X106.5’s BBQ ft. Dirty Heads and AWOLNATION w/ guests Judah & The Lion, The Front Bottoms and AJR

After two decades spent chiseling their unique, multi-genre infused sound, Dirty Heads have finally come into their own. Since the release of their 2008 debut Any Port in a Storm, the five-piece band — Jared Watson (vocals), Dustin \\\”Duddy B\\\” Bushnell (vocals/guitar), Jon Olazabal (percussion), Matt Ochoa (drums) and David Foral (bass) — has consistently experimented with their sunny style, leaning heavily on reggae fused with hip-hop cornerstones and scaling back for more acoustic fare, darting between extremes. But it\\\’s with their fifth and self-titled album that the group has felt fully confident in a body of work, ready to bring their unique style to the masses. \\\”It\\\’s the most core Dirty Heads album we\\\’ve done,\\\” explains Watson, who formed the collective with Bushnell in 1996. \\\”One of the most important things about this album is the reason we self-titled it. This album has all of the elements that we\\\’ve tried to play around with. We had to go through those other albums to really find out exactly who we are, where it was natural. Now, I just think our sound is better and more confident.\\\” Dirty Heads comes in the wake of their most successful release to date, 2014\\\’s Sound of Change, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard\\\’s Top Alternative Albums chart. This album is marked differently than its predecessors — 2008\\\’s Any Port in a Storm, 2012\\\’s Cabin by the Sea and 2013\\\’s acoustic offering Home — Phantoms of Summer, the former of which spawned the smash single \\\”Lay Me Down\\\” featuring Rome of Sublime with Rome that topped the Alternative Songs chart for 11 weeks. With a solid fan-base already in place, Dirty Heads are focusing their sights on something they\\\’ve been edging towards for years: breaking the mainstream. \\\”We want our fans to love it, because we love what we do and we want to keep doing it,\\\” says Watson. \\\”But this album for me, I cannot poke a hole in any of it. From front to back, it\\\’s really so phenomenal. I\\\’m so confident in it that I want it to take Dirty Heads from the band that we are in America, worldwide.\\\”

Creating a modern-day version of an American rock-n-roll album is no easy task in today’s world of Pro Tools and multiple producers, but Awolnation were up to challenge when the multi-platinum rock act set out to record their third studio album. Released February 2, 2018, Here Come the Runts (Red Bull Records) sees founding member Aaron Bruno once again at the helm producing, writing and recording. “With this record I really wanted to make a rock n’ roll/pop album,” says Bruno. “And I say ‘pop’ how I grew up listening to it, in the sense of Dire Straits or Born In The U.S.A or The Cars or Tom Petty.” Here Come the Runts is the follow up to the platinum-certified debut album Megalithic Symphony, and 2015’s Run, which included the #1 hit “Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)” as well as Top 5 tracks “I Am” and “Woman Woman.” Bruno spent 2017 crafting the album in his home studio nestled in the coastal mountain range separating the Pacific Ocean and the suburbs of Los Angeles where he grew up. The secluded location is reflected throughout the album. “The record definitely has a feel to it that seems parallel to the vibe of this mountain and the land,” Bruno notes. Formed in 2010, Awolnation 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 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. Awolnation have chosen to use their success as a platform for good, partnering with various charities including Music Saves Lives, Love Your Melon, and The Lance McCullers Jr. Foundation.