{"id":14476,"date":"2015-07-12T20:49:14","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T03:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=14476"},"modified":"2015-07-12T20:54:07","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T03:54:07","slug":"imagine-dragons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2015\/07\/imagine-dragons\/","title":{"rendered":"IMAGINE DRAGONS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"No39-imagine-dragons-2\"<\/h1>\n

Imagine Dragons finds success takes some getting used to<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sudden fame can be a double-edged sword. Just ask Imagine Dragons\u2019 frontman Dan Reynolds. \u201cIt sounds clich\u00e9,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I never got into rock \u2019n\u2019 roll for fame or drugs or girls. For me, rock \u2019n\u2019 roll was about people doing what they wanted to do and saying what they wanted to say. I\u2019m hardly a typical rock star. I have a wife and a 2-year-old daughter, and I love being home with them. It so happens I also love music. I\u2019m trying hard to balance those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, so good. Vaulting into the limelight two years ago with the smash hit, \u201cRadioactive,\u201d Imagine Dragons has since garnered a reputation as one of rock\u2019s brightest hopes. In an era when pre-fab pop dominates, the group scored big with a back-to-basics approach. Last year \u201cRadioactive\u201d earned the group a Grammy for Best Rock Performance. \u201cWe have guitars and drums and bass,\u201d says Reynolds, \u201cso people call us a rock band. But I love big, poppy melodies and I\u2019m not going to apologize for that. People can call the music what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine Dragons\u2019 journey began four years ago, when Reynolds was introduced to guitarist Wayne Sermon. A Berklee College of Music graduate, Sermon in turn recruited two fellow Berklee alums, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band rigorously worked the club and casino scene in Las Vegas\u2014Reynolds\u2019 hometown\u2014while releasing a series of independent EPs. They paid their dues. \u201cThe ding-ding-ding from the slot machines was louder than the tiny speakers they gave us,\u201d recalls Reynolds. \u201cBut it provided enough money to pay the rent and eat Top Ramen or Taco Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hard work paid off in 2011 when British producer Alex da Kid helped negotiate a deal with Interscope Records. On Night Visions<\/i>,
\nthe band\u2019s full-length debut, the Grammy-winning soundman subtly garnished Imagine Dragons\u2019 musical approach. \u201cHe told us to just sit down and write what we\u2019d been doing,\u201d says Reynolds. \u201cIt immediately felt comfortable. He wasn\u2019t trying to make us into some band that existed in his mind. He understood we were very percussive and rhythm-based, so he helped us capitalize on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"No39-imagine-dragons-1\"<\/p>\n

Night Visions<\/i> was a monumental success. Fueled by \u201cRadioactive,\u201d the album shot to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and has sold nearly 4 million copies worldwide. \u201cRadioactive\u201d now stands as the best-selling rock song in U.S. digital history. Another single from the album, \u201cDemons,\u201d topped the Billboard Pop Songs chart and has sold more than 4 million in the U.S. alone. For Imagine Dragons, the past two years have been marked by a whirlwind of honors, TV appearances and relentless touring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no idea the band would blow up like it has,\u201d says Reynolds. \u201cIt\u2019s been nothing like I thought it would be. It\u2019s been eye-opening, life-changing, and in some ways very hard to deal with. Everything has surprised me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine Dragons\u2019 new album, Smoke + Mirrors<\/i>, frames many of those issues in richly melodic and sophisticated settings. While da Kid helped on two songs\u2014\u201cGold\u201d and \u201cDream\u201d\u2014the band took on the production reins for the bulk of the record. Working in their new home studio, they pored through a trove of song sketches\u2014most written by Reynolds while the band was on tour. \u201cA lot of the vocals were recorded into my laptop with a cheap USB mic in my hotel room,\u201d he reveals. \u201cMany of those takes captured the spirit of the moment when the song was written.\u201d<\/p>\n

High points include the anthemic, autobiographical \u201cI Bet My Life,\u201d the stately, bare-bones ballad \u201cIt Comes Back to You,\u201d and \u201cShots,\u201d a stormy arena rocker that brings to mind prog legends Yes blended with \u201980s hit-makers Big Country. Reynolds is quick to acknowledge the band\u2019s inspirations, but politely deflects questions about musical direction and style.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny,\u201d he muses. \u201cPeople say, \u2018What is Imagine Dragons? Are they a rock band? Alternative? Pop?\u2019 We laugh at all that\u2014labels aren\u2019t a concern, aren\u2019t something we think about. We\u2019re just creating music that inspires us.\u201d During preparations for their summer tour, Reynolds and guitarist Sermon spoke to us about the new album, the group\u2019s influences, and the tribulations of sudden fame.<\/p>\n

