MUMBAI: Based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the USA, alternative rock group, Avian (formerly known as Avian Sunrise) recently achieved BEAT100 Ultimate Musician status with their newest release and music video upload, ‘Bravery’. The outstanding track, filled with a powerful and emotional message, is performed by the band’s six piece ensemble, consisting of Bryan Wehrkamp on vocals, piano, and acoustic guitar, Corey Gros on bass and vocals, Luke Volden on guitar and vocals, Matt Bump on guitar and programming, and Tanner Farmen on drums. Filmed in the Badlands of South Dakota, located about six hours from the band’s hometown, ‘Bravery’ was awarded a Gold Song, Video, and Favourite Award by the BEAT100 team and community.

Forming during their college years, Avian quickly acquired their name as a representation of the band’s vision: “’Avian’ means freedom to create,” says Corey Gros, “without that freedom, we wouldn’t be able to do what we love.” Since their initial days as a band, Avian has focused on releasing much music together, including ‘Your Broken Fall EP’ in 2009, ‘A Noisy World EP’ in 2010, ‘Memories and Melodies (Single)’ in 2010, ‘Silence in the Sound LP’ in May 2011, and ‘Little Visits EP’ most recently in 2012. With the past six months devoted to working on 20 to 30 new songs, Corey says that Avian plans to hit the studio again in early 2014, though followers should plan on a number of new independently produced music videos to be released throughout the coming days and months. Fans can visit Avian’s website here.

Shortly after forming in 2008, Avian’s singer, Bryan Wehrkamp, sadly lost his sister to a battle with depression. “That tragedy is what glued us together as a group and helped us find the central purpose to what we strive to do,” says Corey, “and that’s to write music to help others, no matter what they are going through in life.” Avian’s recent BEAT100 upload of ‘Bravery’ proves consistent with their goal and mission. “’Bravery’ is based on fighting your vices, gathering courage, and taking your problems head on,” says Corey. The band filmed the original music video in the Badlands to best capture the feelings of the track and enjoyed the process of releasing the quality video. “[The Badlands] embodied the feel we wanted for the video… it is such a desolate and beautiful place,”
explains Corey, “It was such a fun process, as this was our first story boarded music video with a director and actors. We shot for two days and it was just a blast.”

With consistent tour dates throughout the Midwest region of the US, the band says a nationwide tour is in the works. In the meantime, “our goal is to keep writing, performing, and reaching as many people as we can with our music,” says Corey. As they continue to reach the mainstream and spread their message, Avian offers three pieces of advice to other aspiring musicians: “(1) Never stop writing from your heart, (2) enjoy every second with your bandmates, and (3) never forget that as an artist you have a platform to inspire positive change in this world, be it big or small. Don’t abuse that platform, as you can make a difference in this word.”

BEAT100 members can follow Avian on the music video social network to view ‘Bravery’ and stay updated on their future music video releases. Non-members can sign up to BEAT100 for free to upload their original and cover music videos to the BEAT100 World Music Charts for a chance to join the ranks of Avian as BEAT100 Ultimate Musicians. “BEAT100 is such a cool idea and great community,” says Corey, “We are very new in joining, but are simply blown away by everything. The personal touch and genuine excitement for music is just amazing. It’s helped us a lot from a PR standpoint and we will continue to be active in the community.”