The Rocket Summer
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"It's the most 'alive' music I've ever made," Bryce Avary says of
'Zoetic', The Rocket Summer's sixth studio album. "I didn't want to make
a sappy record; I wanted to make a record that sounds like bombs going
off, because that's what my mind felt like. There's a certain manic
nature in these songs that I really like, and a restlessness that feels
really honest to me." Over the past decade and a half, The Rocket
Summer - masterminded by singer / songwriter / producer / multi-instrumentalist
Avary - has built a rich and expansive body of work that's won the loyalty
of a diverse and devoted international fan base that continues to
embrace Avary's exuberant songcraft, optimistic, evocative lyrics and
adventurously layered soundscapes.'Zoetic' marks a creative milestone for
Avary, with such sonically and emotionally compelling tunes as 'Cold
War', 'Same Air', 'Help Me Out' and 'FL, CA' showcasing the artist's
songwriting skills and studio mastery while tapping into a wellspring of
edgy inspiration that reflects the unique creative journey that produced
the album. "There wasn't any kind of deliberate attempt to make
something that would be this different from my past records," Avary
states. "I just knew that I wanted to tear down any barriers, including
the subconscious ones, and make a record that had no rules. So I just
followed the songs that were coming out of me and made sure there were
no boundaries in the process of arranging and recording them. That
approach allowed me the freedom to push myself to make sure everything
that was being recorded would be something new and unique." When he
started to plot out his next record, the Dallas-based Avary sought an
inspirational change of scene, renting a small house in Los Angeles'
fabled Laurel Canyon, sleeping in one room and turning the other into a
makeshift recording studio. The experience proved cathartic for the
artist.
"I basically fell in love with music all over again, like I had when I
was first learning to play," he says. "I pretty much didn't come out
for a year. My only mission was to be as creative as possible, and to
push myself further than ever. In the process, I recorded around four
or five albums of material. I just couldn't stop writing and recording.
I realized that something different and special was happening, so I
knew I had to follow the trails of the song ideas to see where they all
led."
"Being in Los Angeles, my initial thought had been that I was going
to collaborate with other songwriters and producers," he continues.
"But as I became aware of the vision I had, the amount of music I wanted
to tackle and the kind of out-of-the-box sounds I wanted to capture, I
realized it was going to be totally on me to pull it off. At some
points it felt like an insurmountable mountain, but it was a fun
challenge to try and conquer it. I'm always wanting to learn, and this
experience certainly pushed me to learn to use new tools and creative
gadgets that helped create a unique sound for the album."
Avary became
musically active in his early teens, teaching himself to play a variety
of instruments and joining his first band at the age of 14, before
breaking away to play acoustic solo sets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
At 16, he issued his first EP as a limited-edition indie release,
adopting the identity of The Rocket Summer; the name was borrowed from
Ray Bradbury's sci-fi classic 'The Martian Chronicles'.
"I always liked
the idea of releasing it under a moniker other than my own name," Avary
explains. "Even though it was just me on the record, it created an
atmosphere of something bigger than one person, something that people
could feel more a part of and I've stuck with that ever since."
The Rocket Summer's first full-length album, 'Calendar Days', won considerable national attention in 2003. It was followed by 2005's 'Hello, Good Friend', which peaked at #26 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. The latter disc generated sufficient fan interest to allow Avary to assemble a live band and tour in the U.S. and Japan. The Rocket Summer's indie success helped to win Avary a deal with Island / Def Jam, which released 'Do You Feel' in 2007. That album reached the Top 50 on the Billboard album charts and #16 on the Billboard 'Top Rock Albums' charts, while spawning a pair of popular singles in 'So Much Love' and 'Do You Feel'.
'Of Men and Angels' followed in 2010, debuting at #1 on iTunes and producing a pair of hits in 'Walls' and 'You Gotta Believe'. The same year, Avary branched out to write 'Stomping The Roses' for American Idol alumnus David Archuleta. In 2011, Avary released the live acoustic album 'Bryce Avary, His Instruments and Your Voices' for free via The Rocket Summer's website which had over 50,000 downloads on the day of its release.
Avary moved from Island / Def Jam to his own label, Aviate,
for The Rocket Summer's 2012 album 'Life Will Write the Words'. Despite
being an independent release, the album debuted at #58 on the Billboard
Top 200 and #12 on Billboard's 'Top Modern Rock' / 'Alternative Albums' chart,
and was supported by The Rocket Summer's most successful tour to date.
Although Avary built his reputation as a studio-based visionary, The
Rocket Summer has also earned an impressive reputation as a live act,
expanding into a full-band lineup to sell out venues in the U.S.,
Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France and Japan, while
performing at such prestigious festivals as Glastonbury, Soundwave,
Austin City Limits, Bamboozle, the Vans Warped Tour and SXSW. Now, with
'Zoetic' raising the musical stakes, Avary is looking forward to the
challenge of translating his new material to live performance after a
break from touring to focus on this album.
"Playing live is like oxygen to me, so it was hard being away for this
long, because it's like putting fuel in the tank for me," Avary asserts.
"So this absence is going to make hitting the road taste that much
sweeter. This is the most layered and nuanced record I've ever made,
and there are a lot of new sounds to try and figure out how to translate
live. So it will be cool to pull these songs off with a live band, and
hear how they come off in a more raw, on-the-fly scenario." The ongoing
devotion of The Rocket Summer's fans makes the prospect of touring all
the more alluring for Avary. "The thing that I'm most proud of about The
Rocket Summer is the fan base, and the passion they have for the music
and for each other," he says, adding, "I've always viewed music as the
friend that can convince you not to jump in your darkest hour. So I
have often thought about that while writing, and I often consider how
fans will relate to the songs that I'm writing.
But I'd also say that,
with this album, I intentionally didn't allow myself to be influenced by
how people would receive it. A big part of breaking down creative walls
was to start fresh and only allow myself to follow the songs themselves
and what was coming out naturally. And I think that's why it sounds a
bit different, because it's raw, creative expression with zero
expectation or rules of any kind. Obviously I'm very different now,"
Avary concludes. "But one thing that hasn't changed is that I still view
music as being the most beautiful and mysterious gift on this planet.
I'm always thinking about how much more music I can make, how much
further I can push it, how more I can learn and how much further the
music will take me. I know that I haven't gotten to the place where I'm
headed musically, and maybe I never will, and that pushes me to keep
going. I always feel like it's still just the beginning."
The Rocket Summer