AWOLNATION’s Aaron Bruno Discusses Barbarians of California

On Thursday (Oct. 9), AWOLNATION’s Aaron Bruno joined Loudwire Nights to dive deep into his latest band, Barbarians of California, and why it’s more than just a side project.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

“I went to Sacramento to record an album with a guy named Eric Stenman, who’s now not only the Barbarians guitar player but he’s also the AWOLNATION engineer, too,” Bruno explained to Loudwire Nights‘ Chuck Armstrong.

“We met, we made a really indie record that not a lot of people heard — and then cut all the way to 2009. Red Bull Records, of all people, wanted to offer me to use their studio for free after hearing a couple of the AWOLNATION demos. They said, ‘There’s this guy, Eric Stenman, who’s our in-house engineer. Do you want to come by?’ I’m like, of course I do. Holy smokes.”

As Bruno put it, he stole Stenman from that studio and now, among many things, they’re working together on Barbarians of California, an intense, hardcore band that most recently toured the country with the Deftones.

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“Now we have this passion project we’re doing that a lot of people — if I read any press, which I try not to — if anyone says anything, it’s usually like, Bruno’s side project,” he shared.

“But it’s quickly become anything but a side project because the reaction has been so overwhelmingly and unexpectedly positive that it’s very serious for us now.”

What Else Did Barbarians of California’s Aaron Bruno Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• What it was like starting Barbarians of California: “The question really was always, are people going to accept me, known entirely for the AWOL stuff? And it was twofold. It was way harder than I thought it would be to get everybody to just kind of cross over into the new project. And that was, looking back, a bit of a blessing.”
• What it was like thinking he was done with music just as AWOLNATION hit: “When I turned 30 and kind of hit rock bottom, personally, financially and probably in a lot of other ways too — everything just kind of took off. When I released the expectation of success and whatever that was to me, [that] is when I found it. So if nothing else, if anyone’s listening to this and they feel frustrated with whatever path they’re on, I would suggest to be patient because the timeline of what we expect is what usually will let us down.”
• Why he hopes people have fun with Barbarians of California: “I like to throw some sarcasm in there because with music this heavy, you can’t take yourself that seriously. And I personally have always been off-put by the ghouls and goblins and snakes and skulls…this stuff’s already dark enough, so we may as well have fun and bring a little ’80s, ’90s Southern California surf, skate culture to the whole thing.”

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Aaron Bruno joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday, Oct. 9; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.