April 01, 2008
Avril Lavigne press conference interview
by Ron Hollywood

photography REUTERS/Nir Elias

We here at 10scalereviews.com are pleased to give you an Avril Lavigne press conference interview that took place as tour was starting. Enjoy it.

Moderator : Your first question comes from the line of Gary Graff from United Stations. Please go ahead.
G. Graff: Hello, Avril. How are you today?
A. Lavigne : Hello. I’m good, thanks.
G. Graff: Good. Talk a little about the production and the look of the show. I know you were talking about working with dancers and there have been some different stories and issues with that, so what kind of form is the show going to take, and also what are you going to be playing?
A. Lavigne : The show is going to be very upbeat and the production will be bigger in the sense of what you just said, … dancers on a couple of songs, and LED screens, and I’m going to have checkered flooring. I have a pink sparkle drum kit, a pink piano being made, flags. Over time I just learned how I need to be on stage. I’m more confident. It’s just more dynamic, brighter, and more colorful. I’m excited about it because I’ve been working on the show for a very long time now and this is going to be really fun to finally go play.

Moderator : This question comes from the line of Ira Robins from Premier Radio.
I. Robins : Hello, Avril. Tell me a little bit about your sense of Canadian and American audiences when you tour, are they very different? Is it different for you to play to Canadians?
A. Lavigne : Yes, actually. When I go to Canada I feel like everyone, my fans are like “Woo-hoo, she’s Canadian,” and I feel like I’ve come home. I feel like I have so much support and love, like I’m Canada’s girl from them, so I feel that extra love when I go home, so, yes.
I. Robins : What about touring in the wintertime, is there any concern about you know the possibility of weather interrupting shows and things like that?
A. Lavigne : Well, if you play outside in the winter in Canada, December 1st, like I just did, yes, it can be very difficult. I’m never going to play outside again in the snow. I told my manager, why would you guys book a show outside? Because flights were delayed for crew members of mine and the backline had issues, because all the wires are under the snow and it’s not really a good idea. It’s also not a good idea to play out in the rain, because I’ve been on stage with some lightning and pouring rain. I was just in Europe doing festivals and I was like, should I be on stage right now? But I like to play inside

Moderator : Here’s a question comes from Christina Fuoco from The Flint Journal.
C. Fuoco : You said that you’re more confident right now, what do you think brought about that confidence?
A. Lavigne : Well, a lot of people don’t know this about me but I’m actually shy around people I don’t know. I would just say with my first concert, my first tour, I didn’t really talk on stage, I was like, “Thank you, I love you guys,” or whatever. But now I’ve just kind of learned to work a crowd. I’ve played so many shows now, it’s been five years, and I’ve just kind of learned how to talk to an audience. And you know the longer you do anything, the more you learn it and feel comfortable, and I was always comfortable singing, but being a performer is a totally different thing. You want to keep the crowd watching you and interested and excited, so that’s why now I feel like “Alright, I get to do this.” Finally, I have enough songs that are singles that people know so I can put them in certain points that I want in the show. I can bring it up with songs like “Girlfriend” and “Sk8er Boi,” open and close with those big songs and bring out dancers, but I can also come down and come out on the piano with “When You’re Gone,” “Alone,” and “By Myself.”

