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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.

"It's old skool, it's new skool, it's no skool - it's Droideka"
 - Zane Lowe BBC R1

"Droideka, aka Ellis Carter, swapped Portugal for Cambridge two years ago. Exposed to d’n’b via local nights, the Portugese Padawan started uploading tracks onto YouTube, with ‘Get Hyper’ receiving four million views before reaching 13 on the iTunes chart and getting airtime support from Radio 1’s Zane Lowe and Scott Mills. Now, with an official music video, a string of viral spin-offs and major label talks underway, the force appears strong in young Carter.
The ‘Get Hyper’ EP, on AEI Music, is available on ITunes now"
 - Mixmag

Stanleys are a 4-piece guitar band from Wigan - Greater Manchester consisting of vocalist Tom Concannon, guitarist and songwriter Jake Dorsman, bassist Harry Ivory and vocalist and drummer Rob Hilton.

Our new album ‘Satellites’ - out now 📡
‘At Your Feet’ - single out now!

The Script’s gift for writing songs rich with heady emotions and ever bigger melodies has enamoured fans all over the world, leading to a catalogue of global hits such as ‘Hall of Fame’, ‘The Man Who Can’t Be Moved’, ‘Superheroes’ and ‘Breakeven’. But following the tragic loss of founder member Mark Sheehan in 2023, his bandmates Danny O’Donoghue and Glen Power vowed that the best way to pay tribute to him would be to continue the band they had built together and reconnect with The Script’s worldwide family.

Returning with their upcoming album ‘Satellites’, The Script have made a life-affirming record, bringing a fiery new energy to their anthemic, arena-filling sound. The Script prove that there can be new horizons and light after the darkness.

2024 will see The Script tour internationally as special guests to P!NK before they add to a career total of 4 million ticket sales by embarking upon a huge UK and European headline arena tour in November. Having already achieved so much - 10 billion streams, 12 million album sales, 6 UK #1 albums - an exciting new chapter in The Script’s journey is underway, and the possibilities are endless.

Send us your demos for Friends & Family Records! fandfdemos@gmail.com

Mark Frith burst onto the national UK music scene as the driving force and singer/songwriter of Wigan/Liverpool band 'The Troubadours' 
 
Signed to loog (polydor) UK and BMG worldwide, indie hits in England followed with the band topping the BBC indie charts with two singles ahead of the planned album release. The UK release of the Album never happened but did get released in Japan on major label BMG giving the band a huge top ten Album and a number one in the Japan charts 
 
After a few years of heavy touring; including playing V Festival and Tokyo's Summer Sonic Festival, as well as providing support for notable artists such as Paul Weller, Fratellis and The Enemy; Q magazine included them in the ten best new bands of the year with Vampire Weekend and Duffy.
 
Mark has picked up great plaudits for his Songwriting. Paul Weller called him a 'Classic British Songwriter' and famous record Producer John Leckie (Stone Roses, Radiohead) declared him 'the best Songwriter I've worked with in 10 years'
 
Mark announced he would be starting a solo career and has already done a sell out tour of Japan and sold out numerous UK venues

Robert Hilton is following