Fast-rising Las Vegas band — MTV PUSH Artist of the Week — premiere first video on MTV. By James Montgomery Imagine Dragons in “It’s Time” music video Photo: Interscope Imagine Dragons have been waiting three years for today: On Tuesday (April 17), they premiered their video for “It’s Time,” the breakout (currently at #17 and climbing on rock radio) single from their Continued Silence EP. The clip represents the first fruits of their new deal with Interscope Records, and, for a band that has taken its time to get to this point, well, they’re definitely enjoying the moment. “We had this idea in our heads for a long time, but, you know, we could never make it,” frontman Dan Reynolds told MTV News. “Until we found a director who could bring it to life. We went out to Barstow [California] — which is between Las Vegas and L.A., and we’ve made that drive many times, because we’re from Vegas — and we shot it on a dry lake bed. It was our first time doing a music video, so it was a really awesome experience.” And while the clip — basically an updated take on the old “Jack and the Beanstalk” tale, with the band starring the band as mystic travelers in a very dark world, carrying a very special parcel — certainly looks cool, it also works as a rather apt metaphor for Imagine Dragons’ rise. Since forming in Vegas in 2009, Imagine Dragon (the current MTV PUSH Artist of the Week ) have been on one long voyage; one that’s certainly had its share of ups and downs along the way. “I remember one gig [where] we were playing a casino, in Vegas, and it was a really small stage,” guitarist Wayne Sermon smiled. “We played a four-hour set — we’d do those two to three times a week — and we were exhausted, and Dan passes out in the middle of the last song, falls on the drum set, the drums go everywhere, and it was horrible, but we finished the song.” “And all these drunk guys were like, ‘Wooo!’ ” Reynolds laughed. “But it didn’t hurt; I was so tired, it was sort of nice to have a little break.” So with their first proper video out in the world, and plans to begin work on their full-length debut already in the works, Imagine Dragons continue to march on. And in that regard, things are still the same as they’ve ever been. “It’s crazy. We’ve been a band for three years, living on the road, eating bean burritos every day, and we’re still eating bean burritos every day, but it’s been incredible to see the support that we’ve gotten,” Reynolds said. “We really owe so much to our fans who, from the very beginning, have been sharing the music. And we live in a world where things can happen so quickly, and we’re glad we’ve had three years to really prepare. … We’ve been doing it for a little while, and it feels good … and right.” Related Artists Imagine Dragons
Kelly Clarkson, The Fray and LL Cool J also on tap for inaugural summer music festival at Pennsylvania’s Hershey Park. By Jocelyn Vena Pauly D Photo: Getty Images Hey, pop fans: Hankering to party at your own summer music festival? Well, the spankin’ new MixTape Fest has your back. The festival, set to take place August 17-18 at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, will bring together an interesting array of artists ranging from old-school acts like LL Cool J to newbies the Wanted. Over two days and two stages, nine artists are set to perform. This marks the first year of the festival. The Friday show will include performances from Kelly Clarkson, The Fray (both acts will also be on their own tour at the same time), New Kids on the Block, DJ Pauly D and Steel Panther. NKOTBSB, LL Cool J featuring Z Trip, the Wanted and the Dan Band all will take the stage for the Saturday show. According to a press release, this will be the only North American date for boy-band mega-group NKOTBSB after they wrap up a tour abroad. “It’s an honor for us to be a part of the inaugural year of MixTape,” New Kids on the Block said in a statement about the festivities. “To share the stage with such mega-artists as Kelly Clarkson, LL Cool J and the Fray is really exciting. “With the artist selection, and all of the amenities and accommodations offered, this festival is raising the bar to the next level. We couldn’t think of a better way to spend our weekend than with our amazing fans, and there couldn’t be a better setting than such a fun-filled festival with such an amazing bill of artists.” Tickets will go on sale April 27. More information about the festival can be found on the MixTape Fest 2012 official website . Related Artists The Wanted NKOTBSB
