The Rocket Summer

During the rehearsal day of the 2010 Vans Warped Tour, I ran into Bryce Avery – the mastermind behind the power-pop act The Rocket Summer. In the middle of catching up with old friends and preparing for the tour, Avery took the time to discuss the upcoming summer festival and let me know exactly why the tour is so good and what bands need to do to survive it.

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Bobby: Starting with the basics, you are about to go on the Vans Warped Tour – are you excited?

Bryce: Oh yeah. We did the Warped Tour in 2007 and this one, I just couldn’t be happier to be on it. We’re doing the whole thing. I’m just really thankful to be here.

Bobby: So you said you did it in 2007, do you have any advice or tips for people who are doing it for the first time?

Bryce: You know, it’s all about just being a cool guy on this tour. Serving when you’ve been served, drinking lots of water, hustling really puts you in the mood. You’ve really got to push yourself when you’re playing if you want people to see you. Walk around and talk to people.

Bobby: There is so many bands playing, a lot of bands do end up having to overlap. With six or seven stages, the bands are playing at the same time; so like you said, you have to kind of fight for recognition to make sure you have fans. What do you do to try and make sure you get a big turnout at your show?

Bryce: That’s the thing about Warped, sometimes you find out you’re playing against exactly who you don’t want to be playing against.

Bobby: Alkaline Trio or something.

Bryce: Yeah. Or something where it’s like “oh great, that’s going to make people have to decide.” So that just happens. You find out every day what time you play in the morning. You might play very first, you might play last – it’s kind of all over the place. I don’t know, I think it’s just a matter of walking around with a sign if you have to. You can’t be too proud on this tour to be above anything.

Bobby: Do you think, in a way, all this self-promotion kind of re-invigorates the DIY ethics of old punk where you have to go out and fight for your audience? Fight to convince people to come and watch you guys over somebody else.

Bryce: Yeah. I think so. I think that’s not only the way of Warped but the way that things are just going in general with the demise of the music industry. Eventually a lot of people are going to be doing things completely DIY. I think we’re on that road to getting there anyways, so we might as well start doing it now.

Bobby: Well, this is known as one of the most gruelling tours. It’s 41 cities in 53 days. The days are long, the drives are longer. There’s not a lot of showers, it’s hot. What do you do to mentally prepare yourself for the tour?

Bryce: You just have to go into it with a good attitude. It’s really a great tour. Yeah, it can be very gruelling and there are things about it that can be kind of a beating at times but you just have to stay positive and you have to just realize how good it is.

I’m lucky enough to have done it already and so I already went through the stuff that I need to know now and I think just having a positive attitude and realizing how good of a tour it is helps you through those days where it is such a beating to be on it.

Bobby:  Also, with so many bands playing a lot of times you’ll end up going out and discovering a band you’ve never heard of. I don’t think I’ll ever forget finding Oreskaband in 2008. Walking in on them was just insane. What was some of your favourite Warped discoveries where you just went “these guys are awesome?”

Bryce: Well, let’s see. There was this band from Japan that was this Japanese girl ska band.

Bobby: Yeah, Oreskaband.

Bryce: Oh, is that their name? Is that who you just said?

Bobby: Yeah

Bryce: Yeah, yeah. That’s probably the only one that I was super blown away by. It’s cool because there’s also a lot of really rad bands. Like I’m so excited that Face to Face are on this. I used to listen to them so much. I still do listen to them, they just haven’t put on a record in ages.

Bobby: They just recorded a new one though.

Bryce:  Yeah, that’s what I heard. I’m going to find Trevor Keith on this tour and beg him to play something off Ignorance Is Bliss. I don’t think he will because they seemed to stop playing that record but that’s my favourite Face to Face record.

Bobby: But that’s a good thing too, with so many different generational bands somebody who came to see Hey Monday could end up seeing Face to Face and being turned on to their music. Do you think its good having all these different styles interlaping?

Bryce: Yeah. I mean there’s no such thing as just one kind of punk scene anymore. There’s bands from Every Time I Die to Never Shout Never on the same bill. It’s just kind of like all over the place. I think it’s cool. The scene is expanding. We just did six weeks on the road with Goo Goo Dolls and now we’re on the Warped Tour and it makes sense that we would do both tours. It’s kind of cool to just see it all.

Bobby: So you’re kind of against the whole Warped Tour should only be punk bands debate then?

Bryce: Yeah, because I’m on it. [laughs] Otherwise I probably wouldn’t be on it. I mean, the things that I’ve gone through and the things that I do, I feel are pretty freaking punk rock; but in terms of sonic sound and if the snare drum’s tapping on every upbeat – then I guess I’m not punk. So I think it’s cool. But I do think the bands have to share a different kind of DIY punk ethic to be on the tour, whether or not you’re playing acoustic guitars or standard, traditional punk rock. I think most bands on Warped Tour have that and if you don’t have it, you’re going to have it by the end of this tour.

