While, at first glance, The Barbarians Of California may seem like a brand new or unfamiliar band, the creative powerhouses behind the project, Eric Stenman and Aaron Bruno, have been involved in punk and hardcore music and subculture for the better part of a lifetime. “I was a skater kid… into punk and then metal starting at around 14 years old,” recalls Eric, well known for his work behind the scenes with countless acclaimed bands including Senses Fail, Gameface, Deftones, Far, and, of course, AWOLNATION, and also as one of the founding members of the highly influential Sacramento noise/industrial metal band of the 1990s Tinfed. Barbarians vocalist Aaron Bruno may be well known for fronting the highly acclaimed AWOLNATION, but he actually cut his musical teeth in SoCal hardcore band Insurgence, also in the 1990s.
“The most important thing I learned from the hardcore and punk scene was how to start and operate a band,” remarks Aaron. For Eric and Aaron, both in forging careers in music and in life, those lessons have been invaluable, and now they’re ready to return to their roots to make the hardcore record their teen selves always dreamed of. “To a large degree, I really do feel like I’m reliving my late teens,” muses Eric. “I’d say that we set out to make an album that the 18-22 year old versions of ourselves would have loved,” and the result is the brand new, entirely DIY produced and aptly named album, And Now I’m Gnashing My Teeth.
Full of anti-authoritarian anthems screamed against the backdrop of crashing riffs and melodic hooks, And Now I’m Gnashing My Teeth is a brilliant and creative return to the genre where it all began. The forced downtime of the pandemic finally allowed the duo the opportunity to explore getting back to those roots when Eric revealed a decade’s worth of riffs to Aaron one day in the studio. With the world at a standstill, the two dove headlong into writing for a new and exciting project that would become TBOC. “Any time the world loses its mind, I try to keep my head down and work even harder on music because it’s my therapy,” remarks Aaron, and the resulting album is the perfect culmination of that chaotic but cathartic period in time.
Eric and Aaron recently took some time to answer a few questions for Today Forever about TBOC, how the new music came to be, and the impact their involvement in punk and hardcore has had on their lives and careers. I hope you enjoy the interview, be sure to check out their brand new album And Now I’m Gnashing My Teeth, available on vinyl directly from the band and now streaming on all major platforms.
For more information on The Barbarians of California, visit their webpage at www.thebarbariansofcalifornia.com
Photos by: Matt TxF
Nikki: To begin the interview, can you tell us who’s in the band and how did you come together to form The Barbarians of California? I know you have worked together through AWOLNATION for quite some time, were you connected before that time? I know you’ve both been involved in music and hardcore for the better part of a lifetime.
ERIC: I first met Aaron in 1998 when I was hired by New Age Records to produce his hardcore band, Insurgence. We slapped the Let’s Rock album together in six days. Afterwards, we went our separate ways, but always kept tabs on each other. We reconnected when he started AWOLNATION and have been working together constantly ever since. At this point, we’re basically brothers and this new band is a logical extension of our personal and working relationship. It was too fun of an opportunity to pass up. Once Aaron and I decided we were going to make a real go of this, we enlisted Zach Irons (guitar) and Isaac Carpenter (drums) to round out the line-up. Both of these guys are absolute killers and have been playing in AWOLNATION for the past several years. I’m so lucky to make my re-entry into playing music with these guys by my side.
How would you describe The Barbarians of California sound for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to hear the singles yet? What would you say are some of the major influences on your sound?
ERIC: I would say that the sound of this band is the culmination of a lifetime of loving and studying aggressive music… everything from Dead Kennedys (first punk album I ever bought) to Slayer, to doom metal like Sleep… with a heavy dose of us adoring Sepultura. There are definitely poppier elements sprinkled in, as well. We can’t help that we love hooks of all varieties.
I know you have deep roots in the hardcore scene, and both of you have been active in subculture from a very young age. How does it feel diving back into the scene with a “brand new” hardcore band in 2024? Even though you have both had long and successful careers in music, is there any trepidation in starting a new band?
