BACK TO AVION

Avion's Steve Bertrand, Soaring To New Heights
Heather Turk, Socal.com Movie/TV Editor

In a world of musical artists destined to break away from the groups that made them famous in order to be discovered for their own talent (Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Nick Lachey), Tories ex-frontman Steve Bertrand steps to the beat of his own drummer... literally.

After experimenting with life as a solo artist when The Tories broke up in 2002, Bertrand discovered that he wasn't meant to be the next John Mayer while performing in a benefit show at the Rosebowl.

"There I was," Bertrand recalls, "playing in front of 40,000 people, and I was completely bummed out because I was trying to rock out all alone on an acoustic guitar. It was then that I realized it was time to put a band together."

The band is Southern California's own Avion, whose single, "Seven Days Without You," has been in heavy rotation for weeks. Currently touring with Everclear, the band's self titled CD is receiving rave reviews from critics and fans alike, praise Bertrand takes to kindly since he wrote the 13 tracks on the record. In fact, Bertrand's hands can be found in almost everything dealing with Avion, from auditioning his bandmates to producing and recording most of the CD in his home studio. Bertrand even co-founded the label putting the record out, The Console, with his friend and business associate Chris Dickson.

But when you've been the defining voice of a band already, it's hard to establish yourself anew in the recording industry. Nevertheless, Bertrand isn't discouraged by the frequent comparisons Avion's receiving to The Tories.

"I'm not really on some grand scheme to reinvent myself here," Bertrand, who not only provides the vocals for Avion but also plays guitar, explains. "I've continued on this course I've set for myself, and Avion is a continuation of that with different people. Yes, I was the voice and songwriter for The Tories, and that's cool with me. But Avion is not as quirky pop as The Tories. The songs we play are for this moment -- they are more serious and mature, but still have a sense of humor and satire to them."

Coming out at a time where Eminem, Usher and Lil John are the kings of mainstream radio though, one has to wonder if the world's ready to go back to the days of pop rock. Bands like Creed, Limp Bizkit and the Goo Goo Dolls have almost disappeared from the music radar altogether, and those that do find success in the pop rock genre (Bowling for Soup, Fountains of Wayne) tend to only be one-hit wonders. Bertrand remains optimistic though, stating that "there's room for everybody" and that the rap/R&B phase could be just another Top 40 "moment" in music history. "Next summer could be the year of rock again," he states. "Korn, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit... their fans are still around."

And Avion's determined to do anything they can to tap into that fan base. Prior to signing with Columbia/Red Ink Records, Avion traveled to 65 cities in an RV so that they could visit local radio stations in an attempt to get "Seven Days Without You" on the air. The band didn't just come with a demo tape of their first single though ... they came ready to rock.

Armed with all the equipment needed to put on a live concert, Avion would perform in radio station conference rooms to get their name out. And while this publicity stunt was a huge success (the single was quickly added to various stations' play lists in Las Vegas, Denver, St. Louis and numerous other markets), the band was faced with many unplanned conflicts during their impromptu concert sessions.

"I think we were in Ohio and there was some miscommunication where we showed up and the conference room we were going to perform in was literally the size of a closet," Bertrand recalls. "There was no way we could play in it. So, we asked the staff of the radio station to give us 15 minutes and we set up outside to do an outdoor concert. We just tore everything down and got out of there before the cops came."

Given Avion's independent release, one has to wonder where Bertrand stands on the issue of downloading. New groups like Avion can thrive on the word of mouth publicity that can generate from music downloads, but at the same time if those listeners don't go out and buy the CD, it could result in the band's demise. Bertrand agrees that he walks a find line when it comes to the ever controversial issue of downloading tracks, but sees both sides of the story.

"I think it's great that it exposes people to music that they might not usually hear, but for me the issue with downloading music is about educating the culture who doesn't understand that it's stealing when you don't pay for things," he states. "Sure a band may receive some great exposure, but people have to understand that it's stealing. I don't understand our society's mentality, where it's okay to spend $15 on a movie ticket, but it's not okay to spend $15 on a CD an artist spent a year of his life making. At least with a CD you get to have the art and actually walk away with something, versus just the memory of something. Artists like myself won't be around in 15 years if people just keep downloading new tracks. It's not groups like Metallica that are in jeopardy -- it's groups like Avion that need every record sale to stay alive."

