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For the Ray Bradbury short story, see The Martian Chronicles.
The Rocket Summer is the piano and guitar-driven rock solo-project of Stephen Bryce Avary who is based in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Avary is talented multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, and has often been touted as "the epitome of a hardworking musician:" Avary writes and produces every song on his records, as well as plays every instrument featured.[1] The Rocket Summer has come a long way from being a project Avary started in his Dallas, Texas, bedroom, inspired by such indie-rock bands like Archers Of Loaf, Jets To Brazil and Superchunk.[2] Starting as a teenager playing local shows in Texas, Avary has since released three albums and several EPs selling on five continents. He has been featured on the cover of AP Mag in April 2008 as one of "100 bands you need to know."[3]
[edit] Early life & musical interestAvary was born on Dec. 31, 1983, in Colleyville, Texas. Although he did not come from a musical family, he first became interested in music around the age of 12 when his father bought him his first guitar from a pawn shop.[4][5] Avary subsequently began teaching himself other instruments including the drums and piano, which he continues to use in his music today.[4] He also picked up saxophone by playing one that his father had had since his high school band days.[5] After being in a high school "indie rock punk" band inspired by Pavement, Archers of Loaf and Weezer, Avary began performing local acoustic shows as a teenager in Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton. [edit] Music career[edit] 2000—2003: Self-titled EP & The Early YearsAvary's local fan base grew, and in 1999, he released his first EP at the age of 16, with limited release. He distributed the EP under the name The Rocket Summer, at the suggestion of a friend, to local stores to be sold on consignment; the name is inspired by Ray Bradbury's short story, Martian Chronicles, which his friend was reading at the time.[4] Avary described project as initially "just a really fun experiment" that has since took flight.[4] His music appeared on The Adventure Club segment of the KDGE radio station, and quickly became the most requested local band on the program that year. [edit] 2003—2004: Calendar Days & Hello, Good FriendWith write-ups featured in local, national, and international magazines, and copies of his re-released EP (The Early Years EP) selling in five continents, Avary recorded, produced and released his debut album Calendar Days in 2003.[6] The album title comes from a line in the song "TV Family," and was officially released on Feb. 25, 2003. Using a $15,000 budget, the album was recorded in Kansas on the label The Militia Group.[7] Rory Felton, owner of The Militia Group, stated that he "was absolutely certain that Bryce was a star."[2] The album was critically praised as being extremely uplifting, and included varied music (for example, the track "What We Hate, We Make" includes the 6th grade choir in which his younger sister participated in Texas).[4] The album sold well throughout the United States and Japan. In Nov. 2004, Avary began working on his sophomore album Hello, Good Friend—the album title coming from the song "Never Knew." This album included more piano-centric songs than his previous album. To promote the album, The Rocket Summer extensively toured the US and Japan, gaining an even larger fan base. The Rocket Summer and The Militia Group subsequently partnered with the then-new new S/R/E Recordings to release the album to Christian retail outlets on July 26, 2005.[5] Shortly after Hello, Good Friend, Avary left The Militia Group in 2005 for a major record label deal.[2] [edit] 2004—2007: Do You FeelHe signed with major record label Island Def Jam Records for his third record and major-label debut, Do You Feel, which was released on July 17, 2007. On May 3, the song "Break It Out" was added to the The Rocket Summer website and Myspace in order to promote the new album. Tracks "Do You Feel" and "So In This Hour" were later included on a CD Sampler and leaked online. On July 11, 2007, the entire album was leaked online.[8] The first single off the album was "So Much Love," whose "adventurousness of the horn-driven R&B" has been described as admirable.[9] The Rocket Summer released the second single "Do You Feel" and its music video on Sept. 5, 2008. The video was co-directed and funded by Bryce Avary with director Nate Weaver. The video featured stories of real people with real issues, such as homelessness, addiction, disease and abuse. The video also featured cameos from artists Andrew McMahon of Jack's Mannequin, Matt Thiessen of Relient K, Josh Farro and Jeremy Davis of Paramore, Mike Herrera of MxPx, Forrest Kline of Hellogoodbye, Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low and Jonathan Cook of Forever The Sickest Kids. [edit] 2007—present: You Gotta Believe EP and Of Men & AngelsAfter the conclusion of extensive touring, Avary took some time off to write his most recent record, Of Men and Angels. He recorded the new album at Ocean Studios in Burbank, CA, from February to April. Avary finished the record in March but, due to unforeseen circumstances, had to wait for behind-the-scenes industry issues to clear. While waiting, he wrote new songs and recorded them in Austin, Texas.[10] Avary mixed some of the tracks with Neal Avron and produced the album with CJ Eiriksson, who also engineered the album.[10][11] As with all of his records, Avary played all of the instruments on the record, and released an "In the Studio" YouTube video featuring him playing a variety of instruments for the record, including the piano, drums, guitar and synthesizer.[10] To keep the record as organic as possible, Avary minimized the chopping of the drums, did not use Autotune on the vocals, and featured longer takes on the guitar. Avary has since described the album as "the most substance-filled Rocket Summer album to date."[10] Though originally expected to be released in mid-2009 by Island Def Jam, the album has now been pushed to a Feb. 23, 2010 release date, as was announced on Dec. 7.[12] To hold fans over, The Rocket Summer released a digital 4-track EP entitled You Gotta Believe on Oct. 27, 2009. The EP features three tracks off the record Of Men and Angels and one bonus track. The EP peaked at #1 on iTunes' top 10 alternative albums and #5 overall.