Q95 FM Artist of the Month for May:

Imagine Dragons

Started performing: 2008
Website: imaginedragonsmusic.com

Wayne Sermon, a fresh graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston and proud owner of one of the world's coolest names, had just returned to his hometown of Provo, Utah. Eager to do more than just tread water with his fancy new degree, he made a serious commitment to focus on a career in music, and on the suggestion of a friend, happened to cross paths with singer Dan Reynolds.

They hopped back to Reynolds' hometown of Las Vegas, where they rounded out the band. From the beginning, they were an exceptionally hard-working group, cultivating their big, luminous sound by day and winning over new devotees at live shows by night. The Vegas scene may have been an inconspicuous beginning, as they were largely playing for unattentive, unappreciative gamblers. But their tenacity--and the contagious quality of their slickly produced, anthemic electro-indie post-punk sound--was enough to generate the buzz and sell the EPs necessary to get them famous. Similar acts are surprisingly hard to point to, but connections have been made to Muse and The Killers.

The lineup underwent a bit of a change before they got signed. Current Dragons include Reynolds and Sermon, joined by bassist Ben McKee and drummer Dan Platzman. Demand has been high enough to keep them making rounds on the late night TV circuit, numerous summer music festivals, and a tour that continues to sell out as fast as dates get added.

The tour is in promotion of their first full-length album, Night Visions, a dynamic and critically-embraced debut that peaked at #1 on both the rock and alternative charts. The diversity spans from the folksy mandolin of "It's Time" to the acidic industrial drone of "Radioactive." It's been called arena rock. It's been called pop. But the sounds never clash--under the loving production of the band alongside Alex Da Kid and Brandon Darner, the album--and the quartet of hard-working musicians who made it--make good on their lofty, starry-eyed ambitions.