October 7, 2011 - The Park at Fourteenth - Washington, DC
Avant (real name Myron Avant) is best known for his chart topping hits like
Separated,
Making Good Love,
Read Your Mind, as well as his beautiful ballad duets
My First Love and
Nothing in This World with R&B singer KeKe Wyatt. It's hard to believe that this Cleveland, OH native has been in the game for 10 years. In December, he released his sixth album
The Letter, which holds the same smooth R&B vibe he is known for and contains many songs he co-wrote and co-produced. I sat down with Avant to talk about his career, music, of course the new album, and discover his MusicLife.
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| One-on-one w/ Avant |
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MusicLife: You're about to give DC a live performance to show them what you're all about. Now I know for me, a live performance is the epitome of getting to know the artist and their style. If you can name an artist or group that you've seen in concert, who puts on the best live performance?
Avant: There's a lot. I respect the ol' skool so an O'Jays concert, The Isley Brothers, my man Charlie Wilson, New Edition, R. Kelly. There's a lot people that love music and it's about loving music to me. Some people get up there just to get paid, but some people really love the music and that's what I'm into.
MusicLife: You've done amazing duets and everybody knows you for the ones you've done with KeKe Wyatt with Nothing in This World and My First Love. If you could name another artist that you would do a memorable duet with, who would it be?
Avant: It used to be my man Michael Jackson. I've been blessed to work with a lot of different artists. If you got that true flavor and are about the music, it's about the voice so you have to have an amazing voice to pull off a true duet. So, it would be Beyonce. You know what, but I would say Kelly [Rowland] cause I did a song with her too so I'd do another one with Kelly.
MusicLife: You know the sound of music is always evolving. And you see sometimes artists that can't keep up with the times and they fall off. Then you have some artists who feel they need to change their sound completely and be totally different. In your musical career, have you ever struggled with that?
Avant: Nah, once you get a true fan base like me, I've been blessed to have over 12 hit records so for me to switch up and go all the way left, I would lose all of my fan base. Now, if you're an artist that has been in the game and hasn't established a true base, then I understand you trying to figure things out. But once you get a true base, you really gotta give 'em what they want. You can do a few different things but you gotta basically stay with the base.
MusicLife: At the end of last year, you released your sixth album, The Letter. And you said that was like a testimony, a letter to your fans to tell them what you've been going through. If you could tell your fans what you would want them to get out of the album, what would it be?
Avant: It would be to just have fun. Know that your life is in part of this album. I know the people that listen to my music. That's why I try to really strategically sit back and plan the album. I wanted to deal with the issues that my people go through. So if you listen to it, just know that I wrote it directly for you. I have a song called
Wake Up on the album and if you've been in a relationship, you know exactly what that song means. So that's what I try to do, I try to feed into what the fans really want to hear.
MusicLife: In a lot of your music, you put a lot of emotion and feelings in it. People say men aren't suppose to do that, women are suppose to do that. So as a man, do you feel that sometimes you worry about putting yourself out there and being too vulnerable at times?
Avant: No, not at all. Look, I have songs like Don't Take Your Love Away and it's just being real. . .'Yea, I was a knucklehead. I was out there getting live or whatever.' But I have to be sorry at one point, like 'yo, that was a little extra'. I don't really try to go too soft like I'm trying to kill myself, that's not the situation. I believe you can be soft too, don't get me wrong, but it's okay to be apologetic at times.
MusicLife: Music is definitely a part of your life. So define your music life. What does it mean to you?
Avant: Music is everything for me. I've been blessed like I said, I'm on my sixth album, working on my seventh album right now. I mean I bleed for music. I have an 8-year-old son so whenever he needs something I can go out there and get it because of music. So for me to explain what music is, it's everything. It's God and then music for me.
MusicLife: With your son, what do you feel you need to instill in him in terms of the music industry? You have a lot of music out there that's not appropriate for an 8-year-old. How do you kind of steer him in the right direction?
Avant: My whole thing is before I get into music, I want him to be true to himself. When you're true to yourself, there's just certain things you're just not going to do period. So it's all about being true to who you are and then you take life from that step on.
When I met Avant, I was kinda taken back by his physique (these pictures don't actually capture the in person visuals). Not sure where I've been but he isn't the same small-framed guy I remember from years ago. Brother has definitely been in the gym or something.
During his performance, he sang a few cuts off the new album but it was his older hits like
My First Love,
Sailing,
Don't Take Your Love Away,
Separated,
Read Your Mind, and
Don't Say No, Just Say Yes that got the whole crowd singing. Avant sounded just like on his albums, so good my girl Keisha and I swore he was singing off a track but it was all him. The quality of his voice was perfect and smooth.
While watching him perform, I was finally able to figure out what makes him so attractive. . . his amazing smile and dimples :) . . such a cutie! He has this way making you feel like he's singing the song just for you. I guess this adds to the R. Kelly-esque aura you couldn't help but feel at times. This of course is no surprise since he's always been compared to Kelly. Makes a girl wanna drop her panties. . #imjustsayin.
I'm not going to lie, I was never the biggest Avant fan but have liked many of his songs. After meeting and seeing him perform, I've become a bigger fan. I love when a live performance can change your whole musical outlook on an artist. I didn't have his album before but that has changed since I just ordered it!
To purchase
The Letter, click on the album image to buy on Amazon.com. Also available on
iTunes.
Thanks to Mercy and Beny Blaq Entertainment for the interview opporutnity!!
If you're in the DMV area, make sure to check out
The Park Unplugged on Fridays at The Park at Fourteenth in Washington, DC and hear music from the hottest artists out there. Past artists include Common, Musiq, Estelle, Melanie Fiona, Goapele, and Joe to name only a few. To find out the latest events, visit their website
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@BBE_Events.
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