Moderator : Your next question is with Alan Sculley from Last Word Features.
A. Sculley : Thanks for taking time out. I’m curious to know a little bit more about the production numbers and what kind of things you had to go through. I don’t know if you’re doing the dancing at all in it too, or just how much you had to learn and what you plan to go through in order to bring that element into the show?
A. Lavigne : There’s dancing on maybe like four songs, and it’s not really much dancing. It’s very me, it’s very kicking and punching and stomping and marching, stuff that I was always doing on stage, songs like “Girlfriend” and then the next song after it, “I Can Do Better,” like boom, boom, the first two songs and then they’re gone. And then it’s me playing my guitar, me on the piano, me with my band the entire show, and then at the end they come in again, so it’s not a lot. And I’ve been doing it at festivals and stuff like that, so I’ve actually been doing it for a year now, so it doesn’t feel new anymore. But I guess it will be for a lot of people to see.
It’s not over the top too much. The show is very me, it rocks. It’s very much me, but just the next level. And it’s exciting because the reason why I wanted to bring in more people and I got a new band and added more players to it is because I wanted more energy on stage. I always wanted it to be bigger and just more fun, like a party, have more people on stage to have fun with and stuff.
A. Sculley : I don’t know if you feel like you’ve already maybe …. it, but I know you talked about it for a long time about not wanting, kind of being the alternative to the Britney’s and the Christina Aguilera’s and all the production number kind of shows. Do you worry at all about getting any comparisons to them now that you’ve got a little bit of that in the show?
A. Lavigne : No, because my songs aren’t bubble gum pop dance songs and I don’t have background dancers on every single song like them. I’m not wearing a headphone, microphone on my head. It’s a totally different thing. I’m playing guitar. I’m playing the drums. I’m playing the piano. I’ve had dancers a couple of times and they’re like “my girls” and they come out with their attitude. Actually, that’s a very good question— planning this tour, I wanted it to be big and bigger, and I was very careful to make sure that I didn’t do anything too much. Anything that ever feels uncomfortable to me or if I ever question something, I scrap it. I’m just very clear on who I am and what I like and don’t like, so no.

Moderator : From the line of Ben Westhoff from Village Voice Media.
B. Westhoff : Hello, Avril. I just wanted to know, I’m a really big fan and I love your new album and I’m excited for your tour— what do you say to all your fans
A. Lavigne : Well, any fan I would say thank you so much, because without my fans I wouldn’t be here today and having this amazing opportunity. I’m so thankful. My fans have been extremely supportive through everything, that’s the type of fan I have, they’re a fan and they’ve been around for a while and they’re really supportive. So I would just say, thank you, … male or female.

Moderator :Your next question comes from Barry Thompson from Weekly Dig.
B. Thompson : Okay, I have one question here, and I guess it’s a little complicated. What do you think of the notion of like music as fashion? Like I guess what I’m thinking of is like your first album you had more of a punk aesthetic going on as far as what you were wearing. And do you feel like maybe kids who bought that album listen to completely different music because of what you were wearing, or maybe not? Do you feel like that matters?
A. Lavigne : Music and fashion? I don’t really know if the way I dressed influenced people to listen to different music, I’m not sure. I don’t think I would really know. I do think what was cool about my first record and how I was dressing had a lot of people, a lot of my fans ended up dressing like me, so I was a little trendsetter. I think that was cool. I’m not sure. If you want to talk about a fan of mine if I probably talked about “Oh, I like to listen to Green Day” or whatever maybe they would go buy a Green Day record, if that answers your question.

Moderator : Your next question comes from the line of Jeff Niesel from Cleveland Free Times. Please go ahead.
J. Niesel : Hello, Avril. You became very successful very quickly, and talk about the challenges of trying to maintain your popularity at a time when people don’t seem to buy records at the rate that they used to.
A. Lavigne : It’s kind of one of those things I don’t think about. I’m not really in control of that. The music industry has kind of taken a hit right now, but I just focus on singing and writing, and I’m just going to keep doing it as long as I can and have fun with it. And I get to tour, and that really hasn’t been affected, so I know that I can always do that. I’m fortunate to have a fan base worldwide.

Moderator : Your next question comes from Ted Shaw from The Windsor Star.
T. Shaw : An earlier caller mentioned Sum 41 and their touring right at the same time you are, do you keep in regular touch with your husband by phone or e-mail?
A. Lavigne : Yes, of course. E-mail, phone, and you know a lot of airplane rides back and forth trying to visit each other. But what we love to do is music and tour and we have a good, strong relationship.

