I heart music interviews Avery “Avenue” Chambliss

My friend Ave, or as he as better know as the producer Avery “Avenue” Chambliss is someone I spent a lot of time shooting the shit with at an internship inside a studio many moons ago.  Recently, being back in New York for a while I have been able to spend some real quality time with him again.  I just could not miss the opportunity to interview him.

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Avery Chambliss may not sound like a “household name” yet, but you’ve definitely heard his music – “Fancy” by Drake, “Swing Ya Rag” by T.I., “Murder To Excellence” by Jay Z, and countless others (watch the videos for these three below).  You’ve probably also heard of these notable industry names that he’s worked with such as Alicia Keys, Nas, Meek Mills, and Miguel.  So, who is Avery?

Avery Chambliss, also known as “Avenue Beatz”, started producing music ten years ago in 2003, and was discovered by mega-producer Swizz Beats a few short years later.  His production talents helped make the signature sound you hear on tracks like the multi-platinum hit “Fancy”, and also won an award for the song from SESAC and a Grammy nomination.

In addition to music production, Avery is also a professional drummer (21 years), and likes to play whatever he can get his hands on.  His talents and achievements have been featured in “Feds” magazine, with the “Source” magazine coming soon, and he’s received several multi-platinum plaques for the music he and his team have produced.  Being a part of Swizz’s team, Avery stays busy working with music’s most popular and noteworthy artists, musicians, and other producers, and is working towards his goal of becoming a “household name”.

Check out Avery on the guitar below working on “Murder to Excellence”:

Amanda:  What motivated you to get into this side of the music business?

Avery:  Well…just starting out as a teenager…just seeing the response I got from just local cats, and just people in my neighborhood, it got to the point where I actually met up with Swizz (Beats).  I kind of knew then, like alright…maybe I should be taking this serious and not just having fun with it, you know.

Am:  What were you doing before you met up with Swizz?

Av:  (laughs) I was in high school.  I was just a regular student just doing what I could.  I was a drum core teacher… assistant teacher for a couple years, and I was a DJ.  Me and my partner Jose Fresh, we were d.j.’ing after school…d.j.’ing elementary school, middle school parties, and just hanging out…you know, like, just doing things a teenager would do you know, nothing different.

Am:  So you were just a teenager before.  You were just doing your thing.   That’s cool you were d.j.’ing…especially in elementary schools…that’s different.

 Av:  Yeah…it was definitely dope to be there for the little kids you know.  I’m pretty sure we set some dreams off for a few kids in there, you know, that they were inspired to be somehow in this business.  It was great, you know.  It was glad to be a part of that.

Am:  Did you have to keep it clean in the elementary schools?  (laughs)

Av:  Definitely.  They kept asking to play like “Lil Luke” records and everything and I’m like why do you kids know (that).   This is crazy.

Am:  When did you start producing?

Av:  Exactly…I’ll have to say I was about fourteen years old.  Technology and computers were like advancing around that time like in 2001-2002, so, I got hold of the program, Fruity Loops Studio, FL Studio, and just took it from there and kept having fun and having fun with it…until it got serious, you know.

Am:  You gotta keep it fun right?

Av:  Yup.

Am:  What instruments did you start out using?

Av:  I’ve been a drummer for about twenty-four years now…to be real.

Am:  Whoa!

Am:  So wait…since you were-

Av:  Since I was one.  Nah…I’ll go like about…twenty years I’ll say.  ‘Cause I definitely was playing drums at four or five years old.  I definitely had the logic and understanding of how to do it already, and, you know, just progressing and moving up.  I started to play piano and drums, bass, guitar…I dabbled with trumpet for like a year or so but that wasn’t my specialty, but I definitely, you know, just grabbing different corners of music, other than just being a drummer…to just get a vibe…you know.  I encourage every musician to do it.

Am:  What’s your favorite instrument?  What are you best on?

Av:  Drums…definitely the drums.  I always wished I could play the sax though…saxophone players are very respected in my book, but I’m a drummer.  (laughs)

Am:  What other equipment or software do you use currently?  What’d you start out on?

 Av:  I started off with a Dell computer…downloaded illegally Fruity Loops on there, and well, now to this day I’ll use Logic, or I’ll use “Machine” by Native Instruments…I’ll still use Fruity Loops from time to time, you know, just whatever I can get my hands on…and make it happen. (Click here to check out a home studio kit similar to what Avery started on)

Am:  Was there a song or artist in particular that inspired you to be a producer?  What made you want to do it?

