In a dark kitchen in the middle of a sweaty night in Las Vegas, all 6’4” of Dan Reynolds is hunched over a laptop, slapping beats on the table and crooning lyrics into a tiny microphone. Before long, he and the other three members of indie rock band Imagine Dragons would be playing “It’s Time,” that same laptop-demo-turned-supersized-anthem, from the roof of a parking garage to a wave of thousands of screaming fans. This song title to the single from their 2012 debut KidInaKorner/Interscope release “Continued Silence EP” is an all too apt descriptor of the band’s hard-earned success—but it’s also emblematic of the deep-seated anxiety Reynolds and the rest of the band experienced leaving behind any realistic expectation of a normal job to do the thing they love most.

A third-generation Las Vegas native, Reynolds is no stranger to the adage “the house always wins,” choosing to pave his musical career with a near obsessive work ethic and hundreds of unused demos rather than roll the dice with the first songs that sprung from his mouth. It’s no surprise, then, that he was drawn to guitarist Wayne Sermon, another founding member of Imagine Dragons. Having practically grown up in a recording studio and graduated Berklee College of Music, Wayne had been practicing his guitar through meals and other socially inappropriate situations as long as he could remember; he challenged Dan in a way that was both uncomfortable and exactly what they both needed. When they began writing songs together and recognized something special was happening, Wayne called up his Berklee friend Ben McKee, who promptly dropped out of school with only a few credits left, moving across the country to play bass for the band. This sort of reckless/genius behavior is typical for Ben, who has an uncanny penchant for spicy food and a suitcase full of unbelievable road stories. More recently, the band was joined by drummer Daniel Platzman, another Bostonian schoolmate who seems way too nice to be playing rock and roll until you actually see him in action.

Several tours and three self-released EPs later, Imagine Dragons had made a serious name for itself, particularly in the west coast circuit. Although their songs vary from nearly whimsical and light to brooding and powerful, listeners are drawn to the inherent honesty in the music. The only rule of thumb for the band, it seems, is to write from a true place; the result is songs that literally run the spectrum of human emotion. Attend a concert, and it becomes clear that the live performance of deeply personal songs has a real effect on people. And the band itself is not immune, as demonstrated when Dan literally passed out into the drum set during a finale song, sending cymbals and drum stands crashing while the rest of the band played on until the close.

Great songwriting is bound to be noticed eventually. As proof that the harder you work, the luckier you get, one of those people who noticed was Grammy winning producer Alex da Kid (Eminem, Rihanna). Alex and Dan began collaborating on projects, and soon the band had developed a relationship with Alex and his team. The alchemy resulting from Alex’s hip hop sensibilities and Imagine Dragons’ anthemic rock is nothing short of explosive. The byproduct of this creative collision is “Continued Silence,” a six song in-your-face sonic grenade that breaks musical boundaries and yet is strangely relatable by its improbably diverse audience.

Despite it all, on any given day when they aren’t on the road playing shows, you can still find Imagine Dragons huddled away in a rehearsal room somewhere, banging out song after song in search of the next perfect track. Like most things in Vegas, the band is angled at going big or going bust. For the sake of those who love great music, we hope it’s the former.

Daniel Misera has 28 years in music composing experience and is highly trained in sound engineering as well as album producing with the ability to compose in many different styles. 

For years now Daniel has been working with record labels such as The Atlantic Recording Company, Warner Music, Bodog Music, Lava Records to name a few and has been producing and remixing songs for various gold record stars such as Canadian artist Bif Naked. Some of his music has charted in the top 10 positions in both Europe and North America. “I Dance For You” released and performed by Nazanin under Bodog Music charted #12 on Billboard UK and #2 on Music Week’s Upfront Club Breaker Chart. Daniel also produces theme music for TV shows. Daniel teamed up with Chantelle Ashby and together produced the theme music for the Canadian TV show “Get Connected” which has been running now for 9 seasons in a row. More recently, Daniel composed and produced the music for The World Curling Federation which airs on TV world wide in over 120 lands with a viewer base of over 400 million people.

Daniel also composes and produces music for corporate companies. Daniel’s credits include music and sound design produced for companies such as Kodak, Bother, Maxell, Staples, Nintendo (Wii), Sega, Motorola, AMD, Air Canada, American Airlines, Toshiba and many others. 

Daniel loves turning musical compositions into big productions with epic sound, but not all projects allow him to do this as much as he would like. His greatest compositional strength lies in scoring music to action depicted in video and being able to musically bring out the emotions being depicted on the screen. Whether it be romantic, nostalgic, happy, or intense action, Daniel will always turn those into moments to remember.

Welcome to Afriquoi! Live African dance music.
like us on facebook: www.facebook.com/afriquoi

2015 summer shows announced!

22.5	How The Light Gets In, Hay on Wye
5.6	Songlines Encounters Festival, King's Place, London
13.06.15	Kazimier, Liverpool
14.06.15	Eden Festival, Scotland
16.6.15	St.John's College May Ball, Cambridge
04.07.15	Kelburn Garden Party, Scotland
5.7.15	The Hifi Club, Leeds
17.07.15	Lovebox festival, London
18.7 Beat Herder, Lancashire
26.7 Secret Garden Party, Cambs (Chaiwallahs)
29.8.15	KribisKrabis, Italy
30.8.15	Dimensions Festival, Croatia
3.9.15Outlook Festival, Croatia


Here are 2 vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD99b7PK8mo 
http://youtu.be/XR3zWstmfgs

Please feel free to get in touch here or by emailing
afriquoi@wormfood.co.uk
If you are a DJ and wanna play our tracks we can send you an mp3..... or you can buy Kudaushe + Fiston ft Serocee at www.afriquoi.com

Biography

Live African dance music, fusing Congolese guitar + Gambian kora virtuosity with UK electronic sensibilities to create captivating, beautiful, dancefloor- friendly new music for a new generation of world music fans with one foot in the clubs.



Chris Powers 4 is following