Music downloads aren't the only thing threatening groups like Avion's existence though. Bertrand says that for him, the toughest thing about the music business these days isn't finding a single like "Seven Days Without You" that reaches out to a broad audience or worrying about illegal piracy, but simply the internal struggle of remaining unjaded.

"Knowing what I already know about this business, sometimes the hardest thing is simply choosing to believe that a great song and a great band will ultimately win in this industry," Bertrand states.

One of the things that always makes the internal struggle easier for Bertrand though is performing, and, luckily for him, Avion has one of the hottest opening gigs this winter. Opening for Everclear's 10 Years Gone Tour, Avion's been touring across the nation since early November, with Southern California stops at the House of Blues Sunset Strip and the House of Blues Anaheim November 29 and December 2 respectively. When asked what concertgoers can expect from the shows, Bertrand replies, "Avion is a very interactive group, just like The Tories were. We enjoy playing live, so audiences won't walk away feeling cheated. They'll have a good time -- that's our goal. We've played everything from parties of 50 people to stadiums with 50,000 people. Basically, when we perform, it's a party on stage and everyone's invited."

With all that's happened in recent weeks for the band -- the group's CD hit store shelves November 2 and their tour with Everclear began the following day -- it's hard to believe that Avion's already thinking ahead to their follow-up CD. However, as Bertrand describes, "I think I have ADD. I get bored so easily. The idea of just locking myself up in the studio and never touring again, or visa versa, sounds bad to me. I enjoy all the aspects that compose this business too much."

That said, Bertrand admits his mind is rolling with ideas for Avion's second CD, much of it influenced by the band's current experiences on the road.

"We've spent five to six months touring -- that's 30,000 miles, 75 cities. We haven't had much time to catch our breath. Still, there's so much great material around us. We're living in this bubble, city to city, and all these life experiences are going on... So really the songs are being written without literally being written. I'd expect our next record to be more bombastic and not as sad. I was going through a break up while writing this album and people can hear it. The next CD should be more rock 'n' roll -- more fun."

When asked if Avion fans can expect a duet on the next CD (maybe a Tories reunion track?), Bertrand laughs.

"I've been involved in various bands for six years now... I think I'm self-sufficient. I already have too much to choose from without someone else outside of the band being involved. I don't think there's any one magic person out there that will complete a song for me, but I'm open to it."

While Avion's second CD might not have any guest stars dropping by the studio, one thing is for certain: the music will definitely be influenced by one of Bertrand's all-time favorite bands, U2.

"U2 constantly impacts me both personally and musically," Bertrand states. "Their music is so powerful, it speaks to the human spirit. And the best thing is that they use that platform to help better the world instead of just bettering themselves by buying a bigger house or a bunch of bling bling. U2 truly represents all that's right in music. And they never stop! It's been 20 years and while Poison is now a laughingstock, their new song is as fresh as anything on the radio today. They're awesome and definitely my biggest influence."

Maybe that's why Bertrand created The Console, a multimedia company designed to foster and support music, film and television projects that might fall through the cracks and never see the light of day at larger companies. Now that the company's first project is complete -- releasing Avion's debut CD -- Bertrand can look ahead to see how he can help other struggling artists shine.

"Our eyes are open to find our next project, which will most likely be a film," he states. "We only plan on taking on a few projects at a time, but that's so we can do each one well. There's so much great art out there and only a limited amount of stuff gets picked up. Our job is to find these acts that are falling through the cracks and scoop them up. Luckily I found a partner who is equally as passionate and obsessed with art and music as I am -- which is why I'm probably still single. It's just a great life support."

With Avion on the road to success and The Console working hard to make other artists' dreams a reality, Bertrand may be single, but he's truly come a long way from being all alone at the Rosebowl. But as the old saying goes, everything happens for a reason, and looking back Bertrand couldn't be any happier than where he is now.

"There were a lot of different aspects to The Tories calling it quits, one being that the band fell prey to the business collapsing. Our label folded. Plus the dynamics in the band were changing -- people were getting married, buying houses... everyone had these new responsibilities except me. But because of that I maintained the hunger to make it in this business while the other guys didn't. Now I've just had the best year of my life. Sure I may have been heartbroken when The Tories broke up, but I've had more fun this year and more success these past six months than I did these last six years."

And with Avion's critical acclaim and word of mouth buzz continuing to grow with each passing show, Bertrand finally seems to be headed on the right path -- the path to wealth, fame and never-ending success... just like U2.