Aaron Bruno guides us track by track through AWOLNATION’s new album ‘The Phantom Five’, out now via Two Twenty Five Music.

JUMP SIT STAND MARCH

“I had basically completed this song prior to reaching out to Emily Armstong of the band Dead Sara. I originally sang on the second verse, but the more I listened to it, the more bored I became with hearing my own voice. I wanted something fresh there, and Emily and I have known each other for over 10 years now. We played a Warped Tour show in London over a decade ago, which was such a bizarre day. AWOLNATION was the outlier on the bill, and the venue had two stages side by side. We were on stage right, and I don’t remember who was about to play on stage left after us, but they were certainly way more popular than us. A bunch of fans were gathering around that stage in anticipation, which was frustrating when we were literally playing on the stage next to them! After that though, we went to catch Dead Sara’s set. They were playing in a carpeted room, and it took me back to my high school days. Their show kicked ass, and we hung out with them afterwards. If it weren’t for that show, I don’t know if Emily and I would have become as close as we have. 

I’m so grateful to have her on this song, and it felt like a call to arms. I’m more interested in individuals than I am groups at this point in my life. I’m more interested in what music you like, what movies you love, and what books you’ve been reading, rather than the interests of any collective group. That’s where I’m coming from with the lyrics of this song.”

PARTY PEOPLE

“This song is somewhat of a sarcastic spin on having the freedom to make your own decisions. Globally, there are a lot of elections taking place, and there’s always this propaganda being fired at us. Over the last four years, it’s been so annoying and frustrating to me because I’m constantly being yelled at to think one way or another. I’ve always stayed agnostic with my music, and I remain that way, but this is a fun tongue-in-cheek party anthem on that subject. It was the second to last song I wrote and recorded for the album, and I came up with the whole concept when I was running. Nine times out of ten when I hear an idea in my brain, it ends up not being that cool when I flesh it out, but this one was good enough to become the second track of the record. 

If you get too emotionally invested in these moments that our countries are dealing with right now, you think that everybody hates each other, and everybody disagrees. However, we have more in common than you might think. I’m a pessimistic guy in general, but for the first time in my life, I’m realising that I’m involved in something that unites people. Regardless of religion, sex, sexual preference, or any of it… music unites us. When I look at my audience, I see people rubbing shoulders that would completely disagree on some philosophies. I love that we’re all getting together for music, and that’s the whole point of this record.”

PANORAMIC VIEW

“This one is near and dear to my heart. I wrote it around three years ago in the middle of realising how much fear was constantly polluting all of us. It was a scary time, and that experience is another thing we all have in common. We were all scared for different reasons, but that emotion is real. I was trying to start a family at the time, and I thought about how if I did become a father, what would I say to my son or daughter? How would I walk them through that moment in history? I wrote it down, and the whole point of the song is to lean on hope and faith if you can. Music can kind of protect you, music can shield you emotionally and be your therapist. It can be your muse, and it can be your religion in a lot of ways. I ended up having twin boys down the line, and I see that song as a letter to them.”

I AM HAPPY

“I wrote this song for another artist, and they wanted a big catchy pop chorus that felt meaningful. The lyrics were slightly different originally because they were written for her, but as time went on and we worked on it together, it ended up not matching the group of songs she was putting out. I took it back for myself, because I loved it. I went back to the verses being instrumental, and I reached out to my friend Dan the Automator, who is a legend. He was heavily involved in the first Gorillaz album, which has Del the Funky Homosapien rapping on multiple songs. He put me in touch with Del, and he’s a top ten rapper of all-time for me. I wanted him to be on this track, and I figured he’d just say, ‘Go fuck yourself’. However, he did it, and he sent it back to me two weeks later. The music fan in me still can’t believe he’s on the record, and I’m extremely happy about this song. He listened to the chorus, vocal, and lyrics, and just nailed the intention of where I was coming from. It’s a song about trying to find positivity in a state of chaos.”

BARBARIAN

“I started a heavy metal band called The Barbarians of California. It’s a metal/hardcore band, with a sprinkle of punk rock to it. I’ve been flirting with that idea a bunch, so I deemed it appropriate to have a song about that concept. Because of that, ‘The Phantom Five’ simultaneously acts as a weird double album. I’m leaning into the most brutal, heavy aspects of what I love, and expressing myself in that way, but I’m also releasing an AWOLNATION album. 

A lot of people already think of AWOLNATION as heavy, but it’s soft compared to what I’m doing with the Barbarians. Doing both projects has helped me to exercise emotionally and artistically, and I’d like to fantasise that it’s made me better at creating both sounds. I looked up to Bo Jackson a lot, who was a running back for the Raiders. He played football, but he also played baseball at the same time. He argued that they both made him better at the other sport.”

BANG YOUR HEAD

“This is a straight-up joke of a song for me. I love it, but it’s just full-on comedy. Music is supposed to be playful, and I’m touching on all these serious emotions and subject matters throughout the record, so it’s fun to throw a curveball of comedy in there. We bang our heads at heavy metal concerts, but sometimes when you turn on the TV, you want to bang your head against the wall too.”

CITY OF NOWHERE

“This song is a palette cleanser, or an intermission. That little synth line at the beginning had been sitting around for a while, and I thought it was cool, but it didn’t feel like it could be an AWOLNATION song. It felt like something more suited to Granddaddy or The Flaming Lips. However, my engineer, Eric [Stenman], kept prompting me to work on it for the record because he was sure that there was something there. He rarely speaks out in that way, so when he does, I take it seriously.

I thought we could do a segue song with it, and it has this stoner rock feel to it. If I tried to make that into a full song, I wouldn’t have been able to. I wouldn’t have felt as free as I did to make it sound that way. A couple of my buddies who have heard it have called me an asshole for not making it a full song because it comes and goes so fast, but that feels like an accomplishment. If you have a song so good that people are mad at you because it ends too quickly, I think that’s a win.”

A LETTER TO NO ONE

“This is in my top three tracks of the album. The title says it all, but it’s based on the idea of reaching out for help that isn’t heard, and writing a letter to someone who never receives it. In this case, the sun burns up the letter before it can be read. Exercising that attempt can be very therapeutic and helpful in itself though.”

WHEN I WAS YOUNG

“This is such a fun song. Originally, it was longer, and I was talking more in the verses. I had a couple of hilarious lines about my childhood that I got rid of because I wanted to make the song more realistic. I’m a big advocate of trimming the fat of a song, so if there’s a part that seems self-indulgent, I get rid of it. There were a couple of lines that were sad to get rid of, especially one about bunny-hopping a rattlesnake on a bike. I wish that made it in there, but this song is for the seventh grader in me. It’s about being thirteen years old and how much of the uncertainty of that age remains well into your adulthood. You just learn how to handle it a little better.”

OUTTA HERE

“I walked into this album with the intention and possibility of it being the final AWOLNATION record. I did that because it could be, but also because I like the challenge of giving a last hurrah. It could be the final moment, and I enjoyed putting the pressure on myself to leave a good lasting impression. 

It doesn’t feel like it’s the end now as much as it did when I wrote that song, but I came up with the concept when people weren’t even allowed to play concerts anymore. What I learned then was to not take anything for granted, and I approached the album like that. The visual I have in mind for this song is a loving family, or a couple, embracing each other whilst the end of the world is about to happen. If you knew a meteor was coming towards this planet and it was going to end all life, what would you do? I think I would want to just sit there and hold my family.”