[13] The Rocket Summer's "You Gotta Believe" music video premiered on AOL on Dec. 7, 2009, and featured clips of fans singing, dancing, and playing along to the tune.[14] The clip was directed by award winning director Randy Scott Slavin.[11] Coinciding with the EP release, The Rocket Summer has since begun a 34-city North American tour to promote his upcoming album.[11] Prior to his tour, he announced that fans may submit videos of themselves playing along to "So Much Love" on their instrument, and that at each show, a contest winner would perform on stage with The Rocket Summer.[12] [edit] Musical style & influenceAvary's music is known for his optimistic lyrics and upbeat rhythms, with "ebullient energy." His music has been described as a range of "headlong blasts of pure power pop cheer" to "sonata form" and ballads—all of which are "infectiously joyful."[6] He has been continuously praised for his hard work ethic as a musician, having written, recorded, and produced each song on all of his records, as well as playing every instrument featured. Influenced by Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins, Built to Spill and Superchunk, even Caedmon's Call and Dixie Chicks, The Rocket Summer's music moves between guitar and piano, complemented by bass and percussion, and is loaded with plenty of melodic hooks.[15] Avary further cites The Beatles and Michael Jackson as his two largest musical influences growing up.[4] [edit] TouringDuring performances, The Rocket Summer consists of Bryce Avary and his high school friends Seth Brewton on guitar, Matt Bergeland on bass, and Tommy Quinn on drums. He also tours with his wife Tara Avary as the merchandise manager, Brent Okuley as the tour manager and sound engineer, Hansel as the guitar tech, and Ryan Graves as the road assistant.[6] His current (DEC 2009) touring band consists of Seth Brewton on guitar, Nick Aranda (Nashville TN) on bass guitar, Justin Lew on drums, Stewart Karmatz as tour manager, Tricia Elsworth running the house mix, and Kevin Rife as the ever-indespinsable guitar/stage tech. While Avary writes and produces his albums as well as plays every instrument, he is also known for his hard work ethic on the road. The Rocket Summer has toured—and sold out—the US, Canada, the UK and Japan numerous times, and has also been responsible for taking now popular bands such as Paramore, The Plain White T's, The Format and Phantom Planet as support acts. The Rocket Summer has also played many worldwide festivals such as Glastonbury Festival in England, T in the Park Festival in Scotland, Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, Oxegen Festival in Ireland, Austin City Limits, SXSW, Bamboozle and Cornerstone, and the 2007 Vans Warped Tour. Other touring stints include a UK tour in the beginning of 2008 with The Secret Handshake and Between the Trees supporting. He then returned to the US in a co-headlining Alternative Press tour with All Time Low, The Matches, Sonny, and Forever The Sickest Kids. Again, The Rocket Summer returned to the UK for another headlining show between June 28, 2008, starting in Yeovil, and ending on July 16, 2008 in Birmingham. In 2009, the band co-headlined another tour from October 25 in Oklahoma City, OK lasting through December 5 which would feature Forever the Sickest Kids, with mention that My Favorite Highway, Sing It Loud, and Artist vs. Poet might be present. [edit] Critical receptionThe Rocket Summer has been well-received by critics, many of whom highlight Avary's success as a "one man show." Of his debut album Calendar Days, Rick Anderson of All Music Guide wrote: "The Rocket Summer is Bryce Avary, a phenomenally gifted 20-year-old whose self-produced, self-recorded debut album finds him playing all the instruments and singing (almost) all the parts to songs that, naturally, he wrote himself, and that sound like the product of someone who's had 20 years to hone his craft."[6] Calendar Days was extremely successful in Japan, to which Avary attributes his label's popularity and subsequent appearances on MTV.[4] Of his first album off of a major record label, Do You Feel, critics have given generally warm reviews. The album has been compared to a combination of " Cheap Trick's hard pop hooks, Dashboard Confessional's earnestness and Roy Thomas Baker's production ear."[16] Alt Press described Avary as "a stage actor moving to cinema," with "no sense of sellout."[16] His most recent You Gotta Believe has received positive remarks as well, with Alt Press's Scott Heisel reviewing the EP as "packed with soulful vocals, easily digestible choruses and inspirational, occasionally spiritual lyrics" whose only downside is that its four songs leave little room for variation or experimentation.[17] [edit] Philanthropy[edit] Call It CaptivateAvary has also created a clothing company by the name of Call It Captivate (CIC) in Oct. 2008. Call It Captivate aims to "express relevant art through fashion, to inspire, to educate, and most importantly, be used as an outlet to encourage people to give to those in need."[18] Call It Captivate has partnered with several credible charities, where 25% or more of each item purchased goes to a charity selected by the buyer. These charities include: Blood: Water Mission, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Holt International Adoption, These Numbers Have Faces, The LA Dream Center, The Miracle League of El Paso, and Doctors Without Borders. The company's website also promotes each of these charities by providing their mission statements in an attempt to educate the public and spotlighting a new charity each month.[19] CIC was featured in Feb. 2009 in AP magazine Issue #247 and in Nov. 2009 in AMP Magazine. [edit] Other charitiesAvary has also lent his vocals to several other charity events. Avary attended and performed acoustic at the Dallas Rescue for the Invisible Children campaign in Dallas, TX, on April 25, 2009.[20][21] On Jun. 23, 2009, Avary played at the closing ceremony for the Invisible Children rally, "How It Ends," [22] which took place on the White House Ellipse Lawn in Washington D.C..[23] [edit] Personal lifeIn 2005, Avary married his longtime girlfriend Tara, whom he has known since high school.[2] Tara now serves as his business manager and handles his merchandise, including at shows. [edit] Discography[edit] Studio albums
[edit] EPs
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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