Aja Volkman
Aja Volkman (About this sound listen); born March 4, 1987) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the frontwoman of the indie rock band Nico Vega. She has also released an EP titled Egyptian as a duo with her husband Dan Reynolds (of Imagine Dragons) under the moniker Egyptian.
Volkman is the daughter of James Volkman and artist Rogene Manas. She married the lead singer of Imagine Dragons, Dan Reynolds, on March 5, 2011. They have three daughters: Arrow Eve (born August 2012) and twin girls Coco Rae and Gia James (born March 2017). Volkman was approached by Mike Peña after a solo performance in 2005. Although Peña later left the band to pursue acting, Dan Epand (drummer) joined and this formed the basic structure of Nico Vega in 2007. The band released a series of EPs. They signed to now defunct MySpace Records. Two years later the band released their debut eponymous album. Three tracks off of the album were produced by Linda Perry (Pink, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani) and the rest were produced by Tim Edgar. The album was mixed by Tchad Blake (The Black Keys, Sheryl Crow). Nico Vega performed on Last Call with Carson Daly later that year and then toured for the next couple years. They toured extensively with artists including Gavin Rossdale (of Bush), Manic Street Preachers, Imagine Dragons, She Wants Revenge, and Blondie. They have also opened for No Doubt. During this time the band signed to Five Seven Music. Single “Beast” gained popularity in 2013 through BioShock Infinite advertisements, resulting in more than five million combined downloads and streams.
Second album, Lead To Light, was released on July 22, 2014 and featured production from Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons, X Ambassadors), Tony Hoffer (Beck, Fitz and the Tantrums), and Tim Edgar (Nico Vega).
Single “I Believe (Get Over Yourself)” was co-written by Aja’s husband Dan Reynolds. Track “Lightening” was co-written with Adam Bravin and Justin Warfield of rock group She Wants Revenge. Invited to perform an opening set for Nico Vega, Reynolds met Volkman in 2010.
He invited her to help him finish some demos he was working on. The two began a collaborative process which they titled Egyptian. They recorded and released independently a four track eponymous EP digitally.
They have performed this material once at the M Resort in Las Vegas. In 2015, Reynolds mentioned that Volkman is working on a solo project.
Album Sandy was released on May 19, 2017 and featured lead single “My Man”. The album features production by Joshua James and producer Tim Edgar (Nico Vega, Imagine Dragons).