Music
After the runaway success of Megalithic Symphony, Aaron Bruno is back with a new ‘piece of art’.
Their debut albumMegalithic Symphony catapulted them into the big league. But AWOLNATION's follow-up Run doesn't suggest a band resting on its laurels. We spoke to frontman Aaron Bruno about expectation, fear of failure and avoiding the sophomore slump.
How are you feeling about the album?
I feel like it's the best piece of art I've ever been involved with. And all I can really tell you is that I did the very best I could, and I did not compromise any second of the record to sound in any way other than the very best I was capable of making it. It was the first time I had made music that was heavily anticipated because I'd only made debut albums before in the other bands I was in. This was a completely different feeling. But the fear of the sophomore failure album was kind of the new fuel for me that made the flame very big and uncontrollable. I think it's an incredible record; maybe one of the better ones in the last five years. But of course I'm gonna say that!
Is the balance between darkness and uplift important to your music?
You can't feel an uplifting emotion unless you've felt darkness. My favourite music has always been music where you feel like some sort of victory has been arrived at through struggle. Like you've been climbing a mountain and then you get to finally jump off and soar, and see what the world is all about. But the journey up the mountain is really what it's all about. This record definitely takes listeners through that process. But darkness doesn't have to be a bad thing. Dark songs make me feel good. They can bring a tear to your eye but also make you feel better because you realise there's someone else feeling the same as you.
The album's pretty complex. Do you think about how things are going to work live?
There's a lot going on but never too many things at the same time. So many different sounds come and go but there's always room for the melody to breathe. Still, I do wonder how I'm going to do some of it live. I remember Thom Yorke saying about Radiohead; 'We are a Radiohead cover band. We do the best cover versions we can of our albums.' And that's exactly the truth. But also, you want to be better live than on the record. The record should be as good as you can get it and then live, it should be like putting on the record on the very best drug of your choice.
Watch the official video for AWOLNATION’s Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf), taken from the new album Run, in the player below.
Has it helped you that success has come later? How would it have been for you if you'd been famous at 22?
I almost was. Home Town Hero were signed to a major label, and we had a song that the big radio stations started playing. Looking back, had I gone with the single everybody wanted, that record would have done extremely well. But having said that, then I wouldn't have stumbled enough, and experienced enough true life and heartbreak to get to the promised land. I'm very blessed that I made terrible youthful decisions. It's all about the journey.
As per your nickname, do you still slip out of social events early? Absolutely. I'm not a celebrity, man. I've been fairly faceless throughout this whole thing. I don't foresee celebrity ever happening, and I don't want it to. In my regular day-to-day, no one bothers me. I've been fairly lucky that way. We'll see what happens but I have no interest in red carpet events or whatever. I don't fit on the red carpet. I would dirty it up too much.
AWOLNATION’s new album, Run, is released on March 17 through Red Bull Records. Buy it here.
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