In October of 2010, Imagine Dragons supported Interpol in Las Vegas, NV. The band’s epic choruses and energetic show hinted at a bright future just over the musical horizon. The band’s story unfolded with each EP garnering more attention eventually leading to the massive success of the band’s debut record Night Visions. A few months after watching the band tear through an all too brief set at that Interpol concert, I caught up with lead singer Dan Reynolds to look ahead at 2011 and recap some of the highlights of the year. Here’s that interview revisited….
It’s been a busy year for Imagine Dragons with a visit to SXSW and some supporting slots for the biggest names in indie rock and pop. What has been the most memorable live moment?
Every show carries a little magic of it’s own, but one our very favorites was opening for Interpol at the Joint. It was incredible to play in our hometown with a band that we all grew up listening to.
According to your Facebook page, there are some new tracks being mastered. Will a full-length album be coming out in 2011 and when do you hope to release it?
If I answered this question, I think my manager would kill me. We don’t have an exact date yet, but I can say that it will be very soon – early into the New Year.
Two things that caught my attention at your show with Temper Trap last week were the amount of fans that were clearly there to see Imagine Dragons and how quickly you appeared at the merchandise booth after the set. The crowd had barely finished cheering and there you were signing autographs and talking with fans. Are you surprised by how quickly you’ve created a loyal following in a town as distracted as Las Vegas?
We consider ourselves the luckiest band alive. In the short time we’ve been together we’ve really seen a lot of growth and continual steps towards our ultimate goal of making a career out of music. Our fans are the most loyal and crazy people we know. They range from small kids, to the hipster, to the old classic rock guy that plays a cover gig with his work buddies. We do all we can to be as close as possible to our fan base. We try to break the boundary that a lot of bands create. We are normal people and don’t pretend to be bigger than the fan. We do all we can to show them that we are on the same plane and level as them.
Listening to the Hell and Silence EP and then seeing an Imagine Dragons show, it is obvious that the band has evolved since recording the EP last year. How did the experience playing so many live shows influence the new recordings?
Playing on the road and listening to new records that come out continually inspires us. We want every new thing we release to be better than the last. We never feel that we have reached a plateau and we always want to be better. We really worked on capturing our live sound in these new recordings. And we are really proud of the result. We are told by a lot of fans that our old recordings are good but the live show is what really what captured them so we tried to really capture the live show in the new recordings.
How does the band collaborate on new material? How much writing gets done while on the road?
We are a very collaborative band. Every song we write is done together. A lot of the writing process initially takes place on someone’s computer as a demo and then is translated to the band setting. Everyone always writes his or her own parts but we all work together to make the final product really glue together.
The comparisons to The Killers have littered every interview I’ve seen with the band but having seen Imagine Dragons live, it was Muse and Arcade Fire that popped into my mind. Looking past the last few years, who were some of the earlier influences on you and the rest of the band?
You hit it right on the nose. Muse and Arcade Fire are really big influences for us. We also listen to a lot of Coldplay, The Beatles, The Envy Corps, Phoenix, and a lot of other bands.
When I first saw The Killers, they were supporting Stellastarr* in small clubs and were a breath of fresh air to the indie scene. Did their success coming out of Las Vegas influence the decision to relocate Imagine Dragons back from Provo, UT?
We all really liked the though of being close to Los Angeles, but not having to pay the added expenses to live there. Also, Vegas just seemed like a great place to start up. Not only have great bands come out of Vegas, but it also is a city that never sleeps. Seeing that our guitarist is an insomniac that seemed to be an appropriate choice.
As we wrap up 2010, what were some of the albums that the band kept in heavy rotation while on tour?
Nico Vega, Muses’ The Resistance, The Envy Corps new EP, Coldplay’s Viva La Vida, Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus, MGMT’s old album.