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Awolnation

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Awolnation
Awolnation performing in Los Angeles
Awolnation performing in Los Angeles
Background information
OriginLos Angeles, California, United States
Genres
Years active2009–present
LabelsRed Bull Records
MembersAaron Bruno
Drew Stewart
Kenny Carkeet
Isaac Carpenter
Past membersChristopher Thorn
Hayden Scott[1]
Devin Hoffman[2]
Tony Royster Jr.
David Amezcua
Websiteawolnationmusic.com

Awolnation (usually stylized as AWOLNATION) is an American electronic rock band, formed and fronted by Aaron Bruno, formerly of Under the Influence of Giants, Hometown Hero, and Insurgence. The band is signed to Red Bull Records,[3] and their first EP, Back from Earth, was released on iTunes on May 18, 2010.[4] They released their first studio album, Megalithic Symphony, on March 15, 2011; it featured their most notable hit, "Sail", which peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100,[5] #4 on the Billboard Rock Songs chart,[6] and #5 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.[7] The song has been certified 6× platinum by the RIAA[8] and has sold 5,500,000 copies in the United States.[9] The band's second studio album, Run, was released on March 17, 2015.

History

Creation, Back from Earth (2009–2010)

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.[10] 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. Aaron Bruno has been with numerous bands before he created Awolnation, including Home Town Hero and Under the Influence of Giants. Bruno writes all of his songs himself, but confides in close friends and family or respected artists for guidance.[11] 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 (slang from the military acronym for Absent Without Leave) came from."[12]

Megalithic Symphony (2011–2013)

The band released their debut album Megalithic Symphony digitally on March 15, 2011, and physically on March 29, 2011 on Red Bull Records. Megalithic Symphony features a total of 14 tracks, including the singles "Sail", "Not Your Fault", and "Kill Your Heroes" (produced by Brian West). Bonus tracks are also offered with the purchase of the digital album depending on the outlet. These tracks include "Shoestrings", "Swinging from the Castles" and "I've Been Dreaming". "Sail", peaked at #10 on the U.S. Billboard Rock Songs[13] and has gone platinum in the US[14] 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 who was on the Minnesota Timberwolves but is now on the Sacramento Kings. "Sail" was covered by Macy Gray (included on her album Covered) and by DevilDriver (on their album Winter Kills). "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 Disconnect (2012). 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" also 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. The song has also inspired conversations among bioethicists. "Sail" peaked at 17 on the USA Billboard Hot 100, 27 on the Australian charts, 33 on the New Zealand charts and 17 on the UK charts. "Sail" was also used on wingsuit flyer Jeb Corliss's YouTube film 'Grinding the Crack', which as of October 2014 has had over 27 million views.

Another of the band's songs, "Burn It Down", is featured in the Sons of Anarchy episode "To Be, Act 1", and is also one of the in-game radio songs in Saints Row 4. Also one of their songs "Guilty Filthy Soul" has been featured in the episode "Break On Through" of The CW television show The Vampire Diaries. The band's songs "Sail" and "All I Need" are featured in the season 1 episode "Gun!" of Common Law. The band's song "Sail" was also featured in the season 4 episode "Hot for Teacher" of Pretty Little Liars. "Kill Your Heroes" is featured at the beginning and the end of season 3, episode 2 of the Canadian TV series Rookie Blue, and the remix of "Sail" together with Innerpartysystem was played in episode 8 of the same season. It was also used in the episode "The Wake-Up Bomb" of Covert Affairs. Furthermore, "All I Need" was used in the season finale of the NBC show Whitney.

In June 6th, 2012, the band released an Extended Play; I've Been Dreaming for free download in their official website. The extended play includes 3 unreleased songs, (I've Been Dreaming, Shoestrings, Swinging From The Castles) and recorded live versions of Kill Your Heroes, Not Your Fault and People that they played in Toronto.

They released two new songs, "Thiskidsnotalright"[15] and "Some Kind of Joke".[16] "Some Kind of Joke" appears as the second song on the Iron Man 3: Heroes Fall – Music Inspired by the Motion Picture soundtrack. The track "Thiskidsnotalright" is featured in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. Beacon audio did a Kickstarter for a limited edition speaker.[17] They have released a Deluxe Edition of Megalithic Symphony that includes "Thiskidsnotalright," "Some Kind Of Joke", "Everybody's Got a Secret", songs from their EP I've Been Dreaming, as well as remixes of other songs from Megalithic Symphony.

Run (2014–present)

The band released their second studio album, "Run," on March 17, 2015.