Bobby: So it’s more important to have the ethical, punk rock ideology as opposed to necessarily the straight-forward, 4/4 time sound.

Bryce: Yeah, yeah.

Bobby: A lot of bands have just released a new album in time for Warped Tour. Like you guys released of Men and Angels in February of this year. How important do you think Warped Tour is in promoting a brand new CD release?

Bryce: Really good. I mean, when Do You Feel? came out, we were on Warped Tour and we were literally selling a hundred CDs a day – sometimes two hundred CDs a day and that’s unheard of it. You just walk around and try to sell them and get people to buy them.

Bobby: Do you think playing to ten thousand kids a day could basically make or break a CD release?

Bryce: Oh yeah. It can definitely make it; it’s not going to break it. It could definitely make it, for sure. The thing with Warped that’s weird is one day you might play in front of ten thousand people at four o’clock in the afternoon, not going up against anybody and then the next day you wake up and they’re like “oh, you’re going on first” and you literally play in front of a row of people running in. Those days aren’t as fun, but you know going into Warped that those days happen. So I’m prepared to not be bummed on those days.

Bobby: You’re trying to promote the new CD, Of Men and Angels, but you also have four prior CDs – so how do you balance the new songs you’re trying to promote and the old songs that people know and love with only a thirty minute set?

Bryce: It’s hard because you only get thirty minute sets and when you have that many albums, it’s really hard to cover every single album. I mean at this point I could play one song off of each CD that I’ve put out and that would almost fill my slot. So you’ve kind of have to pick and choose. We’re trying to keep it diverse. We’re trying to change it up a lot so that it’s new for us and we’re not playing the exact same songs every day.

Bobby:  Well, last year Warped Tour changed up the model where the main stage played forty minute and there’s only one main stage which kind of makes people walk around and explore the side stages a bit more. Are you glad they did that?

Bryce: Yeah, I’m glad because we’re not on the quote main stage; we’re on the Alternative Press stage. So it’s good for us.

Bobby: Of course, with Warped Tour there’s more than just the music. There’s a very unique atmosphere to it. There’s a midget show on this year, then there’s the skate ramp in the middle. How would you describe the atmosphere of Warped Tour?

Bryce: Lots of sun, lots of tattoos, there’s an “all for one, one for all” kind of vibe, it’s a cool vibe because people work really hard but don’t care at the same time – because it’s punk rock. It’s a good vibe.

Bobby: One thing that’s always fascinated me about Warped Tour is that even though there is a unique atmosphere, the idea is still music. With a lot of festivals it’s kind of branched off where it’s more about the partying and the camping afterwards.  How do you think it is that Warped Tour has been able to keep it so that music is still the primary reason to go?

Bryce: Maybe it’s because of the fact that music is constant. You’re always hearing noise, you’re always hearing music. Maybe it’s because you can’t camp out. I don’t know. I don’t know how they have.

Bobby: There’s also a lot of fan interactions. Everybody does autograph signings, I think there’s a Rock Band competition this year with people where bands are playing their fans. Do you think that helps build the atmosphere and eliminates the space between band and fan?

Bryce:  I think that’s just the way of how things are have been with everything – Twitter and Facebook. The whole mystery thing is just done. I think it’s cool where it’s even getting to a physical place where people can play together.

Bobby: There’s also one thing that I’ve always liked on Warped Tour is that there’s always a lot of band collaborations where people will jump on stage and sing along. What would be your ultimate idea for a collaboration on Warped Tour that you would like to see?

Bryce: I hope that Andrew WK comes out and plays with us.

Bobby: That would be wicked. Imagine him singing Brat Pack or Never Knew. He could pull that off.

Bryce: Yeah, yeah. He probably could.

Bobby: This is, of course, the sixteenth year of Warped Tour – so I gotta ask, what is one of your fondest memories of Warped Tour past?

Bryce: I mean, I went to Warped Tour a couple times before I was on it. When I was in high school I went and I think the coolest thing for me was getting to see Saves The Day and then turn around and see MXPX and then turn around and see The Ataris. It was just cool.

Bobby: That’s a good line up.

Bryce: Yeah. It’s a really great thing for people – especially younger people who are just in that point of life where they’re just consuming so much music. Even if you only like four or five bands or six bands on the bill – it’s still a good deal. I mean, when do you get to see six bands you love in one day?

Bobby: Cool; I guess that’s about it. Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to add?

Bryce: Nah, thank you for the interview. I appreciate it.