"It's the one thing, as artists, that we get to keep to ourselves," Imagine Dragons' front man Dan Reynolds said when asked the meaning of the band's name. Yep, with apologies to 팬 boys all over the world and quite possibly Middle Earth, the buzzworthy Las Vegas alt-rock group didn't name themselves over an undying 사랑 of Game of Thrones, Dungeons & Dragons, 또는 anything medieval 또는 판타지 filled.
"We were sitting down and came up with a phrase that we felt particularly connected to, but we didn't want to call it that. It just didn't flow right," Reynolds explained in an April 25 interview.
"We ended up rearranging the letters and did an anagram. We haven't told anyone except our manager and our spouses. It's funny how people will try to guess what it means... a lot of people think it's a drug reference."
Reynolds said everything from "Aged Mens' Radio" to "Gemini is So Grand" have been suggested 의해 fans, but they'll keep everyone guessing for now. Whatever their name means is sort of irrelevant considering it's the 음악 everyone has been paying attention to lately. The band, which consists of Reynolds on vocals, guitarist D. Wayne Sermon, 고수, 드러 머 Daniel "Z" Platzman and bassist Ben McKee, have been enjoying success with their current single "It's Time" off of their new EP Continued Silence. The track has been played repeatedly on many alternative rock stations (the EP is in the 상단, 맨 위로 ten of Soundscan's Alternative New Artist Albums chart), and 엠티비 just named the song's video its PUSH artist of the week a few weeks back.
I caught up with Reynolds and asked him about the band, their current tour (they're on the road with The Jezabels* tour dates below), and how "It's Time" manages to stay cool even when played ad nauseum on my 가장 좋아하는 alt-rock station.
"It's Time" is really being a lot on the radio -- at least on the station I'm listening to. It has the wonderful ability of not getting under my skin even though I've heard it a bunch of times. So, first off, congrats on that. Second, what was the songwriting process behind that amazing track?
[Laughs] Well, thanks! There's so many times 당신 wake up at 3 a.m., grab a recorder on the iPhone and say something -- a lyrical idea 또는 melody -- and then 당신 lay it out in logic later on and sometimes it makes no sense. We sat with "It's Time" for a 년 또는 year-and-a-half. Sometimes 당신 just have to let a song sit for awhile. There's just something really special about it. I wrote it during a very hard time in my life. I had dropped out of college, and I was just sitting down at my computer, and I came up with this rhythm. And the words just wrote themselves. I knew I had something special coming.
When a song is most honest and most raw that's when 당신 know you're doing something right. A lot of my 가장 좋아하는 artists are able to be in touch with their problems and put it through melodies. It happens all the time with bands.
"It's Time" is on your latest EP. I'm finding 더 많이 and 더 많이 bands prefer to release an EP 또는 a couple EPs throughout a 년 또는 two rather than releasing a full-length album. Why do 당신 think that is? Is it because an EP is 더 많이 immediate?
Honestly, I'm so afraid of doing the first album. 당신 only do a first album once and 당신 have to live with it forever. So many bands I listen to have first albums that are my favorites. I really wanted to make sure I felt our band had really developed and understood who we are before releasing a first album.
Some bands do it overnight, and we've been a band for three years. It took three 또는 four EPS to determine who we are. We've seen growth, and are excited to have an album out in the fall. We'll go into the studio at The Palms in Vegas in June.
It'll be nice to get in the studio I'm sure. You've been on the road for a while. I take it's gone well?
It's been incredible. We've been on the road two months now, and we've play places we never played before and we've been selling out. There's no place where we feel 더 많이 at 집 than on the road. We've been on the road for three years, and people are coming out and connecting with our music. There's really an incredible energy in the bus.
Lastly, getting back to "It's Time." It really feels like a breakthrough for 당신 guys. Do 당신 get that sense? I know 엠티비 just gave 당신 props for the song's 음악 video.
I always would dream of making 음악 videos. Whenever I make music, I always have a visual in my mind. I always see things. My favorites are the 더 많이 conceptual 비디오 -- the ones that got 당신 thinking how it related to the song. There's something about puzzles I love. When we were making the video for "It's Time" I wanted to make it a little 더 많이 abstract. It's a song that people can interpret in so many ways. I hate it when artists say what it exactly means. It really compartmentalizes it. I always like to leave art and 음악 open to interpretation.
Like your band name!
[Laughs] We were very happy that we were able to own the name "Imagine Dragons" on 구글 very quickly. When 당신 think of bands like Foo Fighters and Smashing Pumpkins the name matters less. The name ends up being defined 의해 the 음악 at the end of the day.
"We were sitting down and came up with a phrase that we felt particularly connected to, but we didn't want to call it that. It just didn't flow right," Reynolds explained in an April 25 interview.
"We ended up rearranging the letters and did an anagram. We haven't told anyone except our manager and our spouses. It's funny how people will try to guess what it means... a lot of people think it's a drug reference."
