I am a professional drummer, percussionist, songwriter, guitarist and instructor. These are clips from various projects I've worked with.

Pre-save "Rebel Diamonds", coming December 8th, here: https://TheKillers.lnk.to/RebelDiamondsPS

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.

We are a Las Vegas-based AltRockPop group. We are currently working on our next EP to be released in summer 2018. The current lineup is made up of Chris Rawlins on Bass/Vocals, Mat Smith on Guitar/Vocals, Karl Exo on Guitar, and Sean Flam on Drums/Vocals.

Chris on Bass/Vocals
Ernesto on guitar
Cesar on guitar
Sean on drums

Capital North is a hard rock dynamic duo from Pasadena, CA, consisting of Jonathan Farrar (Guitar/Vocals) and Anthony Zichella (Vocals). Formed in the summer of 2016 after the disbanding of their former pop-punk/post-hardcore band, Lights In The Sky, the two came together to form a band that would best showcase who they are as musicians and thus, Capital North was born. After the split of LITS, Farrar packed his bag and traveled the world for a year on a mission of soul searching while Zichella graduated from culinary school and moved to Portland to pursue his passion as a chef, but both found their way back to one thing; music. Before long, the two began planning the direction of what would be Capital North from separate continents. While traveling in Iceland, Farrar visited a unique and beautiful town called Akureyri, better known as the ‘Capital of the North.’ Leaving a lasting impression on him, he realized it accurately described the duo’s current state of emotions as they strive to get back to what is important with “capital” being an integral place or feeling while “north” describes the direction in which to get there. Farrar shares, “Essentially, this name means getting back to what is important. That is what we have experienced time and time again – always straying, but always returning to music because it is such a vital aspect of our existence and being.”
As a band, Capital North has created a sound that is a drastic change from their former project and focuses on connecting with listeners through relatable lyrical themes and honest melodies. Recorded at The Pie Studios in Pasadena, the band’s debut EP, Sea To Sky, was engineered by Nels Jensen (Sigur Rós, Jamie Foxx) with tracking by Devyn June, and mixed/mastered by Bertrand and Eric Poncet (of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!) at Alias Studio. The six-track EP is set to be released on March 2nd, 2018 and discusses real life experiences including struggles with health, relationships, life, and death. With the release of Sea To Sky, Capital North looks excitedly toward the future and the potential of making a monumental impact in the music scene and beyond.

New 5 track EP Microwave Communion is out now!

Careless Sons are a guitar band based in London, via Cambridge. Forming in early 2013, the boys write about love, loss, regret and redemption, with tunes that are at once ear-grapplingly melodic, aggressively forthright and yet hopelessly sentimental.

To find out more about Careless Sons, or contact the band directly, go to:

http://www.CarelessSons.com
http://www.facebook.com/Careless.Sons
http://twitter.com/Careless.Sons
http://www.soundcloud.com/CarelessSons
http://CarelessSons.bandcamp.com

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