AWOLNATION is preparing to release their fourth full length studio album next year. Ahead of the 2020 release, the group has announced their plans to hit the road on a massive summer trek, The Lightning Riders Tour. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness is set to join the dates. We sat down with frontman Aaron Bruno and Andrew McMahon to talk about what fans can look forward to experiencing at the upcoming shows.
The Light Riders Tour
Aaron Bruno: I want it to be a very interactive tour, you know. We have a lot of new characters from the angel miners and the lightning riders. I'm really curious to see what our fans and your fans gravitate toward, if they identify with certain characters and if they end up coming full on costume style.
A Setlist Refresh
Aaron Bruno: It's exciting to have new songs to pull from because you know what it's like to have you know a record out and you play the same songs for a certain amount of time and it gets a little bit boring, you know.
Andrew McMahon: I've run into that exact same thing where you're so excited about a new song and you think it's going to be amazing.
Aaron Bruno: It's only amazing to you. *laughs*
Andrew McMahon: Well you know it's funny, I'll get to the point where I'm so self conscious about it that it actually is going well but something that's just baked into somebody's self consciousness because they've listened to it a milliont times vs the new thing that they're still figuring out. I've prematurely axed songs from my catalog of songs I'll play because I think nobody liked it because I played it one time and I didn't get the reaction I wanted. And then years later I'll be like let's try that and people will freak out for it and you're like oh people just need time to let it sink in or something.
Live Collab Cover?
Aaron Bruno: Isn't that funny picking a cover song that means so much to your youth and development of you as a song writer and a performer and all that stuff and then you go to play it and here's our moment and then everybody just doesn't know the song.
Andrew McMahon: Yup, 100%.
Aaron Bruno: Which is kind of my idea- I wanna do a song...
Andrew McMahon: Do you want to tell them what it is?
Aaron Bruno: Well, it's "Maniac" from ...
Andrew McMahon: Is it in Flash Dance?
Aaron Bruno: It's in Flash Dance. I almost said Footloose but what would be sick is if Kevin Bacon came and did the 'Flash Dace' dance. The famous dance to maniac.
Andrew McMahon: I heard he's super cool.
Aaron Bruno: It would be cool to attempt to play "Maniac" and have you and some of the guys in your band join us.