ERIC: To a large degree, I really do feel like I’m reliving my late teens. I’d say that we set out to make an album that the 18-22 year old versions of ourselves would have loved… and would have loved to be able to make. Even the business approach to running the band has been completely DIY. We produced the record ourselves, in our own little studio. I paid for the first vinyl pressing on my credit card, and I’ve personally mailed out every t-shirt that we’ve been lucky enough to sell. This is all the same stuff I did for my first bands back when I was 16/17 years old.
Can you tell me a little bit about the writing and recording process for your upcoming album, And Now I’m Just Gnashing My Teeth? How long had you been working on song ideas before you got serious about making the album?
AARON: During the lockdowns, I suddenly had a lot of extra time to work on new music. I poured a lot of my frustration… and heart and soul into new AWOLNATION material… but, we also had extra time to finally buckle down and spend time on this project that Eric had started years prior. Any time the world loses its mind, I try to keep my head down and work even harder on music because it’s my therapy.
ERIC: Personally, I’ve been working on this album for a decade. A couple of the earlier pieces of music stretch way back. Once Aaron got involved in a serious way, we picked through my collection of riffs and various sections of music and created the first half of the album. After that, the process got more collaborative and we rounded out the remainder of the album together as a band.
Listening to the new album, there are definitely no holds barred or punches pulled. It’s an aggressive, anti-authoritarian behemoth filled with scathing, unbridled rage, both lyrically and musically. Did you set out to make the most anti-authoritarian, antagonistic, defiant album possible? Is there a specific message you hope the record will send to listeners or anything you were specifically trying to get off your chest?
AARON: I have a memory of being in college… I took a Human Anthropology course, and the first thing the professor said was, “Always question authority…” and I think that that has stuck with me ever since. I want to remind all my friends… and myself, that it’s important to continue to question authority, even if the person, team, or idea that you’re rooting for seems to be winning.
ERIC: I’d say it’s a celebration of independence. Throughout the creation of this record, very few people knew we were working on this. There were no expectations, timelines, or outside opinions. We were free to start with a completely clean slate and build something totally new.
On the track “Where Are The Punks?” you pose the titular question and answer with “they’re crying in suburbia,” and on “Three Letters” you declare, “There’s a boot on your neck, but you don’t mind.” On “Bazooka” you go so far as to say, “I have no respect for the people you respect or you.” It definitely sounds like you have some pretty strong feelings about the state of the world today and how comfortable (or perhaps numb) we, collectively, have become to an increasingly authoritarian culture rife with corruption and greed. Do you feel like as a culture we’re losing some of the rebellious attitude punk and hardcore are known for? Are your lyrics in any way intended as a rallying cry or wake up call? Society certainly needs one.
AARON: I think that we all have more in common than we realize. If you listen to the trash heap that is corporate media, you will think that we all disagree and we all hate each other. I actually think the opposite is true and that’s the most punk rock and rebellious feeling you could have… POSITIVITY. So, while I am definitely blowing off some steam with these lyrics, it is coming back to a positive spot… and I want to remind people to turn off the goddamned news because they’re lying to you constantly… no matter what side you think you’re on.
The timing of the Barbarians release, which is a sort of full circle moment in your musical career, comes on the heels of a period when the whole world has been through the ringer and is now experiencing upheaval on so many levels (social, cultural, political, etc.) What made now the right time to dive headlong back into hardcore? Was it something you had been considering for a long time?
ERIC: From what I can tell, every generation feels like they are living through the most chaotic and fraught time in history. This project is certainly an exercise in catharsis… but I think it was on course to happen regardless of external factors. Both of us had considered doing something like this for a long time. It could have happened separately, but it made all the sense in the world to combine our efforts.
You’ve mentioned that the brand new AWOLNATION album, The Phantom Five, which was written and produced in the same time period of time as the forthcoming Barbarians album, is, in a way, a sort of companion album to And Now I’m Gnashing My Teeth, and even includes a gentle, contemplative track tilted “Barbarian.” How do the two albums connect to each other? Was there any overlap in the writing or recording process? Which came first, the band name or the AWOL track?
AARON: I believe I wrote the song “Barbarian” for AWOL first… before the band name came about. We had an arguably better working name for this project, but it was taken by some other group. They were barely active and we tried to sort something out, but then they asked for an absurd amount of money for the name so we started from scratch with a new concept.
