Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds joins Hanuman Welch on the latest episode of ALT CTRL Radio on Apple Music 1 to discuss the group’s new song 'Wrecked' from their forthcoming album ‘Mercury - Act 1’ He talks about working with Rick Rubin, what bands from Las Vegas with Mormon roots have in common, the personal losses that have inspired the bands new album, and more.
Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds On Why Forthcoming Album ‘Mercury - Act 1’ Is About "The Finality Of Life"…
Life is here and it's gone. And that's what primarily this record is about, is just the finality of life. I lost four people that I was really close to. My best friend of my youth passed. My sister-in-law passed from cancer. My business manager died of cancer. My ex-girlfriend died of cancer. It just was like the finality of life was just so shoved in my face. So when I was writing, it was like that's all, I couldn't help but write about anything but that because I was needing that, I was needing the cathartic writing process.I don't know how the fans are going to feel when the whole record comes out or how anybody's going to feel to be honest. But I can tell you that for me, this process was if I wasn't in a band and Imagine Dragons had never happened, I was always writing since I was 12. It was my journal. I would have written the same. I needed to write this for me. I needed to write this record selfishly just for me
Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds On New Song 'Wrecked'…
Honesty was at the core of everything. And 'Wrecked' in particular was a song that was a really vulnerable, honest song. And any song that made the record had to pass the Rick honesty test. He would say to me, "I don't believe that," or "I don't believe you when you say that," or "I don't believe you when you sing that." And it took me a while to understand what he was saying. But even if you write a song and it makes you feel something that doesn't mean that it's going to translate to somebody else.
Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds On Working With Rick Rubin on The Band’s New Album…
We worked really hard on this record and Rick Rubin was a new thing for us. We've never worked with him before. We really self produced the majority of our music. So even bringing in a very hands-on producer with years of experience was different, it was a different thing for us but it pushed us. And we wanted to be pushed. This is our fifth record so we're just at that point where we wanted someone to come in and shake things up. And Rick did that. I think that every band gets egos. Even if they say they don't get egos, they get egos. And especially in a band setting when you have four people with egos and when Rick Rubin comes in it. And kind of how much ego can you have with Rick Rubin?
Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds Tells Apple Music What Bands With Mormon Roots From Las Vegas Have in Common…
There's like three bands out of Vegas that all got big. Panic! at the Disco, Imagine Dragons and The Killers. All three front men were raised Mormon for all of their youth. But for myself, culturally you cannot get away from Mormonism if you were raised with it, especially if you served a Mormon mission which I did. It's part of my entity, it's part of who I am, it's my culture, it's my family. I have eight siblings that are all Mormon. I have, there's 40 plus grandkids in the Reynolds family that are all Mormon. I'm not raising my kids in any religiousness if that means anything. I'm more spiritual based and religion hasn't really been my cup of tea. But anyway, what I was going to get at is I feel like all of these Mormons, like why? Why is the Mormon thing work with music? And I'm feeling like I'm going to invent this new genre that's called emo but it's for Mormons. Ex-Mormon, emo. It's like these sad Mormon dudes conflicted about faith and like conflicted about drugs and religiosity like what is life. This is the whole thing for another day. But I was telling my wife about this the other day. I'm like, there's something that happens with these Mormon kids that if there's so much angst there, it's like don't have sex, don't do anything, don't. And it's like I have to make music. I must make music. And it breeds these bands. I guess it's not emo because I guess it's not. Brandon Flowers isn't ex-Mormon, I wouldn't even call myself ex-Mormon. But it's something about these emotional Mormons that's like obviously there's emo, I know emo, but I'm just saying it's like there's some like emomo.
