It’s been 5 years since the ever-candid and colourful Mickey Avalon took over the airwaves with his impossibly infectious tune Jane Fonda. The single was lifted from his self-titled 2007 debut, and when coupled with the wildly popular hidden track My Dick, it seemed Avalon was set for intentional fame and fortune.
What followed instead was substantial silence. To the casual observer it may have appeared that Avalon was a one-hit wonder with little else to offer. However, behind the scenes existed an eager artist ready to deliver but delayed by the very label that first brought him public prominence. Eventually, Avalon had no choice but to split from Interscope and its associates.
“Pretty straight forward…it wasn’t money or anything like that…it just was taking so long to put out my second record and it wasn’t looking like it was going to happen anytime soon, so I had to leave them,” Avalon explains.
“Fans don’t know all of the behind-the-scenes stuff, and I’m not the kind of guy who wants to bitch about all the politics, because I’m a fan of music too. I don’t want to hear them bitching about it, so I’ve had to be real cool through all this when it’s been really frustrating because people are just going to think the reason you’re not putting anything out is because you don’t have anything to put out; and that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Indeed, Avalon has plenty more to put out. His very long-awaited follow-up is titled Loaded and will be released in Australia next week on Friday April 27, 2012 via Shock Entertainment, with Avalon promising there’s more material where that came from.
“It’s not like I’m going to have a record out every five years. Everything will go back to normal now and I should have a new record out every year,” Avalon reenforces.
For now the impending release of Loaded is vindication enough. The trials and setbacks on the path to this record’s completion almost drained Avalon of his enjoyment for creating music. Fortunately, there now exists a physical testament of the Californian rapper’s resolve that he can be proud of.
“I just felt like I was stuck for a long time, I was in limbo. I recorded the whole time and then it just got to where I didn’t even want to record anymore because I was like, ‘What’s the point? These fucking songs aren’t even getting out to anybody’. It made something that I like to do not fun anymore,” Avalon reflects.
“The fact that it’s (Loaded) done and it’s artistically exactly what I wanted…I mean, I wanted it done five years ago, but you can’t go back in time. The fact is that it’s still the exact record that I wanted to put out and I can stand behind it one hundred percent.”
With so much time in-between records, it’s understandable that fans might become antsy as to the musical direction of Loaded. Fortunately for fans of the first record, Avalon has held true to his spirited, upbeat, danceable sound. New tracks such as More Junk and Rock Bottom continue the trend of gratuitous fun-loving tunes.
What may be dismissed by some as gimmicky pop is actually an affirmation of Avalon’s desire to not simply reflect his well-documented troubled past in the most convenient and predictable of terms.
“The world’s a hard place…but I still think at the end of the day it’s not something to rub your nose in… I mean, the blues is happy music they say, it’s not about how terrible it is, it’s about right now… you’re dancing instead of crying.”
You go to work every day, Monday to Friday, nine to five. There needs to be some sort of release and a time when you can get out of all that. So if I’m the medium to get people to chill out for a minute, then I’m OK with having that lot in life. I’ll take that gladly.”
Mickey Avalon – Loaded – will be out in Australia on Friday April 27, 2012
Mickey Avalon Loaded Australian Tour 2012
Thursday 17 May Fannys, Newcastle
With special guest Kid Mac
Tickets: www.oztix.com.au
Friday 18 May HiFi, Sydney
With special guest Kid Mac
Tickets: www.thehifi.com.au
Saturday 19 May Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast
With special guest Kid Mac
Tickets: www.oztix.com.au
Friday 25 May The Espy, Melbourne
With special guest Kid Mac
Tickets: www.oztix.com.au
Saturday 26 MayRosemount Hotel, Perth
With special guest Kid Mac
Tickets: www.oztix.com.au
Watch: Mickey Avalon – More Junk
Watch: Mickey Avalon – Rock Bottom
Watch: Mickey Avalon – Jane Fonda
