The Rocket Summer
Interview with Bryce Avary
Elyse and Bryce
S&S: What is the best part about being on Warped Tour?
Bryce: I think the best part about being on Warped Tour is the energy.
[I love] waking up every day and bands are playing. It's like summer camp.
I haven't experienced anything like this since I was a kid. We're all playing
rock music., so it's pretty cool.
S&S: How is "Do You Feel" different from your previous albums?
Bryce: I think it's a lot different. Musically, I had a goal. It's
definitely much bigger sounding, like sonically. Lyrically, I had more to
say. I knew what I wanted to say.
S&S: What is your favorite song on "Do You Feel?"
Bryce: I think my favorite song is "So, In This Hour...," the last
song on the record. I love that song. Lyrically, it kind of sums up the
album. Musically, it's one of my favorite songs to play live. It's like
six minutes long.
S&S: You play all of the instruments on your recordings. How
do your songs usually come together? Do you start with a beat, lyrics, or
riff?
Bryce: It's all kind of different. Generally, I start on piano or
guitar. There are a lot of songs on the record that I actually started with
a drum beat. I think I still write the music first, like the melodies and
stuff. Then, I hear the beat.
S&S: Describe your dream tour. What bands would you play with,
and where would you go?
Bryce: My dream tour is headlining and being freakin' huge. My favorite
bands aren't really bands that I would really want to tour with, because
they're different. I've been listening a lot to Wilco, and it wouldn't make
sense to open for Wilco.
S&S: That would be great! I'd go to that in a second!
Bryce: You'd go? I would love it. It would be cool to tour with Weezer,
because they've been one of my favorite bands since I was a kid. That would
be kind of cool.
S&S: Have you ever been "star-struck" while meeting another
musician?
Bryce: I think so. I've met so many people randomly. I've met almost
all of my favorite people. So often, it's so disappointing. I haven't met
Robert Smith from The Cure. I don't really want to meet him. I've never
met Thom Yorke from Radiohead. I don't want to meet him either. I'd rather
keep them mysterious. I met Jeremy Enigk from Sunny Day Real Estate when
I was a kid. That was really cool. I played [a show] with Rivers Cuomo,
and he didn't talk to me the whole time.
S&S: What are some essential items you need on the road?
Bryce: Water, music, good attitude. I know that's not an item. For
me, I bring my Bible. It's a big part of my life.
S&S: How do you like to unwind after a show?
Bryce: I'm always so exhausted by the end of the day. There's not
much unwinding. I just like to watch TV. Maybe have a drink. It depends.
S&S: What is something that can always make you laugh?
Bryce: My wife makes me laugh all the time. She's like the funniest
person in the world. So, nothing really specific. She just makes me laugh
a lot.
S&S: What is your favorite song lyric, be it from one of your
own songs or another band's music?
Bryce: Oh, man. I really like Jets To Brazil.
S&S: I love Jets To Brazil! My favorite song is "Sweet Avenue." My
favorite lyric is in that song.
Bryce: What lyric?
S&S: "Budding at my fingertips, touching you I start to bloom."
Bryce: When I was a kid, Jets To Brazil was a huge part of my life.
I saw them a lot. I really like the line, "For all the bands who mean what
they say, it's not what you sell, it's what you make" (from "All Things
Good and Nice"). It's something that even today, you can start to lose that
thought sometimes. I think it's a beautiful thing to say.
S&S: Can you improv a short rhyming poem that describes your
life right now?
Bryce: Woah. I'm not really good at freestyle rapping. I think I
would suck. How about you do it?
S&S: My life is great as of late. It's always fun under the
sun. I can't do it!
Bryce: Well, you didn't really say anything about your life.
S&S: It's tough going into detail when you're trying to rhyme
real quick, too.
Bryce: I'm trying to rhyme. The first thing in my head was, "Listening
to Superchunk," and then I didn't know what to say. What rhymes with Superchunk?
S&S: Something funk. Or plunk.
Bryce: I don't know. I'll think about it for the next interview we
do.
S&S: You've been performing since you were a teenager. What
are some life lessons you have learned from your experiences in music?
Bryce: Try to enjoy it. Take pride in being original and not ripping
off anyone else. Just enjoy music. I've played with many bands that I think
are in it for the wrong reasons. Just keep that in focus. Like good old
Blake said.