Did you have a goal for the album?<\/b><\/p>\n

SERMON: When you start thinking in terms of strategy\u2014how you want the album to sound\u2014that\u2019s a dangerous game, at least for us. We didn\u2019t have time to think about what kind of album we wanted to make. We\u2019re habitual writers, so we just wrote while we were on the tour bus, in a green room, at a venue or in an airport. The album is a sort of journal entry representing the insanity we\u2019ve experienced the last two years. That\u2019s true for every member of the band, and especially so for Dan, as the lyricist.<\/p>\n

REYNOLDS: I felt the best thing to do was to let the music be an outlet\u2014and whatever came out, came out. I had no interest in re-creating \u201cRadioactive\u201d 10 times over, or in doing something that shows the more artsy side of the band. I wanted to put all that out of mind, not have any pressures\u2014and just create. Our lives have been turned upside down in the past two years. I tried to write honest songs that spoke to where my life is at the moment.<\/p>\n

Was having lots of songs challenging?<\/b><\/p>\n

REYNOLDS: No question. I\u2019m a homebody, so after shows I go to the hotel room and write, all the time. People think it\u2019s great that we have all these songs, but it\u2019s really difficult. There\u2019s so much material to pore through, deciding which songs work together and tell a cohesive story\u2014but also making sure there\u2019s variety. Plus it\u2019s not always easy to judge your own work, to determine which songs should make the album.<\/p>\n

\"No39-imagine-dragons-3\"<\/p>\n

Did one song set the tone?<\/b><\/p>\n

REYNOLDS: \u201cSmoke and Mirrors\u201d\u2014the title track. When I wrote that I knew it was the theme of the record. It spoke to thoughts I was having, my emotional state and my view of the world. It sums things up, although it doesn\u2019t offer any answers. The album has recurring themes having to do with trying to start over, feeling regret and feeling sorry about certain things. It\u2019s like I needed to wipe the slate clean and start anew.<\/p>\n

Why does Las Vegas matter to the band?<\/b><\/p>\n

SERMON: We wouldn\u2019t be a band if it weren\u2019t for Las Vegas. As a young band we traveled to L.A., wanting to get into that scene. But L.A. is so inundated. I don\u2019t know that we could have found our musical voice there or become something unique. It made us really grateful for Las Vegas. There are tons of places to play here. We were able to do casino and lounge gigs and actually make a meager living. It wasn\u2019t big money but at least we didn\u2019t have to get second jobs.<\/p>\n

All of you studied at Berklee, except Dan.<\/b><\/p>\n

SERMON: There are two trains of thought about how you approach music. There\u2019s the traditional, intellectual route where you study something formally, and then there\u2019s the instinctual route. I think the combination works really well. Dan brings that instinctual thing to the table. The main advantage of training is that we can come up with things faster. But I\u2019m glad Dan doesn\u2019t have formal training, and the band sounds better for it.<\/p>\n

Do you share common influences?<\/b><\/p>\n

REYNOLDS: There are core influences we all share. We love classic rock, and we love great singer-songwriters from the past 40 years\u2014artists like Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Elton John, Willie Nelson and the Beatles. We love great melodies. From that point, it branches out. I listened to a lot of \u201990s hip-hop\u2014like Tupac and Biggie\u2014and also got into \u201990s grunge. The other guys were into a lot of classical music and jazz. And Daniel listens to a lot of old country music.<\/p>\n

\"No39-imagine-dragons-quote1\"SERMON: It\u2019s sounds clich\u00e9, but the Beatles were the best band in the world. I don\u2019t remember a time when I didn\u2019t know who George Harrison was. I would go into my dad\u2019s studio\u2014he had an audiophile-quality record player\u2014and listen to the Beatles. George Harrison\u2019s playing was so tasteful\u2014always exactly what needed to be there, never any fluff. Tom Scholz [of the band Boston] is one of my favorite players as well. I love the sounds Scholz gets and his melodic approach to solos. It was never about finger-tapping or shredding or how many notes he could play. Instead it was about powerful melodies that sounded good.<\/p>\n

