AMANDA CARBINEMUSIC 1010-407

3/29/15SEMESTER PROJECT

MEET THE BAND

• Dan Reynolds – Main Vocalist

• Daniel Wayne Sermon – Lead Guitarist

• Ben McKee – Bass Player

• Andrew Tolman – Drummer

(2008-2012)

• Brittany Tolman – Keyboard and Backup Vocals (2008-2012)

• Daniel Platzman – Drummer

(2012 – current)

HOW THE BAND GOT STARTED

• Dan Reynolds met Andrew Tolman at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT in 2008.

• By 2009 Daniel Wayne Sermon and Ben McKee had joined and the band relocated to Las Vegas.

• The band played their own music as well as covers of other bands at different bars and casinos, waiting for their big break.

MAKING IT BIG

• The band got their first big break at the Bite of Las Vegas Festival when the lead singer of Train got sick and couldn’t perform. Imagine Dragons was pulled in as the alternate.

• Recorded Imagine Dragons and Hell and Silence throughout that same year at the Killers’ Battle Born Studio in Las Vegas.

• The following year the band recorded It’s Time, which helped land them a recording deal with Interscope.

• In 2012, the group made it big when they recorded their first major album Night Visions.

NIGHT VISIONS

• Double platinum album.

• Debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200.

• Was the most streamed album in the U.S. thanks to the number one hit Radioactive.

• Radioactive became the “biggest ever digital rock track in America”.

• Radioactive won the Grammy for best record of the year in 2014.

WARRIORS

• The members of Imagine Dragons are big fans of the computer game League of Legends.

• In September of 2014, the band wrote and performed the song Warriors for the 2014 League of Legends World Championships.

RADIOACTIVE

• Written and released in 2012.

• Song was written after band had been together about 2-3 years.

• Dan Reynolds wrote this song as he was coming out of a serious spell of depression and was gaining a new perspective on life.

• The song’s general meaning is about self-empowerment and having a new awakening on life.

IT’S TIME

• Before signing a record deal with Interscope, Imagine Dragons recorded 3 EP’s including It’s Time.

• Dan Reynolds wrote this song when he had just dropped out of college and was making some life-changing decisions in his life.

• This song is about being true to yourself and what you believe in.

DEMONS

• The band collaborated with Alex Da Kid and John Mosser when writing this song.

• Dan Reynolds wrote this song to warn a loved one not to get too close to him because of his “dark side” and imperfections.

• The band came together and agreed that they all had their own “demons” and that writing music and being creative helped calm them all down.

• Shortest song to become a hit in it’s era.

• Doesn’t not have intro or exit music but dives straight into the lyrics. The band did not want to rely on the music to make the song, but the story that the lyrics tell.

WARRIORS – LISTENER’S GUIDE

• 0:00 Intro begins with keyboard solo.

• 0:06 Verse 1 begins with introduction of male vocals and electric guitar.

• 0:18 Drums begin tapping alongside the music slowly.

• 0:30 Chorus begins. Bass and drums become the dominate instruments that you hear alongside the electric guitar, begin playing much more intense.

• 0:55 Verse 2 begins. Music calms down again, though not as calm as the beginning Verse

• 1:20 Chorus begins. Bass and drums once again become the dominate instruments that you hear along the electric guitar and become intense once again.

• 1:45 Vocals stop. Electric guitar becomes dominate instrument while being backed up by the bass and drums.

• 2:08 Bass and drums stop while electric guitar and vocals start a duet of the chorus.

• 2:15 Chorus continues with the re-entering of the bass and drums.

• 2:36 Vocals end. All instruments pick up speed to do the finale piece of the song and end all together in sync.

RADIOACTIVE – LISTENER’S GUIDE

• 0:00 Guitar begins playing with male vocals singing background music of “Whoa-oh’s”

• 0:21 “Whoa” hold for the length of 7 seconds with the electric guitar holding its note as well.

• 0:27 Verse 1 begins with male vocals entering as well as the drum and bass. Drums and bass play at triple and duple meter. It is played with the beat as drum-drum-bass, drum-bass during the vocals.

• 0:54 Chorus begins. Drums and bass become dominate instruments. All instruments play with more intensity.

• 0:58 Drums have a solo beat that is play in duple meter. Two large exaggerated beats of the drum in between vocals.

• 1:10 Drums have a solo beat. It can be described as one large exaggerated beat of the drum in between the vocals of the chorus.

• 1:20 Drums and bass exit chorus. Vocals and electric guitar finish out chorus.

• 1:24 Verse 2 begins. Drums and bass re-enter. All instruments play with less intensity.

• 1:50 Chorus begins. All instruments pick up in intensity.

• 1:55 Drums have a solo beat that is played in duple meter. Two large exaggerated beats of the drum in between vocals.

• 2:06 Drums have a solo beat. One large exaggerated beat of the drum in between vocals.

