I Fight Dragons is a rock band from Chicago.^[1][2] Their music is a combination of pop/rock with chiptune, featuring electronic sounds made using Nintendo Game Boys and Nintendo Entertainment Systems. To date they have released one full length album: 2011's "KABOOM!" which came out on Photo Finish / Atlantic Records. In addition, they have also released two EPs, 2009's Cool Is Just a Number and 2010's Welcome to the Breakdown.^[3] Their music has been featured on Nintendo Video as well as on the WWE. They have toured the USA with mc chris and Whole Wheat Bread in 2009, 3OH!3, Cobra Starship, and Travie McCoy in 2010, The Protomen in 2011, and they were on the entire 2012 Vans Warped Tour. They went on their first national headlining tour, "The War of Cyborg Liberation Tour" with openers MC Lars and Skyfox in 2012. From 2010 until 2012 they were signed to Photo Finish / Atlantic Records, but in fall 2012 they won their release from the label.^[4] As of October 2012, the band was in the studio recording new music for an EP to be released in 2013. Soon after, the band launched a wiki, aptly titled DragoNet. The Band also released an internet-only album composed of demos from 2010 and 2011 that were in various stages of development, but for various reasons never made it on KABOOM! titled DEMOlition: Songs That Didn't Make It On KABOOM!. In March of 2013, lead singer Brian announced that the EP had turned into a full album and that a release date would be announced soon. He also announced many other ways the band would be branching out, including plans to write a "Chiptune Rock Opera" sometime in the coming year.

Accolades [edit]

I Fight Dragons appeared on the entire 2012 Vans Warped Tour in the US and Canada.

In Early 2012, Nintendo commissioned a 3D Music Video for their song "Save World Get Girl" which is as of October 2012 the most viewed video of all time on Nintendo Video on the Nintendo 3DS. Other videos in the series included videos from The Shins, OK GO, Death Cab For Cutie, and Skrillex^[5]

"The Geeks Will Inherit The Earth" from I Fight Dragons' debut full length album KABOOM! received heavy airplay on Denver alternative rock station KTCL, reaching the No. 1 spot in December 2011^[6]

I Fight Dragons was named one of Alternative Press's '100 Bands To Watch' in their 2011 '100 Bands To Watch' issue.^[7]

I Fight Dragons was named The Best Emerging Chicago Artist of 2009 by The Deli Chicago, the Chicago branch of the national music website, The Deli Magazine. The award was based on three categories of votes: writers for the site, 6 independent jurors, and an online poll.^[8]

In May 2009, I Fight Dragons won the Chicago Metromix Rock 'n' Vote contest, Metromix's annual search for the best new Chicago band. The contest was based on three rounds: a curated first round by Metromix writers, an online voting round, and a live show with the final four bands. I Fight Dragons won the final round with over 50% of the audience votes.^[9]

Their self-released debut EP, “Cool Is Just A Number,” charted nationally at No. 169 on the CMJ College Radio charts, and has been featured across Commercial Radio formats in Chicago, on Alternative Rock (Q101), Top 40 (101.9 The Mix), and Independent Rock (93 XRT).^[10] Also, their song "Heads Up Hearts Down" has been in rotation on alternative rock station KTCL in Denver since October, 2009, reaching the No. 5 spot as of February 1, 2010.^[11][12]

History [edit]

I Fight Dragons was formed in 2008, and released their debut EP, Cool Is Just A Number on February 6, 2009 to a capacity crowd at Chicago's Elbo Room.^[13] They played at various clubs around Chicago in early 2009, including a Local Anesthetic showcase for 93.1 WXRT Chicago at The Cubby Bear,^[14] a final four show for the Metromix Rock'N'Vote Competition at LaSalle Power Company (which they won),^[15] a MOBFest showcase at the Elbo Room,^[16] and the main stage of the I AM Fest at the Congress Theater,^[17] which the band went on WGN National News on June 12 to play music and promote.^[18]

In June, 2009, Mike Mentzer left the band to pursue his own solo career and was replaced by Packy Lundholm, who had played drums on the band's first EP, and has since played lead guitar in the band.

