"Maybe I should cry for help
Maybe I should kill myself
Blame it on my ADD baby"
~ Awolnation, "Sail"
Those song lyrics aren't exactly going to make you burst with fruit flavor, but they do indeed strike a chord and hit home. The same can be said for the entire debut album by rock/hip hop/dance band AWOLNation. "Megalithic Symphony," which dropped Tuesday, features aforementioned first single "Sail" (killing it on alt-rock stations lately) and other tunes that drive home the words that open up the band's prepared bio: they're "mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore."
AWOLNATION founder Aaron Bruno is definitely practicing the Howard Beal mantra with a little Holden Caulfield and "Happy Harry Hard-On" thrown in for good measure. Essentially, Bruno's sick of the world we live in and is waging a war with his NATION against all that's commercial and phony.
I caught up with Bruno last week, and asked him to elaborate on the band, their first full-length album (a five song EP called "Back From Earth" was released last year), and why their bio is cryptic in defining who he/they are. Here's what happened...
I read through your bio ten times and still can't grasp who you are. Explain.
You nailed it on the head.
Ah... I get it. Anyway "Sail" is sort of anti-anthem anthem. Would you agree
I never thought it would end up being an anthem when I wrote it, and certainly not a "single." I just wanted to make a song that felt powerful to me, and the lyrics just came out. Now, when we play it, people sing along and it appears to strike a chord in them. I am grateful.
Some of the tracks on the album sound completely different from the one that precede it. Was that a conscious decision or am I way off base?
When I write, I just try to create the best songs I am capable of writing. It is not necessarily a "conscious" decision. I love all different genres of music, and want the listener to take a journey that hopefully makes their day better one way or another.
Is there an artist you'd kill to open for/tour with?
Not really. I would rather go see an artist that I love, instead of stressing about having to perform before hand.
What's your cure for Bieber fever?
Believe it or not, there are A LOT of artists who are much worse than him. At least he works hard from what I've heard. I can honestly tell you that I don't know any of his songs. I have been lucky enough to avoid them.