'Otta'

"This is a great song hidden behind production. Thats not right," says Otta James. "We just added some layers, and that's really all we did", he adds. The track was originally baced around a sense chord progression with a drum loop. 'It felt like it finally made sense to me,' the singer reveals.

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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

GEAR MENTIONS

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