Don Broco is back with their first album in five years and Nightmare Tripping is very much worth the wait. The album is Broco’s heaviest both lyrically and sonically as the band fully delves into their nu-metal roots on songs like “Cellophane”, “True Believers” and “Hype Man”. They had the chance to test some new material on American audiences over the last few months to massively positive reactions and have built up genuine anticipation for what is already one of the best rock records of 2026. Atlas spoke with vocalist Rob Damiani about the recording process, diving into more serious topics, collaborating with Nickelback and the band’s camaraderie. Check out our conversation and stream Nightmare Tripping, out now!
Atlas Artist Group: With this new album, you’re leaning into a heavier sound and heavier topics. What steered that direction for you in the studio and how are you approaching the creative process now as opposed to when you started making music?
Rob Damiani: Starting with the first part of it, it felt like an obvious evolution for us. Since Technology, we’ve just been having fun just experimenting with getting heavier as a band. We’ve always loved heavy music and I think it’s something that has always been part of our DNA and our very early, earliest material. Like a lot of bands, we’re figuring who we are as a band and even stuff we used to play when we were at school and before we started recording music, it would be all over the place. For like half a year we were a metal band, like this is straight a metal band. I think as you evolve, [you] try and find who you are and find your feet within the world and try to create something new.
In the earlier days we maybe shied away from some of the more that we felt like obvious references to us and for us it was those metalcore bands. Everyone in our town growing up, just discovering heavy music for the first time- we were just huge nu-metal fans. It was so exciting to be a part of and feel real ownership over a genre that felt like it was so fresh and new and exploding. Obviously bands have been combining like rappy vocals with rock guitars since Aerosmith and Run DMC and obviously in the probably the biggest, most influential way, Rage [Against the Machine].
But fast forward a few years and more bands are taking that influence and you’ve got Bizkit and Linkin Park and Korn who are combining those with more of an aggression and electronics and so many variants. It was mad growing up with Limp Bizkit as the biggest band in the world, where it’s like what a crazy time to be alive! I remember the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack coming out, where Limp Bizkit and Metallica both had songs for the record and both had insane videos and like Bizkit were bigger than Metallica then. They were just like kings of heavy music and to feel that ownership and that connection to something fresh going on was amazing. Fast forward a couple of years where we were like, we’re going to start a band and we were just ripping off those bands playing songs that sounded exactly like them.
Once we actually started recording music ourselves, we can’t be doing that- we really need to do something else that wasn’t almost like the first impulse. And I think having five albums under your belt now, it felt time where we were like, actually this is something we can now revisit after years of experience and knowing who we are and feeling more comfortable in our own skin to delve into this world a little bit, delve into the heavier sounds, push things sonically in a heavier direction and just having the confidence to do that, but still make it our own and still make it feel like honest to us and feel like we’re contributing to the genre rather than just replicating it.
With the topics that I wanted to sing about and talk about on this record, it wouldn’t have come out any other way because that’s what’s going on in our lives right now. We’ve personally and collectively been through some of the hardest years, just personally in our lives that we’ve been through for sure. The fact we were going heavier anyway with the music from a natural kind of evolution, when you’re doing these heavier songs and just heavier music and heavier guitars, it feels right to embrace those emotions and the energy and sometimes even the anger that comes with that. It felt just like a very natural thing for us in the studio that it was nice that we didn’t really have to think about it too much. It gave us a very obvious path to set out on.
I think we’d always- on previous albums- it would be like, what song is getting us excited the most or what song is coming together quickest? For this record- for the first time- even really great and good ideas we were like, let’s actually just bank this and save that for another record when we decide a slightly different feeling thing. I think we wrote like five acoustic songs for this album! We wrote them and it was fun because we haven’t really written acoustic songs before and we were like this doesn’t feel right for what we need right now. That was one thing that was different.
Another thing was going in with kind of half-finished ideas, like writing a lot of material, but not being so worried about having the song finished before we went in the studio. As long as we had a riff and a chorus and sometimes a verse, that was enough for us- this warrants us going in to try and record it. We were happy to just give it a chance and see what happens. I’m sure other bands do, but we can definitely overwrite songs before we even take them to the studio and a lot of the time, the real magic is those random things that happen when you’re all together.
Atlas: It sounds like this record was very organic and freeing for you guys to go in and play with it and see what happens. Is that how it felt for you?
Damiani: Definitely. And I think compared to the last album, which was very much a lockdown record- that has killed any internet writing for us. It was kind of novel at the time, being able to use technology to continue writing and doing stuff and it was kind of fun for a bit, but just like endless Zooms where we’re piecing together songs and trying ideas- that was really not fun.
In the end, once we actually met together and got in the studio, bits changed or things always get tweaked anyway. So not worrying about that so much and actually just being like, as long as we’ve got a couple of ideas we really love and trusting that it will figure itself out was kind of fun.
Atlas: One of the big moments on this album is the collaboration with Nickelback on the title track. How did all of that come together? You haven’t done many vocal collaborations on past records so is there anyone you’d love to have on future songs?