On July 25, 2009, I Fight Dragons headlined the Metro in Chicago for the first time.^[19] This show was captured as a Live DVD, and a limited run of 500 numbered and signed copies of the DVD, entitled "Dragon Fight!", were released in January 2010.^[20]

In August 2009, they played the Chicago date of the Vans Warped Tour. Official Warped Tour Pit Reporter Tiffany Mink favorably reviewed the band's set on the Warped Tour website.^[21]

In August 2009, Dave Midell left the band to pursue humanitarian causes. Chad Van Dahm was brought in as the new drummer.

In September 2009, the band signed with manager J.J. Italiano^[22] and with booking agent Gabriel Apodaca of The Agency Group.^[23]

In October 2009, I Fight Dragons went on their first National Tour with punk group Whole Wheat Bread and nerdcore-hiphop artist MC Chris. They played 45 US shows from Oct. 1st to Nov. 24th.^[24]

In December 2009, I Fight Dragons was one of four bands that played at KTCL's "Not So Silent Night," at the Magness Arena in Denver, along with AFI, Say Anything, and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

As of February 4, 2010, I Fight Dragons signed with Photo Finish / Atlantic Records, and went on to appear on the MTV "Too Fast For Love" tour, opening for 3OH!3, Cobra Starship, and Travie McCoy from April–June 2010.^[25] In his June, 2010, concert review, Rick Florino described the band as "one of the most unique, uplifting and unforgettable new acts on the scene."^[26]

On June 21, 2010, World Wrestling Entertainment announced that their song "Money" from their 2009 album Cool Is Just a Number would be used as the theme song for the inaugural WWE Money In The Bank Pay Per View.^[27]

On October 11, 2010, I Fight Dragons announced via their Facebook page that Laura Green would be leaving the band due to personal differences.^[28]

On November 27, 2010, I Fight Dragons released their second EP, Welcome to the Breakdown at a CD Release show at The Metro In Chicago, IL. They indicated that this EP consists of songs written for their Photo Finish / Atlantic Records debut album, but which ended up not having a place on the album and so were released as an EP instead.

Starting on January 17, 2011, I Fight Dragons began recording their debut full-length album in Nashville with producer Matt Mahaffey (sElf, Hellogoodbye). The album, "KABOOM!", was released on the band's website and major online music retailers on October 24, 2011, and the band toured on their own in summer 2011^[29] and with The Protomen in Fall 2011^[30] in support of its release.

The song "The Geeks Will Inherit The Earth" from KABOOM! received heavy airplay in Denver on alternative rock station KTCL, reaching the No. 1 spot in December, 2011^[6]

On March 21, 2012, Nintendo announced via press release that a 3D video for I Fight Dragons song "Save World Get Girl" would be premiering soon on the Nintendo 3DS Nintendo Video application.^[31]

I Fight Dragons appeared on the entire 2012 Vans Warped Tour in the US and Canada^[32]

I Fight Dragons recently concluded their first national headlining tour entitled "The War of Cyborg Liberation Tour" with MC Lars and Skyfox from November to December 2012, meeting with Jonathan Coulton for one show. The final show of this tour in Chicago was filmed and there are plans to release a DVD in 2013.

Email list [edit]

I Fight Dragons started an email list in February 2009 that has since surpassed 25,000 fans from everywhere around the globe.^[33]

I Fight Dragons has often sent new songs to their fans free of charge via their email list. To date this includes over 20 additional tracks. These songs include covers of other bands' songs (such as a chiptune cover of John Mayer's 'Heart Of Life') and remixes of their own music (such as the This Atlantic Remix of 'Welcome to the Breakdown'^[34] and the Klopfenpop remix of 'Money'^[35] which was also released on their Overcool EP), as well as original pieces and an entry in Twestival's Imogen Heap-sponsored The Song That Never Was experiment.^[36]

On May 5, 2010, they released Overcool, a collection of 4 remixes of songs from Cool Is Just a Number, over the e-mail list. This collection was available to new subscribers to the mailing list until they won their release from Photo Finish Records, when they started offering a digital version of KABOOM! for free to new subscribers.

