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Mickey Avalon to perform at Belly Up Aspen

Ross Leonhart
Vail Daily
Mickey Avalon has hit songs in movies including "The Hangover." He performs at Agave in Avon on Friday night, July 8. Doors open at 9:30 p.m.
Special to the Daily |

If you go …

What: Mickey Avalon.

When: Saturday, July 9, 10 p.m.

Where: Belly Up Aspen

Cost: $25-$35

More information: http://www.bellyupaspen.com

AVON — He’s Mickey Avalon, but you can call him Mr. Right.

Gaining fame with songs in movies including “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” and “The Hangover,” Avalon’s music career would have never gotten off the ground if it were up to him.

“Cisco Adler is who I made ‘Jane Fonda’ with, and it was his idea,” Avalon said. “I thought it was a terrible idea.”



But Adler pushed Avalon to make music, even if it was stupid in his eyes, and see what happened. And that’s how “My D-k” came about, a song with more than 2 million views on YouTube.

Avalon joined up with Simon Rex (Dirt Nasty) and Andre Legacy for that song, which was Legacy’s idea.




“Me and Dirt were like, ‘that’s a terrible idea,’” Avalon said. “Dirt made the beat in like 30 seconds. We made it. And it ended up being timeless. I’m glad we did it, but it if we would have had our way, it wouldn’t have gotten done.”

Avalon performs at Belly Up Aspen on Saturday night.

“I would say 90 percent of what I do is on the stage,” he said. “I’m not saying my show has to be live, but I think that’s the more complete experience.”

LA BORN AND RAISED

Avalon grew up in Los Angeles and said he always enjoyed making music for fun. After living in Oregon for a brief stint, he moved back home and was living in a halfway house and working in a pizza joint.

“When I came back, I started messing around with Simon Rex,” he said. “He, actually, not me, was handing out the CDs.”

And that’s where Avalon’s life path changed.

“Once the opportunity arose, I’ve worked hard to keep it going,” he said.

Now, he hears his music in movies and TV shows.

“Obviously you’re flattered and it’s cool,” he said, “but the bigger moment than that was when I first heard my song on the radio.”

He said he stopped the car to listen.

But when he’s lounging at home, watching TV, and he hears his song, he has other things on his mind.

“The first thing is, obviously, did we get paid for that?” he said.

While rap music has transformed throughout the years, Avalon said his music is still just straightforward rap.

“Really, it’s just rap music, but we talk about whatever we talk about,” he said.