“What am I to build, if my hands are broken, if I’m not the chosen one?” sings Steven McKellar of Civil Twilight on “Story of An Immigrant”, over a lush, dynamic beat that evokes the sounds of his native South Africa while steeped in the band’s everevolving present. The foursome (Steven, his brother and guitarist Andrew, drummer Richard Wouters and Kevin Dailey on keys and guitar) are living proof of what happens when you stop worrying about being the chosen one and make music built on both the roots that grew you and the love that keeps you thriving every day. Civil Twilight’s songs embrace every corner of human emotion, balancing delicate, poetic lyrics with sweeping arrangements that touch all the senses: a phrase to make you think; a rolling drumbeat you can feel in your bones; a guitar vamp as illustrative as a picture; a shimmer of keys whose light can nearly be seen and heard. Produced by Ben H. Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Bombay Bicycle Club, Cut Copy), their third record on Wind-Up is built on this vibrancy, on the permanent dust of a Cape Town youth; on the connection that unites them all as brothers beyond blood and on their new home in America where they pull from the innate, thriving musicianship of Nashville, where they live. When you listen to Civil Twilight, from their self-titled debut, to 2012’s widely lauded Holy Weather to now, it’s easy to understand why the band has topped five million YouTube views and reached historic success with film and television syncs – because it’s music you can’t shake, that translates experience into moments and creates melodies that become imbedded deep under the skin. We’re all immigrants, in some way, and Civil Twilight’s singing our national anthem.

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.

Electronic music lovers know Dimitri and Mike Thivaios as the monolithic brotherly duo "Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike". The brothers are superstars in the electronic music scene that earned the adoration of crowds around the globe. From becoming the first-ever duo to win the World #1 DJ's crown at the prestigious DJ Mag Top 100 DJs Poll in 2015 and 2019, the twosome has continued to stand firm and stay in the top 5 positions in the Poll since 2014.

Collecting more Gold and Platinum records than they can count, Dimitri and Mike have won the hearts of icons across genres collaborating with heavyweight hitters like David Guetta, Daddy Yankee, Natti Natasha, Gucci Mane, Snoop Dogg, Martin Garrix, Diplo, Swedish House Mafia, Steve Aoki, Armin Van Buuren, Afrojack, Ne-Yo, Wiz Khalifa and many more. An invite from Disney Records led the brothers to work with Hans Zimmer on a big room flavour of the film's lead score 'He's a Pirate' for the fifth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise Dead Men Tell No Tales. They also created the theme for Mortal Kombat 11, the latest instalment of the iconic video game series.

After a stellar rise in the scene for many years, their monumental single 'The Hum' starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Charlie Sheen in the music video scaled new heights. Netting the #1 spot in their native Belgium, the single went platinum, with the music video receiving over 200 million views online. The brothers repeated their magic touch on the Ne-Yo collaboration 'Higher Place', which spent ten weeks atop the Belgian singles chart and secured the #1 Billboard Dance Chart spot. They claimed the #1 spot again with the release of their Diplo collaboration 'Hey Baby' and then again when 'Selfish' featuring Era Istrefi secured the #1 position on the Billboard Dance Chart. Their summer 2017 single 'Complicated', with David Guetta and Kiiara, became one of the year's biggest hits with over 165 million streams on Spotify and 88 million YouTube views. The duo joined forces with W&W on 'Crowd Control', the sonic representation of their iconic dance move. Their involvement on the All-Star collaboration 'Instagram', which included David Guetta, Afro Bros, Daddy Yankee and Natti Natasha, gifted the scene with one of the biggest songs of the summer in 2019 and which currently sits at more than 280 million streams on Spotify. In 2020 they released this monster hit Do It! together with Kimberly Loaiza and Azteck. The single has received more than 235 million TikTok views and over 80 million total streams.

The launch of their yearly homecoming arena concert in 2013 was another example of their enduring appeal. Nearly a decade later and after 25 sold-out concerts, welcoming more than 500,000 fans, Dimitri and Mike had firmly brought the madness of the biggest annual arena show to Antwerp's Sportpaleis. However, it's their position as the ambassadors of the worldwide phenomenon Tomorrowland which has seen them grow to an unprecedented level of stature, playing their part in the incredible rise of the world-famous Belgian festival.

Dimitri and Mike are locking up more than 30 million fans on social media, combined with billions of music streams and video views. In the meantime, they tour the world, selling out stadiums and arenas with immersive live performances. From iconic clubs like Amnesia, Green Valley, Ministry of Sound and Ushuaïa Ibiza, where the duo holds a summer residency in partnership with Tomorrowland, to festival mainstages such as Airbeat One, Balaton Sound, Creamfields, EDC Las Vegas, Lollapalooza, Parookaville, Soundstorm, World Club Dome, Tomorrowland, Untold and many more.

With a globe-trotting tour schedule while running one of the most iconic record labels in the scene and producing some of the biggest electronic records of the past decade, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike have proved that together, they have what it takes to dominate the scene as they persistently strive to give their global fan base the best experience and memories feasible.

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