The Guitar Is Just Like a Pick Scraping a Guitar String

"I want to take this feeling that i have right now and capture it as quickly as i can. It's like catching a butterfly," he says. "The majority the time, i'm like catching a rock." He has written thousands of songs but released less than 100 so far.

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In this episode, John links up with Dan and Wayne of Imagine Dragons to talk about how they wrote, recorded and produced their latest album 'Mercury - Act 1.

Having spent almost three years writing almost 300 demos, Dan and Wayne look back on the process of whittling down the tracklist and forming the album, from capturing their ideas as quickly as possible, through to working with legendary producer Rick Rubin and deconstructing everything to its purest essence.

As well as sharing their thoughts on creativity, songwriting and their life experiences in the world of music, the pair speak openly about the inspiration and meaning behind some of their most honest tracks to date, while also demonstrating how they let the subject of each song help define its production.

Listen to find out why samples can sometimes work better than a live performance, how raw magic often is captured on a first take, and the wealth of instruments that Dan can create using only his mouth.

Tracks discussed: Dull Knives, It’s Ok, Wrecked

LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES

https://linktr.ee/tapenotes

Listen to ‘Mercury - Act 1’ here.

‘Mercury - Act One’ - Interscope Records, KIDinaKORNER

Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective

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