 Av:  Well I was always…I was always fascinated with the music more than the lyrics or the artist as a kid.  So, I would have to say from a kid, looking back at the music I was into…it was definitely…without knowing it, it was definitely artists like O.D.B. (Old Dirty Bastard), and he would team up with like RZA, Wu Tang’s producer, and I felt like the music they made…for me at the time, it was just a little bit inspiring…well a lot inspiring…you know, I didn’t know the first thing about making music, but I definitely knew I wish I could do something dope like that, you know?  Just hearing how it was just so broad, it just felt like something like you could just play with your grandmother or something.  It was just a little bit of everything, and it was a huge music vibe behind it.

Am:  Oh wow that’s crazy….so you were in…when you were staying in that studio that Swizz had…that used to be 36 Chambers…how was that?  Being that you loved the RZA?

Av:  I was definitely trying to be baby RZA the whole time…as soon as I found out.  Swizz turned the place around, and made it a different world in there, and it was…I just was like, ‘Yo man I’m just gonna make a legacy regardless.  Wherever…however it happens, Swizz was definitely making the dream happen a thousand percent.

Am:  Was there a certain beat that put you out there or did you gradually work your way up the ladder?  Like what turned the corner for you?

Av:  To be real…I was working with local cats as a teenager, but to be real Swizz just kept his word, and you know, his connects is like straight to the world, so you know, the second day in the studio, I was already working with Fabolous and Don Omar, who’s the number one artist in Dominican Republic reggaeton music.  It was just…wow already!  It’s my second day!  He respected me for my talent.  He made it as if I paid my dues already, and put me in these real situations where I was producing like crazy records just off my second day in the studio…like just unbelievable.

Am:  Wow.  That’s really crazy.  That’s like almost like a fairytale or something.

Av:  Yeah man.  I’m real grateful, and most of all blessed.  And I understand that I’m blessed, you know, with being in the situation, and I thank Swizz everyday man.  He really kept his word and made sure (laughs) the dreams were lived out you know.

Am:  Ok.  Who’s your favorite artist to work with?

Av:  As far as what though…like just working?

 Am:  Just in general.  Who do you enjoy working with the most?

Av:  I would have to say…it’d definitely have to be…hmm.  ’Cause like there’s like a lot of artists out…there’s a few artists I have a lot of records with, but we’ve never got to work like one on one…but the chemistry is so strong, like every time we do happen to…get drinks together, but as far as working one on one with people, I would have to say I really do enjoy working with Jim Jones, because he’s like…he’s very open to new ideas…he’s a very creative mind.  He’s very supportive of anybody’s movement.  He makes you feel at home you know.  That’s a vibe I can definitely…you know I can deal with that all the time, you know.  We’re not wasting time…we’re working, and we show results.  There’s a lot of music coming soon too (laughs) …not to mention.

Am:  Just out of curiosity…what would’ve been the other side of it…where it’s not in person, but the chemistry works?

Av:  T.I.  Between Kanye and T.I.  Between them two…because I’ve noticed with T.I., you know Swizz would let me…every now and then I see Swizz he’d let me hear some sneak previews, which is a lot of ‘em, but…I noticed like the numbers with T.I. were very high, like T.I. would do about like three of my tracks at a time, and I’m just like wow that’s kind of crazy…’cause it’s like I made the tracks he would pick or tracks I definitely could hear him on you know?   And it’s just like…ok, that kind of lets you know…like, I think I know what I’m doing you know.  And as far as Kanye, was just like…at once, he did about twelve of my records.

Am:  Wow.

Av:  Four of them people know…the ‘Good Friday’ records, the ‘Power’ remix, ‘Murder The Excellence’…but he did about twelve that day, and it was just like wow ok, that let me know what level I’m on as a producer.

Am:  What’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on so far?

Av:  Um…

Am:  It could be one track, but what’s your favorite thing you’ve worked on?

