For the past decade, Mad Decent has been invading your ears with fresh sounds. With humble beginnings in Diplo’s Philadelphia studio, Mad Decent’s unwavering mission is to highlight underground, genre-blurring sounds. Mad Decent tops iTunes, Beatport and Shazam charts worldwide with #1 Dance tracks and albums with releases from artists like Major Lazer, Dillon Francis, Grandtheft, Party Favor, NGHTMRE and Yellow Claw. Mad Decent is also home to Good Enuff, a launchpad for artists breaking the norm; notable releases include Bauuer’s “Harlem Shake” and DJ Snake’s “Bird Machine.” As an extension of the Mad Decent sound, Mad Decent Block Party was established in 2006 and now spans across North America and India.

Kisean Anderson, best known by the stage name Sean Kingston, is a Jamaican-American reggae fusion rapper and songwriter. Known for his dark lyrics, Kingston won the 2007 MOBO award for Best Reggae Act and a Teen Choice award for Best R&B track. Born in Florida, Kingston grew up in Jamaica with his grandfather, reggae producer Lawrence “Jack Ruby” Lindo. In 2007 at the age of 17, Kingston was discovered on Myspace by Tommy Rotem, of Britney Spears and 50 Cent fame, who signed Kingston with Beluga Heights Records. In a joint venture between Sony, Epic Records and Koch Records, Kingston released his first single, “Beautiful Girl”. It was an instant success, reaching number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 and topping international charts. His next single, “Me Love”, released at number one in Australia. Later that same year, Kingston toured with Gwen Stefani and Beyoncé as an opening act. The collection of singles was released as his self-titled first album later that year. In 2009, Kingston released his second album, “Tomorrow” with Lady Gaga, produced by RedOne. The single “Fire Burning” debuted at #5 on Billboard while “Face Drop” climbed to #61. In 2010, he joined the UK group Sugarbabies to record “Miss Everything” and was featured on Bow Wow’s single “For My Hood”. Over the next two years, Kingston released multiple singles featuring guest appearances from T-Pain, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Akon and Dr. Dre. He appeared on Justin Bieber’s single “Eenie Meenie” and his cover of “Pretty Boy Swag” and “Billionaire”. In 2011, Kingston released his free online mixtape “Kings of Kong” which featured Akon, Soulja Boy and Justin Bieber. His most recent album, 2012’s “Back 2 Life”, peaked at number 33 on the R&B Album charts and #52 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The single “Beat It” with Chris Brown and Wiz Khalifa reach number 17 on Hot R&B charts.

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.

The Civil Wars are Joy Williams and John Paul White. The self-titled follow up to their debut album Barton Hollow will be released on August 6, 2013. Pre-order now at http://smarturl.it/thecivilwars

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