I’m always inspired when new rock singles are one listen and instantly click for me. That’s the case with the new one from ARANDA.
Never heard of them? Kind of remember them? ARANDA has been a band for over 20 years. I must confess, they were one of my favorite bands to come out of the 2000s, with super-charged, well-crafted, hook-heavy bangers. However, they were not a “top of mind” band. That’s about to change.
The band is led by brothers Gabe (vocals) and Dameon (guitars and more) ARANDA. They broke out in 2008 and enjoyed moderate success at rock radio with songs like Satisfied, Whyyouwannabringmedown, and Don’t Wake Me. Kelly Clarkson recorded ARANDA’s music, and the WWE was a fan as well. It seemed Aranda was on their way.
In fact, ARANDA had seven songs chart in the Rock Top 40. They toured with Shinedown, Nickelback, Daughtry, and more.
What happens when a band is “almost there?”
I’ve often thought that instead of being called “criminally underrated,” “severely underpromoted” might be a more accurate phrase.
The band enters 2026 on a high note, though, with a killer new song, You Don’t Wanna Know, from their forthcoming release, Are You Not Entertained?, due in May. Congratulations are also in order, as You Don’t Wanna Know was the number one most added song at rock radio in its first week.
I recently caught up with ARANDA guitarist and songwriter Dameon Aranda on my Carr Stereo Podcast. We discussed the business of music, his serial songwriting, and returning after a few years of catastrophic loss.
*Editor’s Note: Answers have been edited for clarity and length.*
Terrie Carr– You guys have been dealt a couple of really crappy hands. You’re a phenomenal songwriter, an amazingly talented live band. Talk to me about how the past is defining your future.
Dameon Aranda – My brother and I have been doing it for more than 25 years. Since we were five and six years old, actually. Playing, singing, harmonizing. We always knew that we were going to do music together and that we were going to do it long-term.
We had that sense when we were young. Always together and really close. As we progressed, we started getting out there in 2008 and had some moderately successful charting songs.
Then we’d go play and do all these things. From about 2008 to maybe 2016 or 2017, we were hitting it as hard as we could. In today’s music business, you feel like having a music career has to be supplemented with something else. Trying to find other things to supplement your income. Especially with streaming entering the equation and physical releases fading away.
TC – You are a great songwriter. Kelly Clarkson doesn’t record songs written by bad songwriters.
I thought some of your songs should have been number ones, but there are a lot of factors that determine why a song reaches number one that has nothing to do with its quality. ARANDA deserved more than what you got.
So how does the spirit move you? When do you get your best ideas for writing?
DA – Gabe would probably say when we get together, because he’s writing for the band. That’s just how his brain works. Me? I’m a serial songwriter.
I have 200 to 300 ideas on this phone right now. On the new song, You Don’t Wanna Know, we worked with a guy who’s been doing a lot of rock stuff in Nashville, Kyle O’Dell. We had been working mainly with in-house and at-home producers, and that’s been great.
Gabe had a melody, kind of the chorus idea. I felt we have to write this song today. So we did. We wrote it in about two and a half hours and recorded the whole thing that day. From inception to completion, it took about a day and a half.
You Don’t Wanna Know really started the cycle for this new record. It looks like early May for the album [release]. The record is called Are You Not Entertained? It’s a tongue-in-cheek way of saying, ‘Here we are, putting all of this out to you.’
As an artist, you bare your soul. When you do that, you invite people to slam you, praise you, or whatever they choose to do. You put yourself out there. So it’s like, Are you not entertained? Well, here it is. Here’s all my brokenness. Can you connect with this. or are you going to throw more tomatoes?
You Don’t Wanna Know is the first song to kick that off.
TC – The people you’ve worked with, and some incredibly tough things you’ve had to overcome. You lost your drummer in 2019. He was murdered, which is such a heavy subject. I don’t know how you come back from that. Longtime drummer, longtime friend. Like a brother. I remember reading about it.
You also worked with producer Kato Khandwala. A phenomenal producer who we lost in a motorcycle accident. There were so many bumps in the road. It has to be incredibly hard to keep that fire going.
DA – Yeah. In that stretch of time over about a 10-month period, we lost our longtime sound guy. We lost Kato. Then we lost my dad. After that, we lost Mike, our drummer. All of that happened within a short window. We asked ourselves, ‘Are we really going to do this or not?’
Then it became clear. We had to. We absolutely had to keep going.
I agree. I’m so glad ARANDA is back. This time, they may just get that number one.
Check out the full Carr Stereo Podcast with Dameon Aranda interview on YouTube, or listen wherever you podcast.
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