AWOLNATION is an American rock band, formed in 2010 by frontman Aaron Bruno. Aaron is now joined by Zach Irons on guitar, Isaac Carpenter on drums, Mike Goldman on bass, and Daniel Saslow on keyboard. They are best known for their hit song, “Sail.”

The band’s name comes from frontman Aaron Bruno’s high school nickname, “AWOL.” Aaron explains to MTV

I was either given or I claimed the nickname AWOL in high school at a certain point. So, I went with the name AWOL because I’ve always enjoyed the option of leaving social circumstances without having to explain myself. I attached “NATION” to “AWOL” and created AWOLNATION as, hopefully, a musical metaphor for a place to escape, to get through the day.

In that same interview, Aaron said of the band’s lyrics

It’s important to me that people interpret the lyrics and sort of the concept and the message for their own and not read into it literally. Because, a lot of stuff in the lyrics are metaphors for life situations I’ve been in and I encourage people to create their own meaning out of it all.

The band’s sound can best be described as alternative rock. While AWOLNATION’s first two albums, Megalithic Symphony and Run feature electronic rock styling, their third, Here Come the Runts purposefully departed from this, in search of a more authentic sound.

The band crafted one of the most influential songs in years with the chart-topping, record-breaking track “Sail.” The first single off the gold-certified full-length debut album, Megalithic Symphony, “Sail” was certified 6x platinum in the US and holds the record for the most weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by an independent artist, the second longest for any artist. The song has also achieved global success: certified 10x platinum in Norway, 6x platinum in Canada, 3x platinum in Sweden, 2x platinum in Australia and New Zealand, platinum in Switzerland, gold in Austria, Germany, and the UK. The song was also notably remixed with TDE, featuring Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul

Their critically-acclaimed sophomore release Run spawned three other Top 10 US singles – Top 5 tracks “I Am” and “Woman Woman,” as well as their first #1 hit on the Billboard Alternative Chart, “Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf).”

AWOLNATION released their third studio album, Here Come the Runts, in February 2018 via Red Bull Records. The album features the singles “Passion,” “Seven Sticks of Dynamite,” and Top 20 Alt Rock hit, “Handyman.”