Makua on the new single “Catch a Wave”, Loss, Redemption, and Finding New Life With AWOLNATION

When Makua talks about “Catch a Wave,” his new collaboration with AWOLNATION, it’s clear the song isn’t just another single—it’s a reckoning, a tribute, and a second chance rolled into one.

The track began with AWOLNATION frontman Aaron Bruno, who was inspired to write it after a fellow surfer drowned before a planned session. “He showed up at the beach to go join these guys for a surf session, and unfortunately, by the time he got there, his brother had drowned,” Makua explains. “He wanted to write a song about it.”

Bruno had been holding onto the song for some time. Once the two connected—through producer and former AWOLNATION collaborator Jimmy Messer—the pairing felt inevitable. “Once we got to know each other and he understood my surfing background and what the song was about, he thought it would be a perfect fit for us to do together. Here we are now.”

What they created together is more than a meditation on loss. “I loved the message behind the song and what it was about,” Makua says. “I knew we could do something special with it.” That instinct extended beyond the studio. The music video became a tribute to fallen surf legends—figures who helped shape the culture long before corporate interests reshaped the industry. “A lot of the people in the video had a hand in creating the culture of surfing as it exists today,” he says. “It felt like an honor to honor them with the song and give it more meaning for their families and anyone who has lost loved ones.”

For Makua, the line “Catch a Wave to Heaven” hits especially close to home. He speaks candidly about his sobriety journey and a pivotal moment while filming a television project in which he portrayed a washed-up champion surfer who dies in the ocean. “I believe if I didn’t choose this path, I would have drowned surfing,” he says. Watching his character die onscreen was sobering in more ways than one. “When I saw myself die in that film, I said, ‘That’s going to be me if you don’t wake up.’”

That confrontation with mortality reframed everything. Music became not just expression, but survival. “When I made the decision to put all the garbage down and pick up the pen and write about it, it made a huge impact on my life,” he says. “I aim to help others impact their lives as well.”

That’s where “Catch a Wave” transcends its origins. While rooted in surf culture, its message is universal. “That’s the cool part about music—it can resonate with anybody,” Makua says. “Everybody can relate to that on some level.”

And if he has his way, the song won’t just move people emotionally—it’ll reconnect them to something deeper. “I want to build culture,” he says. “When we put something out, it’s going to be real—not just for likes.”

For Makua, “Catch a Wave” isn’t about chasing charts or trophies. It’s about honoring the past, surviving the present, and helping someone—somewhere—choose life over the undertow.