Awolnation Artistfacts

2009-
Aaron BrunoLead vocals
Christopher ThornGuitar2010-2012
Hayden ScottDrums2010-2013
Kenny CarkeetGuitar, keys, vocals2009-2016
David AmezcuaBass, vocals2010-2013
Isaac CarpenterDrums2013-
Marc WallochBass2014-
Zach IronsGuitar2015-
Daniel SaslowKeyboard2016-
The band name is a reference to the military term "AWOL," meaning "Absent Without Leave." Lead singer Aaron Bruno earned that nickname in high school because he would vanish from parties and other gatherings without saying goodbye. When he dabbled in freestyle rapping, he used the name "AWOL," and when he formed the band, he named it Awolnation.
Although the group is considered a hard rock band, singer Aaron Bruno says he listens to all different kinds of music, including country, pop, and hip-hop. The first album he bought was a cassette version of Run-D.M.C.'s Raising Hell. He's also a huge fan of Led Zeppelin because of Jon Bonham's drumming.
Awolnation had a big hit with their first single, "Sail," in 2011. They were so happy with their success that they gave their fans a free Christmas EP that year to say "thank you." The 6-song Holiday EP features live favorites and unreleased tracks, including "MF."
Christopher Thorn, who was Awolnation's lead guitarist on their first album (the one with "Sail") is a founding member of the band Blind Melon, which regrouped from time following the death of lead singer Shannon Hoon in 1995.
Bruno named the band's first full-length album Megalithic Symphony because of the way the group of songs on the record came together. He told The Aquarian Weekly that he was studying megalithic structures like the pyramids and Stonehenge when the album was recorded and that like the structures, the songs "were the best I had to offer but they came together in many different ways."
In 2011, drummer Hayden Scott told Modern Drummer magazine that his goal in the band's live shows is to keep people dancing. According to Scott, drum prodigy Tony Royster Jr. played drums on the recorded version of the Awolnation song "Soul Wars," which makes the track fun but tricky to play live.
Awolnation was the most successful act on Red Bull Records, which launched in 2007. Red Bull got heavily involved with music, gaming and sports over the next decade or so, and for a while they had a series of workshops under the name Red Bull Music Academy. The label shut down in 2025 but Awolnation left in 2019 to join Better Noise Music, home to Five Finger Death Punch and Asking Alexandria.
Aaron Bruno loves to surf, and at the 2011 Austin City Limits festival, he brought new meaning to the term "crowd surfing" by using a boogie board to ride on top of the crowd during "Sail."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

Pinball WizardThe Who

Pete Townshend wrote The Who's "Pinball Wizard" to coax a good review for the Tommy album out of a rock critic who loved pinball. It worked.

We Built This CityStarship

Elton John's songwriting partner Bernie Taupin wrote the original lyrics for Starship's "We Built This City." It was the first Hot 100 Top 10 hit Taupin wrote without John.

Bitter Sweet SymphonyThe Verve

"Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve samples an obscure orchestral arrangement of the 1965 Rolling Stones song "The Last Time." The Verve had to sign away most of the royalties before they could release the song.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back TogetherTaylor Swift

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift earned an entry in the 2014 edition of the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest-selling digital single. It reached the #1 spot on iTunes just 50 minutes after its release.

A Little Less ConversationElvis Presley

Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" was just a minor hit when it was released in 1968, but a 2002 remix made the song a global smash, taking it to #1 in a number of countries, including Australia and the UK.