AVOID Discusses Their New Album And Upcoming Tour
AVOID’s five members began their journey in Seattle, Washington just five years ago in 2017 – but it hasn’t taken them long to make a mark on the rock music scene. Their debut album ALONE was a hit, and their experimental, hedonistic music continues to catch the ears of rock fans everywhere. You can hear two of their songs ‘Song for James’ and ‘HEAT’ in the recently released video game NASCAR Heat 5, sourced from their 2020 EP ‘The Burner’. Fall 2022 Tour information and venue updates at the end – Enjoy.
You were on The Dark Path Tour with Fit For A King, Silent Planet, and Hollow Front. What was the experience like playing live shows with other massive bands in the scene?
That tour was truly such a humbling and amazing experience! We really ended up getting close with the Fit and Planet guys. Plus playing to packed rooms every night is definitely nothing to complain about haha!
Are there any songs you have been most excited to play live for fans?
HostAge At A BeAch House PArty is always a blast. That seems to be the one where whether the crowd knows the song or not the energy is still absolutely bonkers
What was it like getting Octane airplay and being embraced by that community?
It’s been so sick!! The Octane community are die-hards. We would have never thought people would come up to us and be like, “We found you on the radio!”
AVOID has a self-described experimental sound with a heavy hedonistic theme. What is your approach to creating such exhilarating, innovative music?
Honestly just trying to stay as open-minded as possible about music in general and not trying to follow anything other than what we wanna do
What are your inspirations for pushing boundaries and finding new things to try musically?
It’s honestly hard to try and just say a few things, we really can find ourselves inspired by everything, from 80’s metal, to grudge, to modern metalcore, to pop. We just love music!
Last year you released a number of music videos! There were new music videos on YouTube for ‘HostAge At A BeAch House Party’, ‘Flashbang!’, ‘Song About James’, ‘HEAT’, ‘Shapes’, ‘Finish Line 2: Electric Boogaloo’, and ‘Thoughts of You’. What was filming each of these videos like behind the scenes?
We’ve actually shot those videos over the course of the last few years! We were just able to upload them all to our page rather than having them a little scattered over different pages. Music videos are always a blast for us though! We just try and have as much fun as possible and see what comes out!
Speaking of ‘HostAge At A BeAch House Party’, it is such a fun listen – as we can follow along with the story and emotions being told. How did the idea for that song come about?
We were having lots of fun writing songs for The Burner in the summer of 2019! I remember having this insane instrumental and we were trying different ways to make it all flow, next thing you know BOOM!
What was the thought process behind bringing out the new track “My World” as the first single off your new full-length, out this fall?
We’re all so stoked and proud of “My World”! I feel like this song really shows all sides of what this band is capable of doing. It’s a nice little sample platter of what you’ll hear on the new record.
You also covered ‘Weenie Beenie’ by the Foo Fighters and did a mashup of ‘Show Me How to Live’ and ‘Cochise’ by Audioslave. What led to you deciding to cover these songs specifically?
When we recorded those covers, it was right at the height of the pandemic. We wanted to do something to stay active and make the most of the circumstances. Most of us grew up on Seattle music. We loved listening to those early Foo Fighters records, and the 25th anniversary of that first album was coming up.
What themes, concepts, sounds, and emotions are you looking to incorporate into your music in the future?
The funnest part of AVOID is there’s really no limits! We want to be able to do whatever we want musically and aesthetically, whenever we want.
Do you like a healthy mixture of eclectic and complex music elements, classic instrumentals, technical precision, and new composition styles with your Metal fix??? Come and enjoy a uniquely impressive and hardcore group of bands touring with AVOID this fall – Silent Planet, The Plot In You, and Cane Hill – buy tickets now for GA right here! An updated schedule for AVOID shows coming in the next few months is available here. We will see you there!