Take Me Back

Epilogue

"Imagine Dragons have been preparing for their big comeback for months after breaking up almost five years ago. Fans were shocked when the Las Vegas quartet split with hardly any warning. Today, you wouldn't be able to tell they ever broke up as they come into the room laughing amongst themselves, arms around each other. We sat down with them in their studio to discuss their breakup, makeup, and future plans.

Q: So...the question everyone's been asking is: why did you break up in the first place?
Wayne Sermon: We had a rough year. All of us were going through some bad stuff and none of us were in a good place that year. We were just fighting a lot, not really listening to each other. It was getting harder to get along and we weren't putting in the effort we should have been.
Daniel Platzman: It was a mistake. [laughs] That's the important part.

So did you regret it?
Dan Reynolds: Yes. Every minute. Well, at least I did.
Ben McKee: We all did. It just took us a while to realize it.

How did you end up getting back together?
WS: [smiles] The specifics are a little strange. But basically, we all realized where we wanted to be in our lives and when we were happiest. It just made sense.
DR: It was kind of emotional. But I'm a sucker for sappy things.
BM: It happened in the middle of the night. Everything sounds like a great idea at 4AM.

Dan, you spent a long period of time out of the public eye. What made you decide to return to your career?
DR: I went through a really difficult period. I don't really want to go into detail, but it was rough. And I think what a lot of people didn't realize is that we were really, really close friends besides being a band. I always thought of them as my best friends before I thought of them as my bandmates. So I was lonely, and I think something just clicked in my mind that they were a lot more to me than one bad year. A lot of the sadness I felt was because I missed them. So it wasn't really a matter of abandoning or returning to a career, it was a matter of abandoning or returning to people that I really love and care about.

Are you doing better now?
DR: Much better. I'm great, honestly. I have the most supportive friends in the world and they were so patient with me. I feel really good today.

Wayne, your band Smashing Fairytale was doing excellent. With all due respect, are you nuts?
WS: [laughing] Maybe a little. Every musician knows that it shouldn't feel like work. Unless you want to fall apart, you have to be where your heart is. And as much as Smashing Fairytale and its music meant to me, my heart was still with these guys. So that's where I am. There wasn't any hard feelings with the SF guys, they understood. I'm happy for all the success I had with them and I'm even happier to be back where I belong.
DR: He is nuts, though.
WS: [to Reynolds] Shut up.

Ben and Daniel, what about your careers?
BM: I wouldn't call them careers as much as 'things we did while waiting for Imagine Dragons to get back together'.
DP: I took a flight to Las Vegas when we made up, flew back to New York the next week to pack up my stuff, flew back to Vegas, and I haven't left since. It wasn't even a choice for me.

You tweeted yesterday that your new album is complete. Can you tell us anything about it?
DR: The album is coming out very soon, and it's really important to us. Our first step when we decided to get back together was just to work through all of the issues we had and heal our relationships with each other, so I think writing and recording it was a huge part of that. There's a lot of pain and conflict and hurt on that record, a lot of the emotions that we've dealt with lately.
WS: We made it completely by ourselves, too. It's entirely self-produced. We needed to create something together and let it connect us and so we needed to have those challenges and arguments and difficulties. We're more proud of this record than of anything we've ever made. I think it will always be a special one.

Any other plans for the future?
DP: Ben's getting married.
BM: Yes, I am.
WS: We're going to play at his wedding.
BM: No, they are not.

How long do you think Imagine Dragons will be around, now that you've had some time apart?
BM: Until three of us die. We're not having that happen again.
DR: Well, I'm not letting them leave, so I'd say forever.
WS: Forever and ever.
DP: And ever."

-

"Thank god they actually wrote what we said," Wayne says, putting down the magazine. Aja picks it up.

"That's a good picture of you guys. You look happy."

"I am happy," I say.

"You mean that?" Wayne says quietly.

I look around the living room. River and Arrow are playing a game which involves Barbie dolls saving action figures from evil villians, and Aja is beside me smiling at how progressive their little brains are. Alex, her baby bump growing larger every day, is sitting on the other side of Wayne on the couch next to me. Ben is making dinner in the kitchen while Platz eases his nerves about he and Aubrey's wedding next week. I hear them laugh about what lightweights they'll be since neither of them have drinken in months. I told them they could. They said they didn't want to tempt me. Ben even didn't want any alcohol at his wedding, and I told him I had far too much to lose now.

And it's only when I'm in my right mind that I can appreciate everything I have.

"Yeah, I mean it," I tell Wayne.

He smiles and messes up my hair, a silent way of saying he's proud of me.