Feature Story: Patrick Avard

By: Sydnee Mutuku

Few people can say they have been the leading music producer in the World of Cheer. With over 75 World Championships, a catalog of thousands of tracks, and a history of working with artists like T-Pain, Lil’ Jon, Missy Elliott, Akon, and Bonecrusher. Level 77 Music pioneering producer Patrick Avard built his reputation by bringing a new generation of cutting-edge production music, sync licensing, and original scoring into the cheer industry. Growing up in Thomasville, Georgia, Patrick has always been a creative person at heart.

My love of music began in my early childhood. I remember going on road trips with my family, singing songs while flipping through the radio,” says Patrick. “In high school, I participated in a group called ‘The Thomasville Music and Drama Troupe’ directed by Fred Allen. I learned to sight read and sing harmonies. Looking back, I would say this is where it all started,” he shares.

In high school, the cheer coach introduced Patrick to the cheerleading world. This is where his passion for the competitive sport started to blossom. In college, Avard became a competitive cheerleader and joined the 1999 NCA National Championship Team for Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. He started coaching for an all-star team, and he began editing cheer music. At the time, there were no producers for cheer music, so the coaches were responsible for making music themselves.

“One day, a teammate and friend of mine told me there are these computer programs that you can use to edit music,” Patrick says. “I bought the computer programs and began to teach myself to produce music. I was fascinated by the process and got to be pretty good at it. I was working three jobs then, and it dawned on me that I could make a career out of producing music if I focused all my attention on it,” he recalls.

As Patrick perfected his craft in music production, he caught the attention of others in the cheer industry. Before he knew it, cheerleading teams lined up asking him for custom mix tracks for their routines. Avard’s energetic and unique mixes rapidly gained popularity in the community. His cheer mixes became so widely successful that in 2004 Avard developed and branded himself CheerMusicPro.

CheerMusicPro changed the course of music production in the cheer community ever since. For 20 years, CMP’s fast-paced tracks and competitive sound have been used by over 191 teams, and 72 were crowned world champions. Patrick’s recognizable sound has pushed the limits of cheer music as its own genre and has received national recognition from listeners globally. Avard’s art has been heard across platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and Netflix. With CheerMusicPro on the rise, they created their own production company in 2011, New Level Music, which is comprised of highly experienced producers creating custom mixes.

“I put my heart and soul into being the best I could be as a music producer and entrepreneur,” Avard shares. “I always dreamed of being part of the mainstream music industry, but I just wasn’t sure how it would happen. Only in the last four or five years did the path become clearer. I’ve been on a long, steady road. I definitely didn’t have immediate success, but I stayed the course and worked my way through until doors started to open,” says Patrick. “I believe you should never stop learning and growing both in life and in your career.”

Patrick now focuses on building his independent production music company, Level 77 Music. Founded by Avard in 2016, Level 77 is a Georgia-based production company that brings innovation and creativity to the ever-changing music industry.

“I realized that people in the cheer world were starting to catch on and duplicate some of the mixing techniques I was using,” says Patrick. “So, I responded by creating more original content. I brought in writers and producers and produced my first album. We finished that album and continued creating more original content. We’ve produced many great songs over the years, and at one point, I realized we weren’t utilizing them enough. We would use them once in a mix, and then they just sat on the shelf. So, we decided to start building a catalog,” he recalls.

With the help of experienced artists, Level 77 Music has built a diverse catalog for platforms like TBS, ESPN, Fox Sports, Hulu, and Paramount+. Avard has awardwinning custom music on Netflix’s Cheer, America’s Got Talent, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Patrick doesn’t produce as much music as he used to: however, his most recent song, “Be Mine,” which wasfeatured on the production music library’s album G.I.R.L. just won the top honor for the Pop Track of the Year at The Production Music Association’s 7th Annual Mark Awards.

“We released Playlist Pop in August, and I’m very proud of it. It’s meant to

sound like mainstream pop and have a very commercial sound, hence the album title,” recalls Patrick. “It crosses over to many usages and verticals, both the vocal and instrumental parts. It’s a ten-song album featuring composer Caleb Tillman’s talent and three additional songwriters. We all collaborated on the concepts, the sound of each song, and the message we wanted the project to carry,” he shares. “I think the results speak for themselves and show the strength of Level 77 Music which is our vocal music.”

Being an entrepreneur isn’t always straightforward. Patrick has had his share of challenges that he’s dealt with, one of the most recent being the Covid19 pandemic. In 2020, people had to put their jobs on hold due to the pandemic. Like other businesses, Level 77 Music experienced one of its most significant hardships during the Covid lockdown. “We were coming off the best year we’d ever had in 2019, and then all at once, the world stopped and shut down,” recalls Patrick. “We set up payment plans with all our clients who were also challenged by the pandemic, and we had no new business coming in. I know many businesses were hit even harder than mine, so I feel very fortunate, to be honest. At the moment, I wasn’t sure what to do or how long the lockdown would last, so I focused all my energy trying to plan and find ways to reduce costs while still taking care of my employees,” he shares. “Fortunately, I had enough reserves built up in the company that we could survive the uncertainty and continue to grow the business the following year. It was the most stressful thing I’ve had to go through as a business owner.”