Reynolds said everything from "Aged Mens' Radio" to "Gemini is So Grand" have been suggested 의해 fans, but they'll keep everyone guessing for now. Whatever their name means is sort of irrelevant considering it's the 음악 everyone has been paying attention to lately. The band, which consists of Reynolds on vocals, guitarist D. Wayne Sermon, 고수, 드러 머 Daniel "Z" Platzman and bassist Ben McKee, have been enjoying success with their current single "It's Time" off of their new EP Continued Silence. The track has been played repeatedly on many alternative rock stations (the EP is in the 상단, 맨 위로 ten of Soundscan's Alternative New Artist Albums chart), and 엠티비 just named the song's video its PUSH artist of the week a few weeks back.
I caught up with Reynolds and asked him about the band, their current tour (they're on the road with The Jezabels* tour dates below), and how "It's Time" manages to stay cool even when played ad nauseum on my 가장 좋아하는 alt-rock station.
"It's Time" is really being a lot on the radio -- at least on the station I'm listening to. It has the wonderful ability of not getting under my skin even though I've heard it a bunch of times. So, first off, congrats on that. Second, what was the songwriting process behind that amazing track?
[Laughs] Well, thanks! There's so many times 당신 wake up at 3 a.m., grab a recorder on the iPhone and say something -- a lyrical idea 또는 melody -- and then 당신 lay it out in logic later on and sometimes it makes no sense. We sat with "It's Time" for a 년 또는 year-and-a-half. Sometimes 당신 just have to let a song sit for awhile. There's just something really special about it. I wrote it during a very hard time in my life. I had dropped out of college, and I was just sitting down at my computer, and I came up with this rhythm. And the words just wrote themselves. I knew I had something special coming.
When a song is most honest and most raw that's when 당신 know you're doing something right. A lot of my 가장 좋아하는 artists are able to be in touch with their problems and put it through melodies. It happens all the time with bands.
"It's Time" is on your latest EP. I'm finding 더 많이 and 더 많이 bands prefer to release an EP 또는 a couple EPs throughout a 년 또는 two rather than releasing a full-length album. Why do 당신 think that is? Is it because an EP is 더 많이 immediate?
Honestly, I'm so afraid of doing the first album. 당신 only do a first album once and 당신 have to live with it forever. So many bands I listen to have first albums that are my favorites. I really wanted to make sure I felt our band had really developed and understood who we are before releasing a first album.
Some bands do it overnight, and we've been a band for three years. It took three 또는 four EPS to determine who we are. We've seen growth, and are excited to have an album out in the fall. We'll go into the studio at The Palms in Vegas in June.
It'll be nice to get in the studio I'm sure. You've been on the road for a while. I take it's gone well?
It's been incredible. We've been on the road two months now, and we've play places we never played before and we've been selling out. There's no place where we feel 더 많이 at 집 than on the road. We've been on the road for three years, and people are coming out and connecting with our music. There's really an incredible energy in the bus.
Lastly, getting back to "It's Time." It really feels like a breakthrough for 당신 guys. Do 당신 get that sense? I know 엠티비 just gave 당신 props for the song's 음악 video.
I always would dream of making 음악 videos. Whenever I make music, I always have a visual in my mind. I always see things. My favorites are the 더 많이 conceptual 비디오 -- the ones that got 당신 thinking how it related to the song. There's something about puzzles I love. When we were making the video for "It's Time" I wanted to make it a little 더 많이 abstract. It's a song that people can interpret in so many ways. I hate it when artists say what it exactly means. It really compartmentalizes it. I always like to leave art and 음악 open to interpretation.
Like your band name!
[Laughs] We were very happy that we were able to own the name "Imagine Dragons" on 구글 very quickly. When 당신 think of bands like Foo Fighters and Smashing Pumpkins the name matters less. The name ends up being defined 의해 the 음악 at the end of the day.
기사 from stltoday.com
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Imagine Dragons, Owl City and DJ Clinton Sparks are coming to St. Louis for the Yahoo on the Road! Tour.
The show is May 15 at the Pageant.
Tickets will be available beginning 일 of show. The The Yahoo bus will stop somewhere in the city and 팬 can meet the bus and get tickets. 팬 will either have to show their Yahoo! weather app, a 사진 on Flickr 또는 something else.
The tour features different artists on each stop of the tour.
“We're excited to hit the road and engage with Yahoo! 팬 around the U.S. and Europe,” said Kathy Savitt, Chief Marketing Officer at Yahoo! in a statement.
“Our mission is to make the world's daily habits entertaining and inspiring; and nothing brings that to life 더 많이 than surprising and delighting our users in their daily routines with some of the most 인기 names in 음악 and entertainment.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Imagine Dragons, Owl City and DJ Clinton Sparks are coming to St. Louis for the Yahoo on the Road! Tour.
The show is May 15 at the Pageant.
Tickets will be available beginning 일 of show. The The Yahoo bus will stop somewhere in the city and 팬 can meet the bus and get tickets. 팬 will either have to show their Yahoo! weather app, a 사진 on Flickr 또는 something else.
The tour features different artists on each stop of the tour.
“We're excited to hit the road and engage with Yahoo! 팬 around the U.S. and Europe,” said Kathy Savitt, Chief Marketing Officer at Yahoo! in a statement.
“Our mission is to make the world's daily habits entertaining and inspiring; and nothing brings that to life 더 많이 than surprising and delighting our users in their daily routines with some of the most 인기 names in 음악 and entertainment.”