orginal interview was on:  upbeetmusic.com



<p>November 22, 2005, 10:50 am

<p>Nothing's Gonna Change
<br>Interview by: Robert Velasquez

 
<p>With a recent Island signing in the air The Rocket Summer’s Bryce Avary sat down and talked to UpBeetMusic.com about the new deal for the first time

<p>First off, you just kicked off the “Around the Clock Tour” in Austin yesterday, what are your hopes for this tour after seeing the turnout for the first day and what you’ve seen of today?

<p>The first night was such a good way to start off the tour. I sort of feel like Austin and San Antonio have kind of been, not our best market to say the least, almost one of our worst in the whole country, which is kind of bizarre because I’m from Texas. But last night was off the hook, I’m just so thrilled right now I’ve never been so excited about a tour.

<p>I wanted to ask you about the recent announcement that you’ve signed a deal with Island Records. Can you give us a little more insight into how it happened and how you feel about it?

<p>It’s really weird because, I don’t even know how to respond to that, because there are a lot of legal things that just happened. But yea… I did sign to Island, I’m just going to say it. But I’m still on Militia, the whole Island thing doesn’t really mean anything till I make a new record which isn’t going to be for like another year, so it’s still kind of before all that starts happening. But LA Reid is like the man, they came to the show, like four or five shows and it just happened

<p>So are you looking forward to hanging out with JZ and Beyonce?

<p>I don’t know, it’d be cool if that happens, I hear it might, I don’t know man, all I care about is making a good album now

<p>Is it any harder focusing on “Hello, Good Friend” now that you’ve signed this deal and are looking forward to making another album?

<p>No because I feel like “Hello, Good Friend” and “Calandar Days” are good records, I’m proud of both of them and don’t feel like one is better than the other. I feel like for some reason people are starting to hear both of them, whether it’s because of MySpace or whatever. I’m really excited and I’m writing a lot of new stuff, but I’m not going to rush the situation.

<p>Were there any new struggles that came about when writing “Hello, Good Friend”?

<p>I hope I never have a recording experience like that again, it was weird. It was right before I got married in January. I moved up to Brooklyn and like cut myself off from everyone and it just kind of messed with me, it was just emotionally tough, how do I put it… it was just bad timing to make a record. But I’m excited about the next one, but at the same time I’m more excited about as many people as possible hearing these two records

<p>How different is touring now that your with you wife?

<p>It’s awesome.

<p>Is it any easier on you or are there any new stresses involved? She works really hard, she’s like the tour manager and she does merch. She’s made things so much easier, it’s awesome. Right when we got married, really soon after we went on tour and the whole band and her and me were sleeping in the same room. So that wasn't necessarily the best thing to start our marriage on, so we have to get our own room now, but it’s good, it's really good. I just have to let her do her thing, she told me today "I do my job and she’ll do hers", because I was like, "You should do this and this" with the merch and she was like "Do your job and I’ll do mine".

<p>So that’s been the extent of the tour drama for you two?

<p>Yea just sometime me getting too involved in her "biznas," so I let her do her thing now.

<p>How do you think be married now will effect your writing if at all?

<p>I’m sure it will, it’s definitely the coolest thing in the world. But, like wow, a year ago seems like so long just because I feel like I’ve learned so much about growing up and life, I don’t know how to put it.

<p>Is there a certain message you were trying to get across with "Hello, Good Friend"?

<p>Yea I mean, the whole record was just real honest about my faith and the struggles I go through and victories. There wasn’t a common theme like with "Calendar Days" where everything felt the same from start to finish, "Hello, Good Friend" feels like a roller coaster, I guess kind of because that’s how my life was at the time.

<p>I know faith is a big part of your music and what you’re doing. How do you feel it’s changed how you come across to fans and your music?

<p>That’s more than music and more than everything, it’s my faith, that’s why I do this and why I’ve been blessed. I worked hard but even at the end of the day it’s like, thank you god for giving me this opportunity, I want to see this as sort of like a ministry.

<p>Where do you hope to be, career wise, in say a year or two?

<p>I hope to be the biggest thing in the world, naw I’m joking, actually I’m not joking, but I am, you know how comedy goes. I just sinceraly hope that everything pans out and I’ll continue to have a music career, whether it’s touring in a van or a bus. I hope I’ll make a good record and it’ll touch people and provide a way to make another record and another one and another.

<p>You looking forward to being able to tour in a bus as opposed to a van?

<p>I don't know that'll be a good day, but I know a lot of bands on majors that tour in vans. Yea, but a lot has been said about your music being very quote unquote accessible, and that it’s going to be easy for Island to market you, especially given what they've done with band’s like Fall Out Boy. Yea that's kind of like the kicker, it's pretty much a given seeing what they’ve done with Fall Out Boy and The Killers, their whole lineup, they're really happening right now. They seem like they know how to work records and I feel very fortunate. It's so weird, this is the first time I talk about it, I don't even know if I’m allowed to, but whatever, I signed the papers.

<p>Militia Records seems to be doing really well lately too, who do you see as being the next band to move onto a major label?

<p>Reeve Oliver just did right? Yea. Yea, they just signed to Capitol. I mean Copeland should be that band, it’s kind of a given to me. I don’t necessarily think that going to major means anything, I mean it means something, but there are plenty of bands that are far bigger than major labels bands. Like Death Cab, well they’re on a major label now but even before they were, and like Bright Eyes, they’re so much bigger than… me... you know what I'm saying. I just think the whole major label thing is cool because, like the music I play, and what I do, I feel like it's sort of the road for me, whereas someone like Conor Oberst, probably shouldn’t do that. Yea, that’s his image. Yea I mean, he's an indie guy and he’s touched like a million people. But I'm excited for a band like Copeland. I can see them doing fine either way, they are getting really big, so I’m happy for them.

<p>What can we expect from you after this tour?

<p>I think I’m just going to be writing a lot in December. We might do an east coast thing in January and I think we're going to Japan. I really hope we get to support someone, we’ve never really gotten to do that. We played here once with Sugarcult, but pretty much I've always headlined. It's not ever really been my choice, but hopefully we’ll get to do a support tour.

<p>Who would be your ideal band to support?

<p>I want to go on tour with Weezer, that’s like my favorite thing. But I would love to tour with anybody. I think it'd be good to tour with Dashboard or someone like that. I would love to tour with Fall Out Boy or anybody really.

<p>Who would you say is your favorite band right now, what's in your cd player?

<p>I'm trying to think of something I’ve been listening to a lot lately... We're talking out a band on this tour called Sherwood and I've been listening to their cd, they’re really good. I swear I've been listening to something that I just bought recently, it's really good but I just can’t seem to think of it, how weird is that? I'm the kind of guy that puts in a cd, listens to three or four songs and pops in another. I don't even have an ipod or anything, actually I do, I've just never been able to figure it out, but I don’t know. Gosh, what is my favorite thing right now? Oh, this girl named Mindy Smith, she's not like scene or anything, she’s kind of like country, singer songwriter. It's the most heartfelt beautiful thing I've ever heard. Her names Mindy Smith, it's freakin great. So that's what I’ve been listening to a lot.

<p>Any final words to your fans out there?

<p>Thank you first of all for doing the interview and I guess since this is the first time I talk about signing to a major label... I'm not a sellout! Please remain my fan, and please remain in The Rocket Summer family, nothing’s going to change!