MC: So you don’t know why “Sail” has had such a long life. Any idea why that song caught fire?
Bruno: What is most shocking to me is it doesn’t have your typical chorus. One producer told me he thought it needed a chorus. I thought, no way. I like it how it is. My gut told me, no––keep it the same.
It was such a natural song to write. It was like a journal entry. Let’s just keep it what it is. You can always write another song with a typical chorus. I’m not afraid to throw away songs or let them be what they’re supposed to be. And “Sail” was a result of that. This was before any of these other like-minded songs came out. It was the first of its kind and struck a nerve, I guess. I got very lucky that I touched on subject matter that hadn’t been touched on in that way.
MC: Tell us how you’ve approached promotion.
Bruno: The normal route hasn’t ever worked for me or my manager Berko Pearce. We’ve always been the outliers. We never felt we were part of the club. Now, with all this success, we kind of are, but it’s like we have one foot in and one foot out. So we’re always trying to think of different ways to do things, because the music is different and takes a bit more education. Some people love it instantly, some are thrown off.
It takes a second to get used to something that’s unknown or new. Some of us are more afraid of the unknown than others. Half of me is terrified of it and half is thrilled. I still don’t know what to call what I’m doing.
I’m sitting on my first No. 1 song, which is wild, because “Sail” never got to No. 1. We just wanted to get it out, because we knew it was going to grow like a fungus and stick around.
MC: Do you worry about being perceived as a flash in the pan? Are you concerned success could fade quickly as it arrived?
Bruno: If it faded as quickly as it arrived, it would be a pretty long fade, so that would be fine with me. But I don’t have any delusions of having another six-million-copy-selling song. In fact, it’s very unlikely. So for me, it’s about managing my expectations.
If we can please our fans and the people who fell in love with the whole record, not just any of the singles, that’s sort of my main goal––to have this record spoken about as a whole album and not just singles. Although, it’s looking like we’re going to have quite a few singles. And that’s cool, too.
MC: What’s the most important thing you’ve done to make AWOLNATION the phenomenon it is today?
Bruno: That’s a heavy question. There are a lot of possible answers. The journey has sort of just begun, so I’m kind of navigating as I go. We teamed up with a label that didn’t necessarily know what they were doing, either. We figured it out as we went. To be part of a label that doesn’t stick to a formula has been incredibly good, because it’s a different sound and a different way of going about things. We don’t have as many deadlines as other bands. We’re able to kind of go where the wind takes us. That’s a huge part of it.
Of course, I want everybody to praise it and give all these beautiful reviews and win awards and stuff, but none of that’s real. What’s real is music listeners and lovers, and the people you’re connecting with at shows and your friends who love music like you do.
This record was ultimately a fantasy record I made for people like that.
MC: The band has had quite a few personnel changes. As the group’s leader, how do you deal with those changes?
Bruno: Life happens. People have kids. Without getting into anything specific, there are a lot of relationship things. But there’s never been anything ugly or strange. It’s been more like, I understand you’re at that point in your life. Let’s move on.
MC: Let’s talk about live performance. Do you use the same performers who record with you on the road?
Bruno: We have the same touring band always. It’s an uncomfortable thing to talk about. Any time I address the fact that I do everything on my own in the studio, it never feels great, because I don’t want to take away anything from the guys who play with me on tour. They’re much better musicians than I will ever be. And they inspire me in ways I can’t even explain. It just worked out where all this stuff became possible because of the work I did on my own in the studio. It wasn’t necessarily a plan of mine. It’s just where I ended up.
Anyone who is playing with me I have some history with. Rather than doing a cattle call, I’d rather go based on relationships. Our guitar player, Drew Stewart, is the guy I started music with when I was 16. We met in Spanish class. Sure enough, Drew was there wearing a punk rock shirt. They announced on the loud speaker that it was both our birthdays. We just hit it off and started playing.
Isaac Carpenter, our drummer, played with Adam Lambert for a while, and with Duff McKagan’s band, Loaded. And he was also in this other band, Loudermilk, in the early 2000s. I met him in that band while Drew and I were in our other band, Home Town Hero. We thought he was the coolest, baddest drummer we’d ever seen. On the end of the last record cycle, I was able to convince him to join the band.
And Kenny Carkeet on keyboards, MPC, guitar and basically everything fun, he was the engineer on “Sail” and around the studio that I made a lot of Megalithic Symphony in. Even though I’m the architect, it definitely feels like a band and we all treat ourselves equally.
MC: Red Bull Records. How did you make that connection? Did that come from your manager?
Bruno: That’s exactly what it was. Berko was doing some A&R consulting with a company by the name of RM 64. .... I don’t even think he played Red Bull Records the demos. It was actually someone from the label named Meredith Chinn. She probably hadn’t heard it from Berko, because I don’t think he wanted to play them artists he was managing.
And Greg Hammer, the president of the label, called Berko and offered me use of the Red Bull Studio in Santa Monica. At the time, I didn’t have a studio or a way to record myself, so I jumped at the opportunity. I figured, at the least, I would have these songs taken to another level, regardless if Red Bull Records was going to sign me or not. And there were no strings attached.
I think they gave me 10 dates. I just went in and started making what became Megalithic Symphony before I even knew I was making a record. It’s all one big happy accident.
MC: What makes Red Bull the home for you?
Bruno: I felt there was a high respect level for my production and songwriting and knew they weren’t going to force me to write with a bunch of other songwriters or work with other producers. On alternative radio, all the hits are co-writes. That’s cool, but that wasn’t necessarily going to work for me. It hasn’t in the past. So I was excited, flattered and humbled by the fact they were going to trust me to finish out a record as I had started it.
