About AWOLNATION
Awolnation is an American rock band from Los Angeles formed and fronted by Aaron Bruno, formerly of Under the Influence of Giants, Home Town Hero, and Insurgence. The band is signed to Better Noise Music and formerly was signed to Red Bull Records. Their first EP, Back from Earth, was released on iTunes on May 18, 2010. They released their first studio album, Megalithic Symphony, on March 15, 2011; it featured their most notable hit, "Sail", which peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 4 on the Billboard Rock Songs chart, and number 5 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. On June 14, 2021, Sail became just the 57th song to be certified diamond by the RIAA and has sold 10,000,000 copies in the United States. As of February 29, 2016, the album has been certified platinum.
The band's second studio album, Run, was released on March 17, 2015. The band's third studio album, Here Come the Runts, was released on February 2, 2018. Their fourth studio album, Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders, was released on April 24, 2020. On May 6, 2022, the band released a covers album titled My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers, and Me. Their sixth studio album, The Phantom Five, was released on August 30, 2024.
Aaron Bruno was approached by Red Bull Records in 2009, asking if he wanted free use of the Red Bull recording studio in Los Angeles. He recorded a few songs in the studio and ultimately signed with the label, calling it more of a "partnership", and was allowed to make the recordings that he wanted. Bruno was with numerous bands before he created Awolnation, including Home Town Hero with Drew Stewart and Under the Influence of Giants with Dave Amezcua. Bruno writes all of his songs himself, but confides in close friends and family or respected artists for guidance. The band released their first EP Back from Earth on May 18, 2010.
The name Awolnation is derived from Aaron Bruno's high school nickname. In an interview with Kristin Houser of the LA Music Blog, he stated that he "would leave without saying goodbye" because it was just easier, so that's where the name AWOL came from."
The band released their debut album Megalithic Symphony digitally on March 15, 2011 through Red Bull Records. Megalithic Symphony features a total of 14 tracks, including the singles "Sail", "Not Your Fault", and "Kill Your Heroes". Bonus tracks for the album include "Shoestrings", "Swinging from the Castles" and "I've Been Dreaming".
The band's first single, "Sail", peaked at number 10 on the U.S. Billboard Rock Songs and has gone platinum in the US and double platinum in Canada. "Sail" was featured in the episode "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" of CBS's television show The Good Wife, commercials for the Fox television show House, Nokia's commercial for Lumia and PT's commercial for 4G LTE, and is also the background music for Under Armour's "Are You from Here" commercial, featuring Derrick Williams. "Sail" was covered by Macy Gray and by DevilDriver . "Sail" was also used for a Sonya Tayeh routine in So You Think You Can Dance season 9, episode 6; at the end of the episode "Dog Soldiers" in season 1 of Longmire; and featured on the soundtrack of the thriller horror movie Playback released in March 2012, as well as featured throughout the film Disconnect . The track gained even greater exposure when it was featured during BMW's Olympic Opening Ceremony and in commercial spots throughout the Olympic broadcasts. "Sail" was used during CBC Hockey Night's opening tease in Canada on February 18, 2012, prior to a game between the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs. It was also used as of March 2013 in commercials for History Channel's new series, Vikings. "Sail" peaked at no. 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100, 27 on the Australian charts, 33 on the New Zealand charts and 17 on the UK Singles Chart. "Sail" was also used on wingsuit flyer Jeb Corliss's YouTube film "Grinding the Crack", which as of October 2021 has had over 34 million views.
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