Av:  I would have to say…we worked on a Maroon 5 remix…me and my team, The Individuals, and Swizz…he brought the gig to us and we broke it down accordingly.  It was just…I felt like that one time we worked together as a team you know.  Like, that day instead of being the Lakers, we were more like the Heat…or the Spurs, we were playing as a team.  Like passing the ball…you know utilizing your teammates, and I felt like everyone played their part on that record, and it came out fair and it was, it got rated…Maroon 5, at the time, it was a Rihanna record they had out, and they remixed the whole album that followed up that record, and ours got rated the best remix on the album, and it was also the first track.  So that was just like…it was very small like, to the people, but I was proud of it…super proud of it for sure.

Am:  Are there any other artists that you haven’t worked with that you would like to work with in the future?  Who would you be most excited about?

Av:  Hmm…I would have to say um…it’d have to be somebody classic man.  Like a Snoop or Dre or Eminem.  Like that was like…coming up as a kid…that was just like, some people, you know I definitely…like I don’t care if it was rapping, d.j.’ing, I just always wanted to be affiliated with that circle.   For sure, like I’ve never…I’m not sure…we’re working on an Eminem project right now, but I’m not sure if you know, I got anything off yet with him.  And Dre…Dre as well.

Am:  So that would be huge for you if that –

Av:  Yeah I’d be doing backflips, jumping jacks, everything.  I’d lose about seventy pounds that day (laughs).

Am:  Oh wow.  (laughs)  You’d have to come over here and let me see.  (laughs)  That I would like on video!  What else do you bring to the table besides being able to record and produce?  What are you outside of a producer?

Av:  Outside of producing…I’m just a real dude.  I just try to be fair and support everybody, you know be positive towards anybody and what they’re doing. That’s all you can be ’cause the music game…people will glorify you for so many accomplishments, it’s kind of hard to not let it become you, but I always fight to just be that person where it’s like, I’m the same dude you met years ago.  I will always be that dude in the future you know, definitely.

Am:  Do you work solely as a producer?  Or do you engineer as well?

Av:  I engineer.  Also, like if I can I’ll do a drum gig here and there…or a DJ gig…you know, whatever’s the vibe.  The times…you know it’s dope to make music, but sometimes you gotta pay the bills, so it’s good to have other skills to do so.

Am:  Do you do anything else right now?

Av:  As far as what?  Outside of music?

Am:  Just in general?

Av:  Um…I can’t say I do.  If I do, I can’t think right now…

Am:  That’s an awesome thing.

 Av:  (laughs)  Yeah I can’t say I do right now. 

 Am:  So tell us the story of how…how did Swizz find you guys?  How’d you get your start?  I heard that was an interesting story.

Av:  Very interesting.  There was a Guitar Center built…a legendary Guitar Center now, that was built next to my school, Washington Irving, and they built the Guitar Center on 14^th between 5^th and 6^th, and you know, me and my friends, that’s when we were in a band together, so everyday after school we would go all the way up to 48^th street to Sam Ash and Manny’s just to jam out, so being that they put the Guitar Center right next to the school, Guitar Center had no clue what they was in for you know.  We used to be in there every day, every day.  We kind of fell back.  They kicked me out of the school…a lot of things happened between then.  It was kind of crazy…I kind of ended up over there…I wasn’t even in that school anymore…I ended up over there waiting for my friends, we linked up, and then we end up just walking to Guitar Center, cause that’s just what we did on a regular basis for years…just go in there and jam out.  We met DJ Clue, Redman, a couple of those…we met so many people.  I definitely showed a lot of respect.  Yeah, so back to the story, me and my friends, we was in there, jammin’ out as usual, Swizz walked in…I didn’t know who he was…I thought he was a customer…I have to be honest, cause you know, you can’t just be in there just using the equipment, you know, if a customer walks in, and they’re interested in the equipment, they have to use it.  It’s good to just like help the store out…they’re letting you jam so it’s like, why not help them do their job you know –