Describe the guitar\u2019s role in Imagine Dragons.<\/b><\/p>\n

SERMON: Often it\u2019s about adding a texture here and there. Sometimes there\u2019s a part where people don\u2019t even know it\u2019s a guitar. That\u2019s especially true of the new album, although at the same time there\u2019s more guitar on this album than on the first. As we were writing I would send Dan tons of guitar parts\u2014record them and put them on a USB drive. He would build songs around them. That\u2019s how a lot of songs began\u2014\u201cShots,\u201d \u201cIt Comes Back to You,\u201d and \u201cI Bet My Life.\u201d There are occasional moments where I shine through a bit more\u2014\u201cI\u2019m So Sorry\u201d being an example. Rather than providing a texture, I\u2019m sort of the driving force on that song. \u201cHopeless Opus\u201d is another one.<\/p>\n

Ever wish there were more opportunities for leads and solos?<\/b><\/p>\n

SERMON: No. I\u2019m not the type of player who ever says, \u201cLet\u2019s put a solo here.\u201d I have to be pushed to go in that direction. I\u2019m more comfortable with the textural aspect. The guys basically made me do that solo in \u201cHopeless Opus.\u2019\u2019 I was just messing around. I switched on a fuzz pedal, turned it all the way to \u201c10,\u201d and soloed over the chorus. The guys were like, \u201cWhoa, do that again\u2014and record it this time!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"No39-imagine-dragons-4\"<\/p>\n

Does having your own studio make the creative process more collaborative?<\/b><\/p>\n

REYNOLDS: It does. I wrote more than 100 demos by myself, and then there were those songs where Wayne came up with a guitar lick and I built around those. There were also two or three songs that our drummer sent me, and I built around those as well. That\u2019s how it typically works. Once we\u2019re in the studio it becomes completely collaborative\u2014everyone listens to the demos and we choose those that fit together. Everyone picks their favorites and we select the ones we agree on. Then we tear those songs apart and rebuild them, over and over. The bass parts change, the drum parts change, and it\u2019s the same with the guitar. It\u2019s kind of like editing a paper.<\/p>\n

Did you consider how the songs would translate live?<\/b><\/p>\n

REYNOLDS: That was a main consideration. All that editing in the studio was done in a live setting, to see how the songs felt on real instruments, how they felt as played by the full band. That was a huge factor in determining which songs made the cut. That\u2019s the main reason we started the band, to perform live. We\u2019re really all about the live shows. We wanted to make sure the songs stood strong on that level, even before they stood strong on an album.<\/p>\n

\"No39-imagine-dragons-quote2\"How do you take care of your voice?<\/b><\/p>\n

REYNOLDS: Four years ago I had a polyp removed from my vocal cords. Ever since then I\u2019ve taken steps to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen again. Following the procedure I took vocal lessons\u2014something I had never done before. Before that I was just kind of screaming my way through things. I have vocal exercises I go through every day, and I do warm-ups and warm-downs for every show. I changed my diet and I don\u2019t eat anything for four hours before I sleep. It\u2019s all about adhering to that discipline.<\/p>\n

Any surprises in store for the upcoming tour?<\/b><\/p>\n

REYNOLDS: We\u2019re planning to do some interesting things. We have a larger budget, and that will allow us to bring some things to life. We\u2019ve always been into creating a show that\u2019s not just four guys playing on a stage, but something that tells the story of a record, where you walk in and understand the vibe and the theme of it, and see it played out musically and visually. We\u2019re working with a production company that\u2019s pushing the boundaries of what live production can be. It\u2019s fun to be able to do that for the first time. With the first album, everything was blowing too fast to think about those things.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s surprised you most about success?<\/b><\/p>\n

SERMON: We\u2019re able to do what we do on a much larger scale, and that makes us happy. We wake up grateful every day for that. But the dynamic between the four of us is the same as it\u2019s always been. It\u2019s just four of us making music. We act the same and we have the same strengths and hang-ups we\u2019ve always had. Doing this on a larger scale is the only thing that\u2019s changed.<\/p>\n

REYNOLDS: Everything has happened so fast. I\u2019m truly grateful for all of it, but I\u2019m also not quite sure what my identity as a person is right now. That\u2019s what this record is about\u2014exploring that loss of identity and trying to wipe the slate clean. It\u2019s about either finding out who that person is, or else being happy not knowing who he is, for the rest of my life. I\u2019m still wrapping my head around that.\u00a0 M<\/p>\n

By Russell Hall<\/p>\n

\"No39-imagine-dragons-5\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine Dragons finds success takes some getting used to   Sudden fame can be a double-edged sword. Just ask Imagine Dragons\u2019 frontman Dan Reynolds. \u201cIt sounds clich\u00e9,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I never got into rock \u2019n\u2019 roll for fame or drugs or girls. For me, rock \u2019n\u2019 roll was about people doing what they wanted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4835,23],"tags":[7622,7623,912],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14476"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14476"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14489,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14476\/revisions\/14489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}