ERIC: Working on the two projects simultaneously proved to be very exciting and rewarding. If things got stuck or felt stale in one universe, we’d just switch gears and work on the other. Aaron has mentioned that creating the two albums “side by side” helped him to compartmentalize and make them both more focused.
As two individuals with deep roots in an aggressive, anti-authoritarian subculture, but both working in the larger music industry that is obviously a more carefully balanced environment, is it ever hard to reconcile the two sides of yourselves?
AARON: I think I got really lucky when I made the first AWOLNATION record. At that time, the world was open to hearing music that combined aggression with sensitivity and pop melody. Fast forward to now, where it seems to be a great time for heavier, more aggressive music. We’ve seen bands like Turnstile and Knocked Loose steal the show at predominantly pop festivals like Coachella.
ERIC: I’d say we’ve both been fortunate enough, and have worked very hard, to be able to structure our lives in ways that allow us to pick and choose what rulebooks to play by. We operate in a very self sufficient manner. We’re not signed to major labels… we don’t have big name managers, etc.
What are some of your favorite hardcore bands past and present? Who or what has been an influence in the way you approach music and life, whether that be for Barbarians or otherwise?
AARON: One “hardcore” band that always comes to mind, for me, is Ceremony. Their album, Rohnert Park, really took me by storm… and the album that came after that is excellent as well. I love how they push the boundaries of their own sound… genre bending punk rock, etc… and often producing music that could be seen as being contrary to what they are most known for. Growing up, I suppose I’d have to point to the Victory bands of the 90s… Snapcase, Earth Crisis and Strife. I really loved Undertow, as well. Throughout it all, though, I always had a love for pop music.
ERIC: (Washington) DC Hardcore and later what I guess you’d call “Post-Hardcore” were huge for me. As a teenager, Minor Threat blew my mind and made me feel like I’d “found my people”… and then, later, bands like Dag Nasty and Swiz were the epitome of cool to me. I would have to say that Incendiary is probably my favorite Hardcore band, operating currently.
I know that you’ve both been involved in hardcore for a very long time, how did you originally end up getting involved? How did you find what is a fairly niche subculture? What was it that you gravitated to in the genre and what has kept you coming back?
ERIC: I was a skater kid… into punk and then metal starting at around 14 years old. Hardcore was just an extension of that. Going to DIY shows in my teens showed me what was possible. Before experiencing this subculture, I’d always loved music, but it felt distant and unattainable. In my later teen years, everyone I hung out with was involved in the scene somehow… playing in bands, booking shows, photography, graphic design, etc. It was such a special time.
You both started out in hardcore bands at a young age, what do you know about the music industry now that you wish you had known then? What did hardcore teach you that you might not have known otherwise?
AARON: The most important thing I learned from the hardcore and punk scenes was how to start and operate a band. How to book, promote, and put on a show. You know… putting flyers on cars at the local high school. I got to see how the thing truly operates, instead of having it be this mystery. So many venues were operated by local kids… coffee shops, teen centers etc.
If you had a decent band, word-of-mouth could spread… even if your band wasn’t very good, people loved going to shows (hahaha). I feel like my friends loved seeing any of us attempt to make music. Back then, your high school probably had one or two bands… at the very most… and if a show happened, it was the place to be. It was special… and it was the counterculture to the football game every Friday night. I’m very grateful to have been a part of that.
The Barbarians of California will be playing your first show soon at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, along with hardcore bands and longtime friends in Strife, Will Haven, and Berthold City. Do you have more plans for upcoming shows or any possible tour dates after the release of the album? Do you have any other concrete future plans for the band?
ERIC: I suppose the honest answer is that we don’t know yet. We’re having so much fun with all of this… I’m betting it will continue.
Thank you for your time! Any final words or shout outs?
ERIC: We can’t thank the friends who lent their voices to this record enough. Daryl (Snapcase), Tim (Rise Against), and Rick (Strife) all took time out of their busy lives to work on this new, untested project. The album is a much richer experience because of their involvement.
