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.

Alireza Ghorbani was born in January 31st, 1972 in Tehran. He started his vocal lessons when he was 12, and he was a solo vocalist of National Orchestra when he was 27. Alireza Ghorbani also became at thirty years a foreground singer of the Persian song. His very ramified repertory constitutes the radif and the tasnif, whose vocal rarest techniques are very well controlled from him. He occurs in small formation, with four musicians, as with the national Orchestra of Iran.

Alireza Ghorbani is a great artist deeply rooted in the tradition but also of an insatiable curiosity and a large open-mindedness with respect to the other cultures.

The handsomely chiseled features of Ali Reza Ghorbani have become part of the new generation of Iranian singers of classical Persian music. Born in the midst of the turbulence of 1970s and 80s Iran, Ghorbani has laid claims to being a worthy successor of the man regarded as the undisputed master of Persian classical song, Mohammed Reza Shajarian.

He has released 19 albums in Iran and Europe until now. Also he participated in several international projects, some multi-cultural (Iran, France, India, Mali) projects in Europe like: Le Rhythm De La Parole, SOUFFLES DU MONDE (released in Europe) and some other projects such as cooperation with Dorsaf Hamdani Tunisian singer, concert with the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra, Concert with Kamel Orchestra Vienna, performance at the Cologne Philharmonic, and concert with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra.

Ghorbani has had a great deal of cooperation with cinema and television artists, and has sang some of the famous pieces in Iran’s serials. The most important of these are the “Sheb-e Dahom”,” “Madar-e Sefr Darajeh”, “Kimia” and “Aghigh”and very famous cinema series “Hamgonah”.

He is invited to several numbers of international music festivals every year and is recognized as the most active traditional singer outside of Iran. He has performed at major venues such as Cadogan Hall and Barbican in London, the Philharmonic Hall of Cologne, the Vienna Concert house, the Theater du Louvles and the Alhambra in Paris, the Tonhalle in Duesseldorf and the Opera House in Vancouver. Theatre De La Ville in Paris, Rose Hall in Los Angeles, Gulbenkian Hall in Lisbon, Odeon Concert Hall in Vienna, Bozar concert Hall in Brussel, Womex 2017 in Poland, Uppsala Concert Hall in Sweden and etc.

Professional dj and producer from Toronto/Instagram: dj.vafa

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