I chatted with Dan from Indie pop rock band Imagine Dragons. The Las Vagan band member talks me to me about the band’s hit single “It’s Time”, working with Alex Da Kid and what he is a best fan of.
(BestFan): How did imagine dragons come to be in the first place?
(Imagine Dragons): I’m a 3rd generation “Las Vagan”, I had a good friend who was a guitarist and he just graduated from Berkley School of Music in Boston, I convinced him to move to Vegas with me and start a band and he just graduated with the drummer so he convinced him to come as well and the base player had one semester left to graduate and we convinced him to drop out and join the band..
(BestFan): You got him to drop out!?
(Imagine Dragons): Well yeah…but he only had one semester left. The things you do for Rock and Roll! So he moved out to Vegas with the rest of them and one week after they moved out we had our first gig, we did a lot of casino gigs there and played half covers half originals over time they let us do full originals…then we started branching out from Vegas and that’s how it all started!
(BestFan): Your HUGE song right now is “It’s Time” What inspired that song?
(Imagine Dragons): I kind of wrote it at a time period when I was deciding to pursue music as a full career…and it wasn’t the most lucrative time to be a musician. At times it can be a little scary ya know. I wanted to stick to my roots and stay true to myself and how I was raised. It was written in a transitional time in my life I just wanted to express those feelings about staying true to who you are while going to periods of change in your life.
(BestFan): You’re also working with “Alex Da Kid” who also works with Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. What was it like working with him and did he change up your sound at all?
(Imagine Dragons): Alex is really an incredible producer, wonderful working with him, he has a ton of experience the skills to bring on board, but the main reason we really wanted to work with him is because when we came in contact with him he was a really big fan of the band and what we were already doing and he really emphasized that he didn’t want to change anything we were doing, rather oversee and provide us with his expertise. So I wouldn’t really say he changed out sound just because were always trying to push our boundaries and try different things. But he definitely brought alot to the table and showed us how to stretch our horizons.
(BestFan): So its like you’re always changing!
(Imagine Dragons): Yeah, I feel as an artist if you’re not always doing something a little different then you’re stagnant. We’re always trying to do something new and fresh for you otherwise you’ll get bored!
(BestFan): What’s happening next for you? I know you’re going on tour with AWOLNATION in the fall.
(Imagine Dragons): Yes we’re going on tour with AWOLNATION in the fall and we’re doing some festivals before. But we’re just playing throughout the US and then the album drops September 4th. We’re recording our album here in Vegas at the Palms which is where we recorded everything else. Its a place we fill comfortable with.. Its sorta like home ya know.
(BestFan): What are you a BestFan of?
(Imagine Dragons): It’s kinda a cliche but I’m a fan of full acceptance of people.