things different from the indie scene?

Bryce: It's definitely cool to have a record that's in stores. Being on Militia Group is cool but it's an independent, indie label which means there's less to check out. I mean theres 1000 copies of Hello, Good Friend in stores across the US. Which is kind of... not many haha. and I think theres about a hundred something thousand of Do You Feel in stores. That was cool. And making a record where the first time theres a recording budget that wasn't small. On Hello, Good Friend, I still had to end up borrowing money from my dad even though I was signed. It was really weird. But just that alone has been really cool. They're definitely trying to make this on the radio and MTV and stuff which is something that i've never experienced before. So far, So good.

Do you feel the pressure fit to their mold or what they tell you to do?

Bryce: Well, they didn't tell me to do anything. That was the funny thing. I made the record and they didn't come to the studio really. My A&R guy stopped by once or twice just to say hi. But I wrote every single thing on the record and I recorded it and I gave it to them; they loved it so they put it out. There were no issues there. My experience was a lot different what a lot of other major label bands have to deal with.

5. You Wrote "A Song is Not a Business Plan" when your van broke down a few years ago. It's a song about the music industry. What do you feel about the music industry these days?

Bryce: It's kind of towards the music industry and kind of towards artists and bands that are playing music nowadays for the fame more than the passion for it or what it's about. When I grew up, the famous bands were The Counting Crows, REM, and Nirvana; bands that actually had something to say. Nowadays it's not really about that; it's more about fame. As far as the MTV generation, I mean there are bands like Death Cab for Cutie, and Coldplay and other awesome bands, but as far as the VMAs go and stuff like that, I felt bitter that day because my van broke down and I've been doing it for so long and i was like "GAH!".

So you were frustrated by the industry?

Bryce: Yeah, so I wrote a song about it. But it's got a positive message behind it - to be real.

6. You write songs about what happens in your life, like the time your van broke down. But often your music and lyrics are very upbeat and sends a message that there's hope out there. Have you ever felt hopeless or dealt with depression?

Bryce: I've definitely had experience with that myself. When I was ending the recording of Hello, Good Friend, I just went through a really weird time and I felt like I was really pulled out of it, supernaturally. With this record, I definitely had a different mindset of just...I don't know. When you experience something dark, you have a different mindset.

Do you write music to help you?

Bryce: Yeah, a lot of people think or wonder sometimes "Oh your'e the happiest person I've ever met" just because they've heard my songs or whatever. A lot of times I write a lot of uplifting music to get out of it.

7. To Write Love on Her Arms is an organization to help youth deal with and overcome depression. It also sends a similar message of hope that you portray in your songs. How did you get involved with TWLOHA?

Bryce: Technically we're not partners, we share something in common. The way we got into TWLOHA, the girl Renee, which the story was based on, was when all that was going down, and all her friends were helping her out and bringing her to shows. They actually brought her to one of our shows. We were apart of the whole thing. When I saw her again, we started this thing called TWLOHA and it became huge. It's naturally something that anyone and fans can really easy to be apart of.

What do you think is the best way to connect with them besides organizations like TWLOHA?

I think the best way to connect with fans is, obviously, the internet. It's such a huge thing and you get a lot of answers. But just at shows and actually talking to fans. Connecting through the internet is pretty much the best way to stay in touch with people and pay attention to what people are saying.

You have a contest on your Myspace blog for Yahoo for fans to meet you.

Bryce: To meet me? [laughs]

Yeah, the prize pack is passes to your show and to meet you and... wait, you don't even know about it?

Bryce: I don't even know about it. Well, I just think it's funny because you can meet me every single night at a show. I hang out at the merch tables. Maybe it's like meeting me and hanging out on the bus. Maybe.

8. On your Myspace, you started a photo phenomenon - all your friends and fans have a picture of themselves duplicating your album cover. Is that something you wanted your fans to do?

Bryce: Yeah one day I thought it was a good way to get our fans to get connected with us. And have some fan connection. Also, It was a good way to promote the album. I've seen a lot of other bands do that too.

But you started off with it.

Yeah, I wish I got a patent on that or something (laughing)

9. You do everything by yourself - writing, instruments and recording. Now you have people doing it for you. Do you feel it's harder to get the emotions across during the show with other people doing what you do?

Bryce: I think it's easier, in fact. I think when we perform, people can finally put a visual with what they're hearing and see whats happening. As far as my band, no, I think it's just a new experience. I think people are pretty stoked to see my band because my band's really good. [laughs] They're really into it. We're all just realy really passionate about music and passionate about this. They're so passionate about it too which is cool becuase it's not as if they're these hired guns that I just got. They really believe in what I'm doing and what I'm saying in the music. I think they're having a lot of fun with it too. They put very much of that emotion through when they're playing. I think our fans can see that from all of us.

10. During the Warped Tour, how was it playing with punk and metal bands when you had a different sound?

Bryce: Dude, we totally fit in which was so weird. I was totally concernedthat we weren't going to. We did the tour and it's so diverse; there's metal bands, theres hip hop bands, pop bands, I mean there are bands that are even ska bands. So we just fit in really well. We made friends with a lot of metal bands. I think there are a lot of bands that kind of respected what we were doing and saw passed that it was pop. They saw that it was kind of musically - actually I dont want to be boasting - more intelligent pop and the part about me. I felt like we made friends with a lot of metal bands on the tour that was kind of impressed with our material.

Would you collaborate with any of them?

Bryce: Um, maybe. That would be cool.

How about any band in the world?

Bryce: Hmm, If anyone, probably U2, I think.

11. All the bands on the Sleeping With Giants tour are very different - much like the Vans Warped Tour. How is the crowd receiving your set?

Bryce: We're doing really well on this tour. I feel like a lot of our fans are coming out to the shows, and we're keep getting a good response. So far So good - knock on wood.

Is it a clear division of fans in the crowd or are they all meshed together?

Bryce: I think it's all meshed together. It's not really any division. It's not a terribly differnt so there might be a lot of different people here that don't know us but befriend us. So it's been really cool.

12. What can we expect from you after the tour?

Bryce: After this tour, I think we're going to be doing a headlining tour in the spring maybe. It's not official becuase there are still some things in the works that we can potentially do, like a really big tour, opeinng for somebody. But I think i kind of want to headline.

I was just going to say that - you NEED to headline and you have to come to Canada.

Bryce: Oh yeah, and if I headline, I want play all over Canada.

Who do you want to open?

Bryce: I don't know who I would want to open. It's been a topic since last week.

Would you let your label chose or would you chose?

Bryce: I always chose for sure. If I could have it my way, I would pick out a whole bunch of bands that no one has ever heard of that I just love. But our management's lke "no you gotta chose up and coming hot bands to help the show do better" and stuff.