Nicole Alvarez caught up with Imagine Dragons backstage at KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2022 where the band discusses the changes they've made since their first Almost Acoustic Christmas in 2014, the creativity behind their shows, and hearing themselves on KROQ for the first time.
LISTEN NOW: Imagine Dragons at Almost Acoustic Christmas 2022
While backstage in the Forum Club inside the Kia Forum in Los Angeles during this year's KROQ Acoustic Christmas, host Nicole Alvarez got a chance to talk with Imagine Dragons about their fondest KROQ memories, keeping up their mental health while on the road, and more.
Looking back on his fondest KROQ memories, singer Dan Reynolds remembers driving into Los Angeles from Las Vegas while tuned into the station because, at the time, they weren't getting much airplay and were alerted that their song would be on. "Just through the static, we started to hear 'It's Time' play, and we were driving as fast as we could to get closer to be able to hear it... it was an incredible moment."
All still a big blur for Nicole, the band was also taken right back to their 2014 Almost Acoustic Christmas appearance as well as others over their career as soon they saw the Kia Forum dressing rooms. "I was like, 'I think I showered in that shower like 12-15 times. I've lived in apartments less than I've lived in this dressing room." says bassist Ben McKee. “That was a different era of life for us; the universe is expanding," adds drummer Daniel Platzman. "Now we’re old and we need to maintain... Now it’s just like, 'can we just get up in the morning and do it?'"
"I'm not sure that any of us feel like we have anything that we can just cruise on," McKee explains. "We sort of feel like we've set a higher bar for ourselves to hurdle over each day. Every time we go to set up a tour, we look at the last tour we did and think, 'how are we gonna top that?'"
As fans can attest, the last Imagine Dragons tour was beautifully produced and incorporated all four of the band members' ideas into the stage show. "[Guitarist] Wayne [Sermon] wrote all the poetry for the tour," Reynolds explains, "the poetry that plays between the songs and tells a story. And we all came up with ideas for the imagery, storytelling... we really enjoy that process."
Aside from their fully immersive creative process, the band has also found that getting plenty of sleep and having some kind of routine while on the road keeps their mental health in check. "If you can kind of try to control your daily routine in some sort, I find personally," Platzman says, "that's the key to my mental health."
Don't miss the full interview with Imagine Dragons above and follow along with our continuing coverage from KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas 2022 right HERE.
Listen to more of your favorite music on Audacy's Imagine Dragons Radio, Alt Now, Rockternative, Drivin' Alt, New Wave Mix Tape, 90s and Chill, Alterna 00s, and ALT Roots stations -- plus check out our talent-hosted Imagine Dragons' I'm Happy Wait I'm Sad, Kevan Kenney's Music Discovery, Megan Holiday's My So Called '90s Playlist, and Scott Lowe on the Go's Post Modern Music Box!
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