Damiani: Yeah! We haven’t done many collaborations, really, in our career.
I can see why rock bands don’t do that many as well because I think bands in general- not every band- but there’s more cooks anyway, there’s multiple people involved. Everyone’s pulling and pushing in their own direction within the band anyway, to then bring an outside party in, it can completely derail the song. It depends as well if it’s a feature who’s just going to come in and do their thing and record a preset idea, or some people who they’re given free reign. I guess some features are probably more strong willed than others and they’re like, no, I want it to be this way. For us, we’ve done a few where it’s always been quite last minute. Usually the song’s coming out already or it’s already out and then we’re like, that would be really cool.
But this was the first time that in actually writing the song we were like, this could feel really cool. We knew Nickelback were aware of us and had discovered us from our last tour when Ryan- the guitarist- saw us in Canada. We’d been in email communication and knew they were fans so we were like, screw it, let’s just give it a shot. The fact that they loved the song so much and were so down and honestly so quick as well, like recording the bits and sending them back. It was a real dream come true. It would have been interesting- I wonder what would have happened if they’d changed a load of things, because we had the idea. It’s funny, you got to hear the song so when we recorded it, I recorded all the vocals anyway so the version you would have heard at the show would have been me singing it so you wouldn’t have clocked it. We didn’t want to ruin the surprise so when we gave everyone the listen, we played them the old version of it.
That was the version we sent to Nickelback saying these are the parts, this is what we’re thinking. Anything you want to throw at us, we’re up for and they were just like, we love it. They just re-recorded the lead parts. Chad gave his kind of twang and the inflections were slightly different and then they brought in a load of harmonies. Really all the vocal harmonies you hear in the chorus were Chad and Ryan. I don’t think you’re aware of it sometimes when you’re listening to Nickelback when you’re hearing these massive Nickelback choruses- it’s a bed of harmonies and layers that are background in there. As soon as we heard them on this chorus, we were like, wow, this suddenly sounds not so Nickelbacky, not just because of Chad’s vocal on it- it’s all the harmonies that they add. I think Ryan’s is a big part of that and it’s that stack of just huge, uplifting harmonies that really lifts the chorus. We were stoked because it was what we’d written and envisioned, but even better and it came together really quickly once they’d sent their parts over.
I think we got really lucky with how easy it was because not all collaborations are that easy. Even the few we’ve done before, it could just take ages getting the bits and people’s availability. We’ve had loads of things where they almost happened and then they didn’t so for this to happen and just be so simple was awesome.
Atlas: You guys just wrapped up the North American tour. After being away for a while recording this album, how did this run feel for you? How are you approaching touring at this stage of your career?
Damiani: It was great. Any tour where we get to play new music is the most rewarding thing for us- playing the new songs. You’re so deep in finishing a record when it’s this raw as well, you’ve had the fun bit where you’ve written it, you’ve had the fun bit like you’re recording it. That’s the challenging part, but it’s rewarding when it comes together.
I think I can speak for all the band- the mixing just ruins the song, honestly, it just ruins the process. I’m sure it’s partly to do with us just being perfectionists and you envision things in a certain way and sometimes it’s not always right to be that way and it goes a different way. You’re trying all these things, all these minutiae tweaks and playing even 11 songs, but usually it’s one song but you’re doing one or two mixes per go- it just kills the fun of a song.
Honestly, you’re listening to sometimes not even the same song, it’s the same section just over and over again, trying to get it right. Some mixes come easier than others but it can really suck away that final finishing of a song- it can suck away a lot of the enjoyment that you had creating it. Then getting so soon to be able to actually play it live and see the reaction to the song- and obviously, it’s not like people are hearing those mixes, the all the effort you’ve put in, because it’s a different thing. It’s performance.
People are connecting to these new ones because they know the song and they’ve heard it and people are singing the words back and rocking out to the riffs and they’re punching. It finally feels worthwhile, all that effort that you’ve put into making the music. It’s great that we got to do basically both those tours so soon after releasing- we did the first half in October or September and we’ve had “Cellophane”, “Disappear” and “Hype Man” out. Then at the end of the year, we released “Euphoria” so that was really nice and fresh for us to play the tour you saw us at. It was like the first time we really kind of sunk in and got to grips with that song but that was really fun actually seeing the crowd respond to it.
Those tours were awesome. We hadn’t been in so long, it felt like a kind of reintroduction to our hardcore fanbase in the States and just seeing everyone back as well. Sometimes I ask the crowd if they’re new or they’ve seen us and it’s always actually surprised mostly- obviously people who’ve seen us before over the last few years but it always surprises me [with] the new people as well. It’s hard to gauge if new people are discovering you and how people are and we haven’t done any support shows in the States for a while now. Since our last tour and this one, it’s just word of mouth, people hearing the new songs, but that’s always very rewarding to hear and see in person.
