Call It Captivate | w/ Bryce Avary
Written By: Jameson Ketchum

he Rocket Summer’s Bryce Avary is here to give you another reason to smile. When he’s not spreading his contagious happiness through song to the masses, he’s at the helm of Call It Captivate, a clothing company that provides a charity of the buyer’s choice with its proceeds. Mr. Avary was kind enough to take a break from amping up to release a new record this fall to fill us in a bit on his current endeavor.

Give us a little bit of a background on how Call It Captivate came to be?

Bryce Avary: It all happened the same day – the spark, the idea, the name, and the vision.  I’ve always loved fashion but I’ve always been kind of grossed out by rock stars starting clothing lines for purely capitalistic reasons. One day I was brainstorming on ways to inspire people to get involved in issues they believe need more attention.  And as random as it is, I thought a great way to do achieve this was through fashion. Fashion impacts culture.  I had been overwhelmed with how many issues there are in this world, how many hurting people there are and how badly I wanted to do something yet there are just so many issues.  These realities are what sparked “Call It Captivate”.  It took a long time, but after many calls, we are now working with many charities from poverty aid to disease research to an orphanage.

We strive to make really great clothes with great designs.  We’re 100% a clothing company that just happens to have an awesome underlying reason for doing this.

What do you think of this recent wave of musicians getting more involved with non profit work in the hopes that kids will follow their example?

BA: I think it’s great that it’s becoming a pretty hip thing to be involved, even if it is a popular thing to do and not done for the right reasons, there are plenty of other fads that this obviously is better than.  Hopefully if and when the popularity of some bands decreases, the idea of being involved for the right reasons sticks with them and their fans.

What is your involvement as you are obviously extremely busy with music?

BA: While I am the creator and captain of the team, I do have quite a full time job with my band The Rocket Summer.  Up until now I’ve handled the majority of all things CIC but we’re actually in the process of bringing on other people to help out to make this a bigger, more effective company.

Where do the proceeds from the sales of Call It Captivate go?

BA: When you come to our site and check out our clothes you also have the opportunity to read about these charities.  When you check out, you get to decide which charity you want 25% of your purchase to go to.  Right now a few of the organizations we have partnered with are Blood Water Mission, Holt International Adoption, These Numbers Have Faces, The Miracle League of El Paso and The LA Dream Center.

How did you decide on those particular charities?

BA: Basically, over the years, I have come across certain charities that I really feel connected to and have a big heart for. The charities that you get to choose from at CIC have changed a few times and that is because we want to spotlight on different charities to get others to see what they are doing.

In your opinion, how does fashion engage culture?

BA: Fashion has a huge impact on our society. After touring for many years I have been able to see how much fashion influences people. Why not use fashion in a positive way and help others through it!

Do you have any stories that stick out to you of CIC impacting or influencing someone?

BA: About 30 people at Long Beach Poly High School created a club with the name Call It Captivate Club, and thus far they have raised $1,000 which they donated to Blood:Water Mission which is so amazing! I also know their have been several people who have heard about certain charities through CIC and have gone on to volunteer with them and have really had their hearts pulled towards serving others.

What inspires your designs?

BA: I love creating designs and have a lot floating around in my head.  It started as me just telling artists in detail what I was wanting, and through the process I met several extremely talented guys that brought some great ideas to the table.

We saw on your site that Mike Hererra also supports CIC. Do these kind of partnerships just happen or are they something that you guys seek out?

BA: I have been friends with Mike for awhile now and it is basically just friends helping friends.

We see that you most recently added The Dream Center in LA to your list of charities. I had a chance to work there for a few days and I was blown away by this place. Can you tell us a bit about what you experienced there and why you thought it was a good choice for CIC?

BA: While I was in the studio making my upcoming new album, “Of Men and Angels” my wife Tara had some much needed time off.  She wanted to get involved in a place during this time that fed the homeless.  She would go twice a week and bring lunch to the homeless with the Dream Center and through this we got connected.  They’re good people!