With 2023 just around the corner, Patrick is fueled with new inspirations and goals for Level 77 Music. The independent production music company launched a top-tier film scoring division, Sonic Score. The new division features award-winning composers Mark Kueffner and Luke Truan, both with experience that spans across film and television.

A 25-year industry veteran, Kueffner has written music for shows like The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Fatal Attraction, Fear Factor, American Greed, and Homicide Hunter. Kueffner believes that Sonic Score could reverse the trend where Georgiabased productions go to the West Coast for scoring. Kueffner’s track “Pathos to Praise” was nominated for 168 Film Festival’s Best Original Score Category. The 168 Film Festival is coming to Atlanta November 4-5, 2022, at Trilith Studios Town Stage in Fayetteville, GA. Truan is well known for cinematic scores, soundtracks, and arrangements in Swipe Club, No Words, Just Love that Man, Chic Nu Legacy, and the series The Hidden Truth, Shark Week, and Sydney Harbor Force. Announced in October, Truan’s track “Phagocytosis” has been nominated for the 2022 Hollywood Music In Media Awards™ (HMMA) in the Documentary category.

Sonic Score aims to provide scoring for film, television, documentaries, games, and other entertainment projects. Patrick plans to take advantage of Georgia’s film and television boom and the state’s tax incentive program, which offers credits of up to 30 percent for work produced in Georgia.

“We’re starting to get some amazing opportunities. Our music has been used in films and is being pitched for bigger projects. I expect our library to double in size over the next couple of years. We are currently pursuing acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and publisher relationships to help us reach that goal. When you turn on Netflix or click through Spotify playlists, you will find Level 77 music,” says Patrick.

Over the course of six days, the 2022 BronzeLens Film Festival screened

124 unique films. From those, ten were selected by the judges to win BronzeLens Awards in the following categories: Feature, Documentary, Short, Short Documentary, Dance Video, Student, Web Series, Music Video, Reel South, Best of Festival, Best Actress, and Best Actor. Directed by Marchelle Thurman and Casey Nelson, “Black White and the Greys” took home the most hardware, winning both Best Feature and Best of Festival

Awards.

Additionally, the festival granted special awards to James Anderson who won the BronzeLens Chairman’s Award

and WarnerMedia SVP Enterprise Inclusion for Marketing and Communications, while the BronzeLens Founder’s Award went to

White House Senior Advisor for Public

Pictured (L to R): James Anderson, Chairman’s Award Recipient; Mosiah Moonsammy; Casey Nelson; Marchelle Thurman; Keisha Lance Bottoms, Founder’s Award recipient; Chelsea Hicks; Ashley Wilkerson; Jahmil Eady; and Roderick Lawrence

Marchelle Thurmond and Casey Nelson with BronzeLens Founding Artistic Director, Deidre McDonald (center)

Chelsea Hicks

W. Imara Canady, Chairman of BronzeLens Board of Directors and James Anderson, Chairman’s Award Recipient

Mosiah Moonsammy Kathleen Bertrand, Founder & Executive Producer of BronzeLens and Keisha Lance Bottoms, Founder’s Award recipient

Shandra McDonald, Presenter; Marchelle Thurman and Casey Nelson

Jahmil Eady

Charity Jordan, Actress and Roderick Lawrence • Best Documentary - Incarceration Nation Directed by Dean Gibson

• Best Documentary Short - “Art Chooses Us” Directed by Tomas Kamphuis

• Reel South - “Fannie” Directed by Christine Swanson

• Best Dance Video - “Like Water” Directed by Mthuthuzeli November

• Best Music - “Dollar 2 The Rich” Directed by Lewis T. Powell

• Best Student Film - The Bond Directed by Jahmil Eady

• Best Web Series - “Last Bodega in Brooklyn” Directed by Mosiah Moonsammy and Jared Glenn

• Best Actress - Aunjanue Ellis in “Fannie”

• Best Actor - Roderick Lawrence in “Silent Partner”

• The remaining winners include: Best Short - “Contraban” Directed by Chelsea Hicks

BronzeLens is a qualifying festival for short films at the Academy Awards, so “Contraban” is now eligible for consideration.

“We intentionally sought to provide our attendees with the opportunity to engage and be inspired by not only what was taking place during the festival, but to also experience a segment of Atlanta’s creative community,” said Kathleen Bertrand, the BronzeLens Founder and Executive Director. “It is important to us that we continue to provide an opportunity for world-class independent filmmakers to showcase their work.”

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