Atlas: That’s a great segue into my next question since you had the chance to play this new material on the last tour. What was the song that you really noticed getting a big reaction from the audience? With the album coming out, what’s one of the new songs that you’re now excited to add to the setlist on your next tour?
Damiani: Probably my favorite from the new ones would be “Hype Man”. It’s just really fun closing with that as well, because we hadn’t done that before. We’ve been finishing with “T-shirt Song” for so long and it feels like we’re at the end of the set. It just really got us going where everyone’s leaving and then you hit in with “Hype Man” and everyone’s like, wow, what the fuck? And then you start the pits again. The song is just about needing the hype, needing that get up and go and people finding that energy at the end of a long night of three bands and then you think it’s the end and then we’re back in. It’s just really, really fun to see and be a part of so I think that for me out of the new ones on this tour.
I’m really excited to play “Nightmare Tripping” from the new ones. We hadn’t- apart from playing in the studio- actually got together as a band to learn it until last week. I just think I’m really going to enjoy playing it. It’s so easy to play, it’s so nice. You can still enjoy hard songs to perform but it’s really nice having a vocal part for me personally in a really nice place and my voice is in a really nice range. And just the journey that it takes you on- I found myself getting really caught up in it.
We just did a session in Maida Vale Studios in London, which is a big famous studio that Radio One uses. I just found myself dialing in so hard on the song, and you’re just thinking, what comes next? I found myself just getting lost in the song again, just enjoying the music and even just practicing it is fun. I’m just really stoked to see and feel that live connection from it. I’ve got no idea how people are going to move to it. The verses are kind of crazy so I imagine they’ll be quite mosh pitty and the choruses are quite euphoric. The outro and the last whole section of the song is just very uplifting for me so I think that would be cool to see from people in the crowd.
Atlas: What are you most looking forward to with this new era of the band and is there anything that people aren’t asking you that you wish you could talk about more?
Damiani: If there’s anything I’m looking forward to the most, honestly, it’s kind of a boring answer, but it’s kind of the same every time. I love being on tour and reaching new people. That’s the most satisfying thing.
Aside from creating the music and seeing the reaction with the fan base, it’s feeling just like you’re constantly moving in the right direction- you’re playing to more people or new people. It’s just super satisfying to reach new people when you encounter a fan and they’re like, I just discovered you and I love what I’m hearing in the music and that excitement of discovering a new band that you love and connecting with five albums now.
What that brings is then new opportunities for us to travel to new places and I love being on tour from that perspective. I love going to new places. I love going to new cities and countries I’ve never been to before. That’s something that I’m excited to do with this album- if it’s successful, you will get the opportunity to play new places and travel to different places that you haven’t been to before.
Even just going back to some of the places that we’ve been to but having more time there is always really cool. You go to a city- even Phoenix, we’ve been maybe four or five times now- and sometimes you’ll have time in a day to visit somewhere, sometimes you’ll be playing somewhere else, but even places where you can just linger there just an extra day or two. There’s so much to see all over the world. That’s still something that I’m grateful [for], I get excited about just being in the real world and seeing things like that. Fingers crossed that’s something that will happen with this record.
One thing that I’ve mentioned before, but we’re very lucky for, and I’m very grateful for being in a band like Don Broco. We kind of touched on it before where I mentioned how it can be hard collaborating with other bands because there’s so many people, but there are a lot of bands who don’t do that. There’s just so many solo artists out there as well. When you think of bands versus solo artists or DJs, and I’m like, I’m so lucky that I’m in a group and not a solo artist. You get to share all these experiences with your friends- you’ve got people, you’ve got ideas and you’re still putting yourself out there and putting those ideas, but you’ve got those ideas that you can bounce off against people that you trust and that you can talk honestly with rather than maybe random collaborators with who you might never see again.
That’s kind of what “Hype Man” is a little bit about as well. It’s just being grateful to have those guys around me when you need those pep talks and you have those sort of tougher times in life having friends that you feel you can just talk to. I wish everyone had a group of people but I think a lot of men as well, they don’t have even their close friends. If you don’t see them all the time and you’re not in each other’s physical space, a lot of the time you’ll be like, do I really want to bother my friend by calling him up and telling him I’m having a shitty time? When you’re on the road or you’re at home and you’re seeing each other every day, these things just sort of come up anyway because people either sense a vibe that something’s not right or you don’t feel like you’re putting someone at an imposition to load it onto them. That’s something that is important that I’m grateful that I’ve got in my life and it’s something that’s just awesome about being in a band.
It’s something I talk about in “Hype Man”, but don’t always get asked particular questions on it. I think it’s just important to- if you can- try and try and get yourself in those situations where you can be there for someone and listen to whether it’s a big problem or a small problem, I think it’s just lightening the load and giving people that little that push in life is just really helpful and important. It’s nice to remind people to try and give that out if they can.
Photos courtesy of Don Broco
Interview has been edited for length and clarity, although that certainly didn’t stop us from keeping as much of Rob’s words as possible.