Am:  Right

Av:  So we used to…that’s what we represented in the store, just being the good kids of the store, so when we did come in there and it was like a low time, we was able to you know, bang out and just do what we loved to do.  But Swizz came in and it was kind of crazy like I’m just seeing him like, he’s just like inching up to me, and I’m just like confused cause I’m thinking he’s a customer, so I’m turning the keyboard down, so he’s getting closer and closer to me.  So after a while I’m just like alright now it’s getting too weird, so I had to turn around and look, and then I’m like, ‘Whoa I know this guy’…you know, I’m just like…whoa.  This ain’t just somebody, I know him for sure… like I knew I knew him from t.v.  Right away I knew him from t.v.  So, you know, I’m looking at him…I kept looking back, kept looking back…still doing my thing, but I just kept looking…and after a while, like once I figured out who he was, I just had to stop, I’m like, ‘Yo man…you Swizz?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, yeah..’ and I’m like, ‘Alright that’s what’s up man!’,  and he’s like, ‘No man, I’m chilling.  Don’t worry about me man…do your thing.  I’m chillin’.  Y’all sound great right now.’  So I was just like, whoa you know, it was just like, man it couldn’t have happened any better.  And me and my friends…we kept going, kept jamming, kept jamming…shouts to Mo…she came down.  We didn’t know who she was at the time, but she came down, took our information, she listened to us play, she loved it.  Mo’s his assistant…a lot of people don’t give any credit to Mo, but like, Mo’s really the muscle behind his whole movement right now, and she’s a really good person.  But…she came down, took our information, and from there he was just hanging out in the store for like a good twenty-five minutes just with us, just chilling.  Other kids coming in, they thought we came with him, and we’re like, no we just met him here, like they thought we was rolling with him already, so that was a good look.  He told me, ‘Yeah man I’m up the street right now, got me and the Matrix in there right now working with Eve.  I’m buying some smoke machines and all that, give me your numbers cause they’re coming up there’…you know at the time he had a reality show on the internet with some website, and he was gonna put us on there cause he thought we were just musicians…he didn’t…he knew we had beats, but he was just like look the lines between musicians and producers, musicians usually try to be producers…it’s a little watery.  And…you know, in some cases I have seen that to be true but you know he kind of, he kept his word.  He called us up… it just so happened that same day we met him, was the same day Cassidy had to turn himself in for the murder charge that he had, so it was just a real crazy time when we met him.  I got home, and I’d seen it on  106^th and Park, Cassidy’s there like yeah I’m about to turn myself in…and I’m like, yo I was just with Swizz like in the store today…wow…(laughs) like I didn’t even know Cassidy was wanted for murder, so I guess you could say I met Swizz at a very golden time in his life where he was just golden in the sense of he was growing and changing into what he’s supposed to…he was evolving.  And it’s like kind of crazy now when I think about it he was twenty-seven when I met him, and I’m about to be twenty-six, so it’s like…crazy…like wow, time really tells…that was about nine years ago now.

Am:  Wow.  You just told everybody how old Swizz is.  (laughs)

Av:  He don’t care…everybody knows he’s fifty.  No I’m joking. (laughs)  A good dude though man, just genuine people.  We’re from the same hood so we’ve always had a relationship.  Not…you know me and my friends, but, he always somehow took to me more, cause we’re like from the same neighborhood.  We just happened…our birthdays just happened to be a couple days apart from each other, and things just kept lining up with me and him to where it was just like ok cool, you’re my ace, you know…it just got like that, you know after time had gone by and seeing who’s working and seeing who’s dedicated the most.  Not to say it was like a ‘Making The Band’ situation, but he was making the band, you know like seriously.  He wasn’t walking to Brooklyn for cake…you know, we did a breakfast run a couple of times, we had to go to Pink Teacup a few times, but it was worth it…you know, it was exciting the whole way.  A good dude.

Am:  So for you, personally, do you have your own process when making music?  Or does it vary – it depends on who you’re working with?  I know a lot of producers have a very tight process, you know, this is the way they do things and they can’t go off of that.  How do you work?

Av:  Well…to be honest, I learned a lot from being around Swizz.  I learned how to be a salesman with my music being around him, because these artists now…it’s not like you’re working with a dude in the hood that’s just like yeah I’m going to get on whatever you play me cause I’m glad you’re giving me a beat.  It’s cool, you know, I feel like more major artists should be so humble, but they’re not, and at the end of the day, you’ve got to convince them that this record is worth spending money on.  And it’s just…you got to get in their head some way or another.  And one thing I’ve learned from, like I said being around Swizz, you’ve got to make the artist feel like they’re missing out.  If you’re playing a record, and you know a lot of times artists they won’t pick a record a lot of times because it’s too dope for what they’re doing, and a lot of times they’re not ready to follow up with such a dope joint, and it’s sad because a lot of cats are like the game’s dying out there…people’s lacking confidence, but it’s cool.  You’ve just got to make people believe now, like you got to really boost people’s self esteem now to really get them to purchase a record or just be serious to get on it.  There’s certain ways to do it…not saying you’re stroking their ego, but you’ve got to…make them see the vision you got when you made these tracks as a producer.  Whatever it takes, if you’ve got to put a hook on it, or if you got to dance around to it, if you’ve got to tell stories to it, whatever you got to do.  If you’ve got to play it and just walk out the room…just leave it playing loud and walk out the room…sometimes that’ll works.  But you got to just get into the artist’s mind, because a lot of times they…especially with major artists…they have a lot of pressures and things they’re dealing with.  They need the record, but a lot of times they’ll just be so unfocused, that they don’t even hear it when it’s played you know.  That’s one of my strategies…getting in the artist’s mind.

