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Isis Queen : Jello ’ s a great guy . He let us open up for his Guantanamo School of Medicine many times in Europe and in the States . He ’ s a great performer and he really lives everything he talks about . We have a high respect for Jello . A lot of people have come to see shows , like Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols . It ’ s a really cool feeling because they are our idols . But at the same time , when you meet them , you feel like you ’ re at the same level . You ’ re just musicians greeting each other . It ’ s a really cool experience .
Mosh : In 2012 – 2013 , the band played hundreds of shows and festivals . How much confidence did your bandmates gain from playing all those shows ? Isis Queen : Every band has its ups and downs . But at the end of the day , the road is what gives you the confirmation that you ’ re capable of achieving anything . It ’ s a lot of hard work being a touring band . We did 200 shows in the first two and a half years , just touring everywhere . At every gig we were booked at no matter what the guarantee was or no matter what the money was , just to get that experience . We lived in a van down by the river . We lived out of that van , all of us together . All our personalities in the band and we fought through it . If you can ’ t do this , then you might as well just move onto something else . The music is just a part of it all . Touring is the other part . The personalities are another part . What you ’ re capable of experiencing and handling is another part of this whole process . It really pushes your limits . Mosh : What was the audience ’ s reception like at the Vans Warped Tour this past summer ? Since it usually attracts a younger crowd , do you feel like you captured new fans ? Isis Queen : Oh definitely . Before Warped Tour , we had played up to about eight countries throughout the world , and they were all headlining shows . We ’ ve only opened for a
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Imagine Dragons
Continued from page 20
Arrow , now five ( additionally , in March of this year , the couple became parents of fraternal twins , Gia and Coco , who have helped him regain a child-like sense of wonder when viewing the world ). The Las Vegas-based rocker had also reconciled his strict Mormon upbringing with bigger religious and philosophical questions that he ’ d been wrestling with since childhood (“ Like , What happens when we die ? Why the hell are we here ? And what ’ s the meaning of existence ?” he sighs ). And – at the time of the IE cover story , the first interview he granted for
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Smoke – he had been seeing a therapist for six intense months , working his way to King the bottom
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his personal abyss so he could rise triumphantly back to the surface . Only things didn ’ t work out that way .
Touring behind the disc – and reading all of its attendant press , in which he was refreshingly candid about everything he was going through – only served to sadden Reynolds further , until he and his bandmates finally agreed to take a depressurizing year off so he could collect his thoughts . He had earned himself a little ‘ me ’ time . “ It was just a necessity – I felt like I just didn ’ t have a choice ,” he recalls , somberly . “ I needed to get off the road and remember what it was like to be …. to be Dan . And have a home and have a community , a constant in my life . So I got home and decided to work on myself and really get to the root of this depression that I ’ ve been dealing with for so many years . Because with Smoke + Mirrors , it was really relentless . So I decided that as a father , as a musician , and just as a human being , I owed it to myself and my community to seek help .”
The vocalist found a great new therapist in France , and they initiated a regular series of overseas Skype sessions that continues to this day . The doc didn ’ t waste time – he had his patient dive straight into the most uncomfortable reflections from his past , things he ’ d never discussed with anyone else , to begin the healing process . And it worked . “ I found out a lot about myself , and got to a healthy spot ,” he admits . “ To the point where this last year has been the most healthy , colorful year of my life . And naturally , it ’ s reflected in this new album in a lot of ways . And it feels really great , like I ’ m a totally different person .”
But it takes effort some days , basically eternal vigilance , Reynolds feels compelled to point out . For anyone experiencing it , depression is a lifelong struggle , so you over come it one day at a time . But each day , he says it feels amazing to not wake up feeling numb , trapped in an emotional miasma , and instead be excited about life itself and what the day could bring for him , his wife , and his daughters . Not to mention Imagine Dragons itself , which only grows stronger with each frailty he ’ s bold enough to confront , both personally and lyrically .
“ There are so many stigmas that people put on talking to a therapist , making it out to be a weakness , and that ’ s a really dangerous concept to teach our children ,” concludes the frontman , who loves watching rabid crowds gleefully chanting his “ Believer ” words back at him in concert , perhaps completely oblivious to their graver import . “ So my goal has been to teach my kids – and hopefully share a message with the entire world – that it ’ s not weak . It shows strength to say , ‘ You know what ? I ’ m going to face my life head-on , I ’ m going to be honest with myself , and sometimes that might mean having someone who helps me find that honesty .’
“ And even if that ’ s going to offend some people that I might be near and dear to , as long as I ’ m still being true to myself – and being a good human being , obviously – then that ’ s okay . Just being a little offensive ? Hey – you need at least a little of that or the world would be this vanilla place that ’ s never going to , well , evolve ….” Appearing 10 / 18 at United Center , Chicago