“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.

V pleased to announce BACK IN LOVE CITY, our fifth child is OUT NOW 💊💊 https://thevaccines.ffm.to/bilc-album

Miles Ahead | NYC • MIA • KIN • LDN • TYO • JHB • RJ

Blending musical versatility, instrumental prowess, beautiful vocal harmonies and a premier rhythm section, the Easy Star All-Stars have established themselves as one of the top international reggae acts on the scene today. Thanks to their best-selling tribute album releases, Dub Side of the Moon (2003), Radiodread (2006), Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band (2009), Easy Star’s Thrillah (2012), the remix album Dubber Side of the Moon (2010), as well as original releases Until That Day EP (2008) and First Light (2011), the Easy Star All-Stars have built a growing, dedicated fan base throughout the world, bringing together fans of reggae, classic rock, dub and indie rock into one big family. The band has toured in over 30 countries on 6 continents. They’ve played many major festivals around the world, including an unprecedented three-day, three-stage stand at Glastonbury in 2009, which earned them a UK Festy Award Nomination that year.

Snoop Lion's Official SoundCloud
Order the Reincarnated film & album here:
US: itunes.com/reincarnated
International (album): smarturl.it/ReincarnatedDX
International (film): smarturl.it/ReincarnatedFilm

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.

New York City's Easy Star Records has produced three of the best-selling and trendsetting reggae albums around - the Easy Star All-Stars' Dub Side of the Moon, Radiodread and Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band - while building an international brand and roster that has come to signify quality and class.

The independent label has created an impressive body of work that includes those above-mentioned in-house productions, along with progressive recordings from envelope-pushing acts like Protoje, Jesse Royal, John Brown's Body, The Skints, The Black Seeds, Rebelution, Passafire, Backbeat Soundsystem, Gentleman's Dub Club, Cas Haley, New Kingston, The Expanders, Lila Ike, The Late Ones, Marcus Gad, Tommy T, JonQuan and Ticklah; reissues of classic reggae from the vaults of Sugar Minott and Linval Thompson; new music from reggae legends The Meditations and Sister Carol; and collaborations with international reggae stars like Matisyahu,  Michael Rose, U Roy, Luciano, Anthony B, Christofer Martin and Morgan Heritage.

Easy Star has steadily built a scene that extends in many directions, following any path where reggae leads, bringing together young producers and musicians, reggae stars, and even artists outside the genre who have been influenced by Jamaican music, like Citizen Cope, blues musician/musicologist Corey Harris, Janelle Monáe, Jason Mraz and Kelly Clarkson.

The label manages its in-house musical collective/touring band The Easy Star All-Stars, who have played in over 30 countries on 6 continents. Dub Side of the Moon, Radiodread, Lonely Hearts and Thrillah have formed the backbone of a growing franchise of reggae re-inventions of classic albums; the band is at work on the next installment, targeted for 2022.

Easy Star has also developed a strong sense of how to market reggae to both core genre fans and a mass audience, leading to work consulting on marketing for albums such as Gov't Mule's Mighty High. Easy Star's musical director Michael Goldwasser produced albums for Corey Harris and Israeli band Hatikva 6, as well as remixes by Umphrey's McGee, Rebelution, Jason Mraz, Yoko Ono and more, bringing the Easy Star sound further outside the family. And Easy Star has raised its profile as a lifestyle brand with events such as Easy Star Reggae Tuesdays, which was one of the longest-running weekly reggae parties in New York.

Grammy-nominated reggae/hip-hop/alternative artist. The new self-titled album, Matisyahu, is out now on vinyl, digital and CD.

FIREFLIES - New Album Available Now on Easy Star Records:

➲ JBB store (CD / vinyl / merch): http://geni.us/FirefliesJBBStore
➲ iTunes: http://geni.us/FirefliesiTunes
➲ Amazon: http://geni.us/FirefliesAmazon
➲ Google Play: http://geni.us/FirefliesGP

Tour Dates: http://johnbrownsbody.com

Epitaph Records is an independent music label founded in Los Angeles by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Early releases from a variety of punk heavyweights spawned what became known as the 90s punk explosion. 

Along the way Epitaph proudly launched its sister label ANTI-, representing unique and distinguished acts. From the beginning Epitaph’s mission has been to serve the musicians on its diverse and creative roster - an artist-first model, radical twenty years ago, and much imitated today. 

Ownness is following