• 2:16 Such as before, the drums and bass exit for the ending of the chorus leaving only the vocals and electric guitar.

• 2:20 Verse 3 begins. Vocals and electric guitar only.

RADIOACTIVE – LISTENER’S GUIDE CONTINUED

• 2:34 Chorus begins. Drums and bass re-enter with a large beat of the drum.

• 2:37 Drums have a solo beat that is played in duple meter. Two large exaggerated beats of the drum in between vocals.

• 2:48 Drums have a solo beat. One large exaggerated beat of the drum in between vocals.

• 2:59 Drums and bass exit. Vocals and electric guitar finish out chorus.

• 3:01 Drum re-enters for one last beat to help end the song.

IT’S TIME – LISTENER’S GUIDE

• 0:00 Drums begin playing at triple meter.

• 0:08 Electric guitar enters alongside the drums.

• 0:18 Verse 1 begins with vocals alongside drums and electric guitar.

• 0:36 Bass enters at duple meter.

• 0:54 Chorus begins. Drums become more pronounced.

• 1:13 Chorus ends. Vocals and bass exit. Drums and electric guitar continue playing.

• 1:31 Verse 2 begins with vocals re-entering alongside drums and electric guitar.

• 1:50 Bass re-enters.

• 2:07 Chorus begins. Drums once again become more pronounced.

• 2:44 Verse 3 begins. Bass exits. Vocals continue with electric guitar and drums.

• 3:02 Chorus begins with just vocals and clapping.

• 3:11 Drums and electric guitar re-enter the chorus.

• 3:20 Bass re-enters chorus.

• 3:39 Bass and vocals exit. Drums playing slowly along electric guitar.

• 3:48 Drums exit. Electric guitar is playing long finale note.

• 3:54 We hear the drumsticks cling together and someone shout “Whoo-oh!”

DEMONS – LISTENER’S GUIDE

• 0:00 Verse 1 begins right away with male vocals being backed up by keyboards and the electric guitar.

• 0:22 Drums enter alongside keyboards and electric guitar.

• 0:34 A duet begins with a female joining in with the male vocals.

• 0:44 Chorus begins with bass entering alongside drums, keyboard, and electric guitar. Female background vocals exit.

• 1:05 Chorus ends and Verse 2 begins right away with vocals. Bass and drums exit. Only keyboard and electric guitar playing alongside vocals.

• 1:47 Chorus begins. Bass and drums re-enter.

• 2:08 Chorus ends and Verse 3 begins right away. Bass exits. Drums, keyboard, and electric guitar continue to play alongside vocals.

• 2:19 Female background vocals re-enter.

• 2:25 Female background vocals exit.

• 2:27 Male vocal solo to finish out Verse 3. All instruments stop playing.

• 2:30 Chorus begins. All instruments re-enter alongside male vocals.

• 2:51 All instruments stop playing and last word of the song is spoken and echoes until the end of the song.

WORKS CITED - PHOTOS

• Slide 1 - https://fanart.tv/artist/012151a8-0f9a-44c9-997f-ebd68b5389f9/imagine-dragons/

• Slide 2 - http://vegasseven.com/2014/12/03/imagine-dragons-tells-write-hit-song/

• Slide 2 – http://www.outune.net/attualita/news/imagine-dragons-cover-rush-tom-sawyer/91240

• Slide 3 - http://www.undergroundmusicreviews.com/imagine-dragons/

• Slide 4 - http://www.mstarz.com/articles/12476/20130508/interscope-records-new-music-promo-video-eminem-50-cent-lady-gaga-gwen-stefani-lmfao-maroon-5-and-more-featured-in-label-2013-new-music-teaser.htm

• Slide 5 - http://becuo.com/imagine-dragons-logo-font

• Slide 6 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warriors_(Imagine_Dragons_song)

• Slide 7 - http://nadandoemlivros.blogspot.com/2013/03/critica-musical-radioactive-imagine.html

• Slide 7 - http://www.amara.org/en/videos/aPNwaU8CnxjZ/info/imagine-dragons-radioactive/

• Slide 8 - http://www.trendingrecords.com/2012/06/premiere-imagine-dragons-its-time/

• Slide 9 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jackprince/8323918610/

WORKS CITED

• Billboard Artist: Imagine Dragon’s Biography

http://www.billboard.com/artist/303738/imagine-dragons/biography

• MTV: About Imagine Dragons

http://www.mtv.com/artists/imagine-dragons/biography/

• “New Imagine Dragons song Warriors”

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6251744/imagine-dragons-warriors-league-of-legends

• Song Facts: Artist facts: Imagine Dragons

http://www.songfacts.com/facts-imagine_dragons.php

• Song Facts: Song Facts: It’s Time

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=26555

• Song Facts: Song facts: Demons

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=28556

• Song Facts: Song facts: Radioactive

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=28007