Members

Current

  • Aaron Bruno (AWOL) – vocals, guitar, bass guitar
  • Drew Stewart (Drublood) – lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Kenny Carkeet (Y.A.) – keyboards, backing vocals, rhythm guitar
  • Isaac Carpenter – drums

Past

  • Christopher Thorn – lead guitar
  • Hayden Scott – drums
  • Devin Hoffman – bass, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Tony Royster Jr. - Drums (Soul Wars, Megalithic Symphony)
  • David Amezcua - bass, backing vocals

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[18] 		US
Alt.
[19] 		US
Rock
[20] 		AUT
[21] 		CAN
[22] 		UK
[23]
Megalithic Symphony 84 16 21 57 100 179
Run 17 3 4 11 — 137

Extended plays

List of extended plays
Title Album details Track listing
Back from Earth
  • Released: May 18, 2010 (US)[27]
  • Label: Red Bull
  • Formats: CD, digital download
RE/SAIL
  • Released: April 12, 2012 (US)[28]
  • Label: Red Bull
  • Formats: Digital download
I've Been Dreaming
  • Released: June 6, 2012 (US)[29]
  • Label: Red Bull
  • Formats: Digital download
  • I've Been Dreaming
  • Shoestrings
  • Swinging From The Castles
  • Kill Your Heroes (Live in Toronto)
  • Not Your Fault (Live in Toronto)
  • People (Live in Toronto)

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
US
[5] 		US
Alt.
[7] 		US
Rock
[6] 		AUT
[21] 		CAN
[30] 		FRA
[31] 		NLD
[32] 		SWE
[33] 		SWI
[34] 		UK
[35]
"Sail" 2011 17 5 4 4 48 48 59 32 35 17
  • RIAA: 6× Platinum[25]
  • MC: 6× Platinum[26]
 Megalithic Symphony
"Not Your Fault" — 3 11 — — — — — — —
"Kill Your Heroes" 2012 — 7 16 — — — — — — —
"Thiskidsnotalright" 2013 — 21 — — — — — — — —
"Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)" 2015 — 4 11 — — — — — — — Run
"I'm on Fire" 110[A] — 13 — — — — — — — Fifty Shades of Grey: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Notes

  1. ^ "I'm On Fire" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number ten on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as an extension to the Hot 100.[36]

References

  1. ^ "Hayden C. Scott (haydencscott) on Twitter". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  2. ^ "Devin Hoffman (devinhoffman89) on Twitter". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  3. ^ "Sorry..." Red Bull USA. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  4. ^ "Connecting to the iTunes Store". Itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  5. ^ a b "AWOLNATION – Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  6. ^ a b "AWOLNATION – Chart History: Rock Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "AWOLNATION – Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  8. ^ http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Sail%22
  9. ^ http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/959606/the-biggest-hot-100-hits-to-peak-at-nos-25-1?page=0%2C1
  10. ^ "AWOLNATION Delight Fans With 'Wild,' Punk-Influenced Shows - Exclusive Video". Spinner. 2011-04-13. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  11. ^ interviews » (2011-07-08). "Interview with Awolnation musician Aaron Bruno « Interviews «". Puregrainaudio.com. Retrieved 2012-10-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Interview with Aaron Bruno of AWOLNATION". LA Music Blog. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  13. ^ "Sail - Awolnation". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  14. ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - October 02, 2012". RIAA. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  15. ^ "AWOLNATION Fight 'Injustice' on 'ThisKidsNotAlright' Song Premiere | Music News". Rolling Stone. 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  16. ^ "Tijdlijnfoto's". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  17. ^ http://www.redbull.com/us/en/music/stories/1331609769076/awolnation-in-red-bull-studio
  18. ^ "AWOLNATION – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  19. ^ "AWOLNATION – Chart History: Alternative Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  20. ^ "AWOLNATION – Chart History: Rock Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  21. ^ a b "Discographie Awolnation". austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 15, 2012. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  22. ^ "Albums: Top 100 (For The Week Ending 22 March, 2012)". Jam!. Sun Media. March 15, 2012. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2014. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  23. ^ Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: New Entries Update (16.11.2013 – Week 45)". zobbel.de. Retrieved November 17, 2013. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  24. ^ "Megalithic Symphony by AWOLNATION". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved August 12, 2013. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  25. ^ a b c "American certifications – Awolnation". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  26. ^ a b c "Canadian certifications – Awolnation". Music Canada. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
  27. ^ "Back from Earth – AWOLNATION". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  28. ^ "RE/Sail by AWOLNATION". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved April 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  29. ^ "Awolnation – I've Been Dreaming (2012)". newalbumreleases.net. Retrieved May 15, 2013. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  30. ^ "AWOLNATION – Chart History: Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  31. ^ "Discographie Awolnation". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 15, 2012. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  32. ^ "Discografie Awolnation". dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 15, 2012. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  33. ^ "Discography Awolnation". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved October 15, 2012. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  34. ^ "Discography Awolnation". swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: templatestyles stripmarker in |work= at position 1 (help)
  35. ^ "Awolnation". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  36. ^ "AWOLNATION – Chart History: Bubbling Under Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
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