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Caught a Ghost is a Soul/R&B project founded by LA based singer and producer Jesse Nolan. The name derives from an old expression, meaning “feeling the spirit,” referring to a kind of musical possession.

The band’s first album “Human Nature” (+1 Records) was released in 2014 to much acclaim, featured on Rolling Stone, La Blogotheque, Carson Daly, Interview magazine, Revolt TV and more. Human Nature had an impressive streak of TV placements, with the songs “No Sugar in My Coffee,” “Sleeping at Night,” and “Time Go” appearing in dozens of TV shows, including Boardwalk Empire, Shameless, Suits, Grey’s Anatomy, Blacklist, Vampire Diaries, Crashing, and others. The band composed original music for the film Dear White People, and has also been featured in several trailers and commercials, and the first fully cooperative video game “A Way Out,” by EA, which comes out in 2018. Their dark and explosive song “Can’t Let Go” is also the theme song for the hit show “Bosch,” on Amazon Prime.

Caught a Ghost’s music has been referred to by the LA Times as “A modern take on blue-eyed soul,” infusing the spirit of classic R&B/Soul music with influences from modern production (everything from 90s hip hop to contemporary artists like Flying Lotus, Flume and Kaytranada) Jesse Nolan grew up in Los Angeles, where he received a rich and eclectic musical education. His father sings in a motown/soul band, and made sure to expose him to as much music as possible, particularly instilling a love of R&B, Soul, Blues, and Rock n Roll. Though Caught a Ghost features a rotating cast of musicians, Nolan’s kindergarten classmate Stephen Edelstein is the backbone of the live band, and his Mitch Mitchell style of drumming infuses an immense amount of energy into the live show.

Caught a Ghost started as a studio project, and Nolan plays almost all the instruments on the albums, with the exception of the horns and drums. Obsessed with cinema, Nolan began directing his own music videos, and the band has received over 10 million hits on Youtube. The band became known in Los Angeles, and then nationally as an extremely energetic and charismatic live experience. Often featuring a live horn section, and interactive visuals, Caught a Ghost shows often feel like going to church. Nolan jokingly refers to the music as “secular gospel,” and that in performing he seeks to lose himself in connecting with the audience. Journalists have compared him to a preacher channeling some mysterious higher power.

Caught a Ghost has just completed the second album “Smoke,” due out in early 2018. The songs feature a signature soulfulness, but with the grittier, more bass driven sound. The tracks sound more expansive and cinematic on Smoke, evolving away from vintage revivalism, showcasing Nolan’s LA beat scene influences. Nolan’s visual aesthetic seems to have matured as well showing a strong film noir influence. As the project evolves, one thing remains constant, Caught a Ghost seeks to shake you out of your boredom. Whether through recordings, videos, or live shows, the aim is to make music to “raise the spirits.”

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.

Karolina Terlecka is following