Am:  What are you working on right now?

 Av: A lot of things…I’m working on children’s music with PBS, Hot Beans and Butter which is a rock band, I’m working with Aaron Reid, LA Reid’s son… me and him, we’ve been working with a lot of the artists on Epic Records – Vinnie Chase, Travis Scott, Kat Daliah, a few people.  I have relationships with RCA so, pretty much I’ve got…we locked in a Miguel record earlier this year…we’ll see if that’ll launch.  With big bro it’s always somebody you’re working with – Eminem….a lot of people  I can’t name on that end, but it’s always some kind of work going on.

take a peek at some of Avery’s work with Aaron Reid here:

 

Am:  What are some of your favorite tracks out right now?  Or…I guess if they’re not out right now…what’s some of your favorite music in general?

Av:  Well..to be up to date, I’m listening to J. Cole.  I had the pleasure of being on the same studio where he produced most of his album, and that was pretty dope – he’s a good dude…we’re the same age.  We definitely just click, you know from an eye-to-eye standpoint, on some just music, recapping, all kind of 90’s, early millennium hip hop, and like, his album I felt like he captured a lot of those moments.  But, I listen to J. Cole, I listen to Travis Scott, I feel like he’s dope, he’s…I feel like all the teenagers should listen to him, he’s really good.  If I was a young, wild teenager, I’d want to listen to Travis Scott you know.  That’s about it.  I can name a lot of people, everybody’s dope, but those are two people right now that keep my attention, other than Jay Z and like people that’s automatically dope, but that’s my opinion. I’m feelin’ Justina Valentine and also Shira‘s stuff, great sound.

Am: Is there a particular track that stands out?  That really is inspiring?

Av:  That’s pretty hard cause like…no new music really inspires me, like new music will motivate me like, alright cool they’re getting all this money…let me get back to work, but like…inspiring…not too much new music inspires me.  A lot of like, older hip hop, and just older music in general, I always turn to that when I’m trying to rock in my zone properly, because you know music…hip hop evolved from like four major genres…a lot of people don’t really examine it that way, but hip hop came from rock, blues, funk, disco…it came from all of that.  So, you’ve got to…you know when you’re creating, you’ve got to listen back to what made it spark in the first place.  And it was the fact that it came from older music.  Hip hop was dope because it was the same disco beat you heard, but now you’re hearing it with some dude talking fly on it now…you know.  It was just…wow.  It was undeniable…it was brand new.  Like I’ll listen to Curtis Blow or something, or like early Snoop Dogg – his first album was…that’s always a classic in my book, or like, Busta Rhymes too, his music was definitely like as a kid growing up…his music was definitely…it sticks with you.  You remember it throughout you childhood.  I’m sure the kids that’s hearing Busta Rhymes now, they feel the same you know.  Certain cats like that…I’ll listen to them.  Like I mentioned earlier, I like ODB a lot, Tupac…Tupac always had a lot of…Tupac’s production was always more musically inclined.  I respect that type of music.

Am:  Alright…so that was the last real question.  Any last words?

Av:  Thank you…for interviewing me.

 Am:  Thank you!

Av:  Much love to everybody that supported me…Swizz, my friends, everybody.  I’m thankful for everything that came my way and still coming my way.  I just inspire to just be positive and everybody else to be positive around me you know.

Am:  Thank you very much!

Av:  Thank you!

Don’t forget – Meet Avery – sign up for our mailing list to get a special invitation to join an invite only live streaming MeetOn.com  chat session with Avery