Aaron Richard Bruno[1] (born November 11, 1978) is an American musician who is the founder, lead singer and last remaining original member of Awolnation.

It was during his time retaking the class in summer school where he would meet lifelong friend Drew Stewart.

[4] Bruno says he attempted to go to college to please his parents, but after realizing he was paying his own money to take the classes, started skipping to go surfing and record and rehearse with his band at the time, then ultimately dropped out.

Bruno was a member of the punk band Ice Monkeys with Drew Stewart, Jon Monroy and Dan Fowler while in high school.

[10][11] In December 1999, Bruno and Stewart started a new band under the name Home Town Hero with drummer Ray Blanco and bassist Todd Burnes.

[10] The band toured with several acts, including Stone Temple Pilots and Linkin Park,[10] before they were dropped by their label after trashing a stage[4] and after Bruno refused to shoot a video with a label-provided director.

After Home Town Hero disbanded, Bruno formed Under the Influence of Giants and signed with Island Def Jam.

[16][17] Bruno, along with Mike Asman and fellow Insurgence band members Drew Stewart and Jon Monroy, starred in the movie 42K.

[20] Bruno has collaborated with electronic music producer Kill The Noise on his 2015 album Occult Classic.

[21] Hoping to jump-start their career, Bruno took young indie upstarts IRONTOM out on tour in 2015 with Awolnation.

[22] Bruno has mentioned in late 2016 that he was able to get IRONTOM a record deal, and he produced the new album named Partners released in 2017.

[25] In early 2024, Bruno started a new music project called The Barbarians of California, which focuses on a heavier, metal-influenced sound.

Being in many different bands of different genres, Bruno says he really put his voice through the wringer trying to find a vocal style that fit him.

In his earlier bands, Bruno used screamed vocals usually found in the hardcore punk genre.

[28] Aside from his upbringing in the hardcore punk rock scene, some of Bruno's influence and inspiration comes from artists such as Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince.

Bruno also cites albums like The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, alt-J's An Awesome Wave, and Mini Mansions' self-titled debut as albums he can listen to back to front, saying "I like music that appeals to everyone at this point in my life.

He also mentions that he was getting into more hip hop, and loved that singer Zack de la Rocha was into hardcore music as well, saying "The first time I heard what I think was 'Killing in the Name' I thought it was a Beastie Boys' song.

Bruno believes Rage was the only band that was able to blend screamed vocals with hip hop beats.

But if you listen to the records in your headphones or your car stereo, I tend to pan my favorite instruments to the right because that's what I can hear.