'''
The Rocket Summer
is the rock solo-project of Bryce Avary who is based in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Avary plays every instrument on his records as well as produces them.
|
THE ROCKET SUMMER TICKETS
|
Overview
Bryce became interested with music around the age of 11, when his father bought him his first guitar from a pawn shop. He then started playing drums and various other instruments. 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. As Avary's local fan base grew, he released his first EP at the age of 16 in limited release during 1999. Distributing the EP himself under the name
The Rocket Summer
(the name inspired by
Ray Bradbury's short story) to local stores to be sold on consignment, 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.
With increased interest in the music from local, national, and international magazines and the EP selling in 5 continents, in 2003 Bryce produced and released his debut album
Calendar Days
. The album title comes from a line in the song "TV Family". Using a $15,000 budget, the album was recorded in
Kansas on the label
The Militia Group. The album was critically praised as being extremely uplifting, and included varied music (for example, the track "What We Hate, We Make" which includes the 6th grade choir that his younger sister was in from
Texas). The album sold well throughout the
United States and
Japan.
In November 2004, Bryce began working on his second album
Hello, Good Friend
- the album title coming from the song "Never Knew". This album included more piano central songs than his previous album. The Rocket Summer has toured the US and Japan extensively and has gained a large fan base. The album was subsequently released by a Christian music label to Christian retail outlets. Although The Rocket Summer is not a "Christian band", and it is not immediately obvious in his lyrics, Avary is a Christian and lets his faith influence his lyrics and his music. Avary says that his faith is the most important thing in his life.
He signed with
Island Def Jam Records for his third record,
Do You Feel
, which was released on July 17, 2007.
The first single from the album is
So Much Love. The Rocket Summer has released the music video for
So Much Love. On September 5, 2008, the music video for
Do You Feel was released. The music video for Do You Feel was co-directed by Bryce Avary with director Nate Weaver. The video was funded by Avary. The video for Do You Feel 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 Theissen 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.
While Avary writes and produces his albums while playing every instrument, he is also known for his hard work ethic on the road. The Rocket Summer has toured the US, Canada, The UK, and Japan numerous times and have 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 headlined many sold out tours in the US, Canada, The Uk, and Japan. 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.
The Rocket Summer toured with the
Vans Warped Tour in the summer of 2007 for two months. Although Bryce records all of his own instruments for his records, he tours with a band made up of high school friends. His band currently consists of Seth Brewton on guitar and Matt Bergeland on bass.
In
January 27,
2008, The Rocket Summer played a series of dates in the UK including major cities such as
London,
Manchester,
Newcastle and
Cardiff, with
The Secret Handshake and
Between the Trees supporting. Before The Rocket Summer's set every night, Jamie Tworkowski spoke briefly about
To Write Love On Her Arms. Without even having an album released in the UK, these dates sold out weeks before the tour began.
Beginning
March 14,
2008, The Rocket Summer co-headlined the
Alternative Press tour. It started in
Houston,
Texas and ended in May in
Cleveland,
Ohio. Also co-headlining was
All Time Low, with
The Matches,
Sonny, and
Forever The Sickest Kids supporting.
The Rocket Summer returned to the UK with a headlining show beginning on
June 28,
2008 in
Yeovil and ending on
July 16,
2008 in
Birmingham.
The Rocket Summer returned to the United States for a headlining fall tour with support from
The Secret Handshake,
Phantom Planet and
The Morning Light. After conclusion of the tour, Bryce Avary took some time off to write a new record. He recorded the new album at Ocean Studios in Burbank, CA from February-April. He produced the record with CJ Eiriksson, who also engineered the album. Some of the tracks were mixed by Neal Avron. The album, titled "Of Men and Angels" is expected to be released in 2009 by Island Def Jam.
Other projects
Musician and songwriter Bryce Avary, of The Rocket Summer, created a clothing company by the name of "Call It Captivate." It is a clothing company created 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." Call It Captivate has partnered with several charities and when one purchases an item, the buyer gets to choose which charity 25% of the proceeds go to.
Discography
Studio Albums
- Calendar Days
(2003)
- Hello, Good Friend
(2005)#26 Top Heatseekers
- Do You Feel
(2007)#44 US
- Of Men And Angels
(2009)
EPs
- The Rocket Summer (EP)
(2000)
- The Early Years EP
(2006)
- iTunes EP
(2007)
References