Additional Tracks Released to the IFD E-Mail List: The song "She's Got Sorcery", a preview from their latest EP, was sent out October 18, 2010. On November 10, 2010 the title track from the new EP "Welcome to the Breakdown" was sent for free. On January 10, 2011 they sent out a studio version of "I Fight Ganon," their rendition of the Zelda theme. On April 28, 2011 they released a live version of "Money", which included a rap from Kool Moe Dee's "I Go To Work" interwoven into the song where Klopfenpop had rapped in his remix of the song.

IFD Amnesty2 [edit]

1. "Why Bother" (A cover of a Weezer song from their album Pinkerton, done for Pterodactyl Records' 8-bit Weezer tribute)
2. "I Fight Dragons Overture 1.0" (an experiment at combining orchestral scoring and chiptune music)
3. "The Process" (An Imogen Heap a cappella re-arranged and written and recorded with chiptune style music)
4. "No One Likes Superman Anymore (LSDJ Version)" (A remake of their song "No One Likes Superman Anymore" from their EP Cool Is Just A Number done with Little Sound DJ)
5. "The Faster The Treadmill... (Gameboy Version)" (A remake of their song "The Faster The Treadmill..." from their EP Cool Is Just A Number done with a Game Boy)
6. "The Heart of Life" (A cover John Mayer's Heart Of Life using Little Sound DJ and Pixelh8 MusicTech)
7. "Rick + Mario" (A remake of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up combined with elements of the Super Mario Bros. Theme)
8. "I Fight Ganon" (A cover of the Legend Of Zelda main theme)
9. "No One Likes Superman Anymore (Evil Robo-Dragon Remix)" (A remix of their song "No One Likes Superman Anymore" from their EP Cool Is Just A Number done by Evil Robo-Dragon)
10. "Chocolate Treadmill" (A Mashup of I Fight Dragons and Hidari done by Snake Eyes)
11. "The Future Soon" (A cover of a song by Jonathan Coulton)
12. "Air Man from Mega Man 2 (Packy Lundholm version)" (A cover of the Air Man stage background music from Mega Man 2 performed as an 'introduction video' by Packy Lundholm when he joined I Fight Dragons)
13. "And Your Bird Can Sing" (A cover of a song by The Beatles from the album Revolver)
14. "I Will Wait For You If You Do For Me" (An original song by I Fight Dragons)
15. "Don't You?" (An original song by I Fight Dragons)
16. "Alien For Christmas" (A cover of a song by Fountains of Wayne)

Discography [edit]

• Cool Is Just A Number (2009)
• IFD Amnesty2 (2009)
• Overcool (2010)
• Welcome to the Breakdown (2010)
• The Geeks Will Inherit the Earth (Single) (2011)
• KABOOM! (2011)
• DEMOlition - Demos That Didn't Make KABOOM! (2013) [Tracks from 2010 and 2011]
• Cyborg Liberation Album (2013)
• Untitled Chiptune Rock Opera (2013)

Cultural references [edit]

Their song "No Kontrol" was featured in commercials for season 14 of Big Brother in 2012.^[37]

Their song "Money" was the official theme song for WWE's July 2010 Pay-Per-View WWE Money in the Bank.

Their song "Heads Up, Hearts Down" was featured in the series finale of The Hills.^[38]

Their song "Disaster Hearts" was featured in a long-form commercial for NCIS.^[39]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official site
• I Fight Dragons official Uvumi profile
• Official fan site & street team