Aaron Bruno

In an interview with Los Angeles magazine, he revealed, "I’m 80 percent deaf in my left ear. People trip out on that. I was born that way, so I just roll with it. 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. When I walk into a theater, I always sit just off to the left so I can hear more with my good ear. It’s funny, though, my wife still talks into my left ear. When I go to sleep with my right ear to the pillow, I can’t hear anything. It’s like having an earplug. So, if someone is talking to me and I don’t care what they’re saying, I can just sit with my left ear to them."

According to Aaron in an interview from 2016, he sang on the Deltron 3030's self-titled album that was released in 2000.

In light of Awolnation canceling a summer tour to instead go on the road with Prophets of Rage, Bruno explained in an August 2016 interview that Rage Against the Machine was a major influence on him as a child in the early 1990s. He says that Metallica was big at that point in time, but he had already been listening to heavier underground music. 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. It just blew my mind". Bruno believes Rage was the only band that was able to blend screamed vocals with hip hop beats. He mentions that everything that came after that was "not as authentic", referencing the nu metal genre that would blossom in the coming years. Bruno continues to say that he believes the riff to "Bulls on Parade" is the greatest riff of all time. While on this tour, Bruno covered Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (famously covered by Rage Against the Machine) and Rage's own "Bullet in the Head" and "Freedom" with Prophets of Rage.

Bruno has collaborated with electronic music producer Kill The Noise on his 2015 album "Occult Classic." Aaron can be heard singing on the songs 'Kill It 4 The Kids' and 'All in My Head.'

Hoping to jump-start their career, Bruno took young indie upstarts IRONTOM out on tour in 2015 with AWOLNATION. During a conversation between Aaron and some of the members of IRONTOM on this tour, there were talks of the two possibly collaborating on a song. Bruno remembers being stressed wondering if there would be any time to work on a song, or if it would feel right. Sometime after that, both started working on songs. Aaron is currently in the studio with IRONTOM producing the followup to their debut record. The single "Be Bold Like Elijah" has been released through IRONTOMs various social media accounts. Aaron has mentioned in late 2016 that he was able to get IRONTOM a record deal, and at the time he is currently finished producing the new album named "Partners" released in 2017. Bruno can be heard in the final song on the album, entitled "Old And New Songs". IRONTOM also toured with AWOLNATION during the 2018 album tour, "Here Come The Runts".

Bruno married his wife, Erin, in Southern California in October of 2015. She is from a suburb of Portland.

He is an avid surfer, and a fan of baseball. He has said in interviews that if his music career hadn't taken off, he would probably be a baseball player. He has thrown out the ceremonial first pitch for the Chicago Cubs in 2015, and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016.

Bruno continued to write music. He created the song "Sail" in 2010 as part of AWOLNATION's first EP, Back From Earth. "Sail" would hit #5 on the U.S Billboard Alternative Songs chart, going sextuple platinum in America and double platinum in Canada. In 2011 the album Megalithic Symphony was released. In March 2015, AWOLNATION released their second album, entitled "Run". Bruno, with some help from his engineer, recorded the entirety of the new album by himself, doing not only the vocals but also the instrumentals and the writing for the new release. Their third album "Here Come The Runts" was released early 2018.

Bruno and Stewart formed Home Town Hero with Todd Burnes and Ray Blanco and signed with Maverick Records in 2001. The band toured with several acts, including Stone Temple Pilots and Linkin Park, before they were dropped by their label after trashing a stage and after Bruno refused to shoot a video with a label-provided director. Home Town Hero disbanded in 2004.

Another major influence for Bruno was seeing Nirvana on MTV Unplugged in 1994. Bruno cites Nirvana's cover of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" as his favorite Nirvana moment. His favorite Nirvana song is "Milk It" off of 1993's In Utero. Bruno recalls trying to listen to Nirvana's debut album Bleach after listening to Nevermind and finding it hard because his favorite drummer Dave Grohl wasn't a part of it, also citing Kurt Cobain's vocals as being a bit more "rugged".

Aaron Richard Bruno (born November 11, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and multi-instrumentalist, who is best known as the founder and lead singer of Awolnation. He is a former member of the post-grunge band Home Town Hero, the indie rock band Under the Influence of Giants, and Insurgence.