Moderator : Your next question comes from the line of Mark Guarino from the Chicago Daily Herald. Please go ahead.
M. Guarino : How much of this tour is a reaction to your previous tour, just as much as your new record’s definitely a shift from your last record, and actually it’s almost kind of like a shift to your first record; it’s very upbeat, super catchy pop. I’m wondering what kind of made you kind of go in that direction from your last tour and album?
A. Lavigne : Okay. My inspiration for this record, a lot of it came from my live show, knowing what kind of songs I wanted to play live. I wanted to play fast, fun songs. I loved playing songs like “Sk8er Boi” on stage because the crowd just reacts, and I love it when everyone is freaking out and jumping. I like playing fast songs. I want my entire set to be fast. My last record, Under My Skin, was pretty mid-tempo and darker and serious, it was like every song was like bringing down the audience, or whatever, that was just … was coming down and down, and I was like I want to go up. I just wanted to rock, so that’s why I’ve made a really up-tempo record just for the tour and was just like over that serious break-up thing, you know. It just depends on what I’m going to do when I make a record.
M. Guarino : Sure, and tell me about your guitar playing. Is that something that you work on as time goes on? Do you practice? How has your guitar playing developed over time?
A. Lavigne : I’m not a lead guitarist, so I don’t pick, I’m rhythm. I will always say I’m not the greatest player, but I’m good. I love to play guitar. I use it as a writing tool and I love to play it live. And yes, I’m better than I was on my first tour because I’ve been playing longer now, like with anything. I enjoy playing the piano and I enjoy playing the drums.

Moderator : Next, representing Access Hollywood we go to the line of Jolie Lash.
J. Lash : Hello, Avril. I wanted to ask you about the cover you’re doing of Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation”. You told someone that there’s an interesting little montage going on behind you, can you explain that for us too?
A. Lavigne : Actually, this was just Jamie King, my set director, his idea, which was kind of cool, he brought to the table, when I go do a change he came up with the idea of having “Bad Reputation” play on a video montage. And I was like it is really cool that he thought of that, because that was a song that I was actually thinking about covering because I had to come up with a good cover song, which shows that we’re good to work together because we’re both on the same page. He just wanted to put some fun images up on the screen, different images of me throughout my career, from when I was 17 with my fists in the air screaming or my little kick shots and just fun stuff like that.
J. Lash : You recently trademarked your name, does that translate into new sort of fun merchandise for the tour, like, I don’t know—?
A. Lavigne : Well, I’m going to be doing a fragrance and I’m also going to be doing a clothing line. This is something I wanted to do. It’s a clothing line I wanted to do for about three years. A lot of times what people do is they do a licensing deal and I didn’t want to do that, I wanted to own a company and really be able to be a designer and be creative. And I’ve finally found someone to partner up with, and I’m very excited about it because I love clothes. I love anything visual. I’m excited to be able to focus on something else creatively. I love music. By the time I get off tour I think it will be me doing music straight for seven years, so I look forward to something new to put my energy into, and to take a little break, even though I’ll still be writing. I’ll never stop. And so yes, that’s what that is.

Moderator : Now we go to Victoria Ahearn with the Canadian Press.
V. Ahearn : You’re going to have to interrupt this tour to attend the Juno Awards where you’re nominated for five awards. What can we expect from your performance there?
A. Lavigne : Well, I’m not sure what I’m performing, but I was thinking I would like to do two songs. Maybe I could do like “Girlfriend” and then go into my song called “The Best Damn Thing” which is going to be my fourth single, which I’ve actually never done that before, half one song and half of another song, but they’re kind of similar so I might do that. I’m very excited to go. I’m very thankful that I’ve been nominated for five Juno’s, since I didn’t get any Grammy nominations. It’s nice to feel the support from Canada, so I’m so happy I get to make it and that we left time open on my tour so that I could attend. I always love going back home.
V. Ahearn : How much time do you have? Will it be a bit of a rush for you?
A. Lavigne : I know that I get to fly in a private jet, so that’s always fun. That usually means, yes, that it’s going to be an in and out thing, but it will be fun.
V. Ahearn : Yes, we’re looking forward to it.
A. Lavigne : Thank you.

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