Aaron Bruno always felt “on the verge” when it came to his music and the bands he fronted.
Before creating his current group, AWOLNATION, Bruno was the face of popular and influential troops like Under the Influence of Giants, Hometown Hero, and Insurgence. All those bands shared Bruno as a front man and also shared one other major similarity — all came within a thumb and pointer finger measurement of major success before it all came crashing down.
“I just thought if you had a good song or a song you thought was great,” explained Bruno during The Craft of AWOLNATION presented by Jägermeister “and people were passionate about it too, that you would just have this massive single and sell millions of records and be rich and make art for a living. I was in a couple different signed bands and the complete opposite happened — yeah, it was a great accomplishment to get a record deal but that was sort of followed by disappointment and heartbreak.”
Bruno learned the hard way that success doesn’t come with just being discovered and earning millions of fans. He found himself broke, fired and blacklisted from music. Bruno couldn’t afford to pay the rent or even feed himself. In those soul-searching days and months, Bruno had all but given up on his musical dreams. It’s possibly the smartest thing he ever did.
“I’d thrown in the towel on the idea of having some type of massive success with my own songs. Just when I really gave up thinking it was going to happen for me is when things started to happen.”
AWOLNATION is now one of the biggest musical acts in the world.
In this candid interview with the band’s creator and figurehead, Bruno discusses those days of struggle and self doubt, his belief that any day someone will show up and say his and the band’s success has been a prank and how the best part of the learning process has been working it out all out in front of fans.
DRINK RESPONSIBLY
© 2015 Jägermeister’s 56 parts are best enjoyed responsibly. Jägermeister® Liqueur 35% Alc./Vol. Imported by Sidney Frank Importing Co., Inc. New Rochelle, NY