Title: Right Down the Line Artist: Bonnie Raitt From Letterman this past Friday, and featuring our own Mike Finnigan (formerly of Mike’s Blog Round Up) on Hammond organ. Bonnie (and Mike and the band) will be on Colbert Monday night and Good Morning America Tuesday. PS there’s more great music over at our sister site Newstalgia tonight: Human League in session, Spooky Tooth, and Echo and the Bunnymen…. Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Crooks and Liars Discovery Date : 14/04/2012 06:58 Number of articles : 2
Title: Right Down the Line Artist: Bonnie Raitt From Letterman this past Friday, and featuring our own Mike Finnigan (formerly of Mike’s Blog Round Up) on Hammond organ. Bonnie (and Mike and the band) will be on Colbert Monday night and Good Morning America Tuesday. PS there’s more great music over at our sister site Newstalgia tonight: Human League in session, Spooky Tooth, and Echo and the Bunnymen…. Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Crooks and Liars Discovery Date : 14/04/2012 06:58 Number of articles : 2
ActionFest , the annual all-action-movie film festival in Asheville, N.C., honored stunt coordinator Jack Gill this weekend with its Man of Action Award. Gill used the platform to discuss his ongoing campaign to add an Oscar category for stunt coordinators, explaining to a panel audience why it’s taken 21 years — and how he’s talking to the voting Academy members of a special committee, one by one — to convince them that stunt professionals are artists just like other film technicians honored on Hollywood’s biggest night. Speaking to Movieline after the panel, Gill (whose credits include The Dukes of Hazzard , Knight Rider , Con Air , Bad Boys II , Redbelt , and Fast Five ) cited several of the Academy’s concerns — including the impression that technology will eventually make stunt coordinators obsolete. “I think they’re such an old-school type company,” he said, “that they’ve gotten to where they’re now afraid if they put a stunt coordinator category and then five years down the line, digital effects take over everything, what do they now do with the stunt coordinator category?” But, Gill added, even digital milestones like Avatar rely heavily on stunt coordinators. “We’ve proven over the years that it’s really not going to go away.” During the panel, Gill also explained that he’s not asking for individual stunt men to get Oscars. The stunt coordinator is the artist who pulls off the dangerous fights, crashes and explosions and keeps everybody safe. And pretty much all the Best Picture nominees have a stunt coordinator, whether they’re action or drama films. As such, Gill has proposed one nominee per movie to an Academy leadership that votes on new categories every year in a closed meeting. The only way to change voters’ minds, he said, is to convince every single member that stunt coordinators deserve an award. And while you may be thinking, “Who needs a longer Oscars?”, Gill even offered to keep the stunt Oscars out of the main show and give them out during the red carpet pre-show. The Academy didn’t go for that. I suggested to Gill that stunts be included in the scientific and technical awards, which are pre-recorded and shown in a montage on Oscar night. “We tried that too,” Gill replied. “We tried to go in the technical awards and they also dumped us on that. They said if they were going to try and get us in, the scientific awards would be an option, but it just doesn’t seem to be happening. It’s the vote that’s the problem.” Indeed, Gill said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson has been amenable to discussions, as was Bruce Davis before her. It’s a matter of educating individual voters — a cause that, after more than two decades of effort, may yet find its tipping point in social media and such events like Actionfest, which itself plans to start a campaign to get stunt fans involved in the Oscar movement. Visit www.actionfest.com for more information in the near future. Follow Fred Topel on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
It’s been called the greatest rock musical ever made, the movie that launched Prince into the mainstream consciousness: 1984’s Purple Rain . The semi-autobiographical story of a Minneapolis musician known as The Kid and his struggles with success, love, and an abusive father — told as much through Prince’s tortured swagger as through iconic chart-topping songs like “When Doves Cry” and the titular “Purple Rain” — struck a chord with audiences and earned Prince an Oscar for Best Score to boot. But, as recounted in an exclusive excerpt from John Kenneth Muir’s book Purple Rain: Music on Film , the film was headed for the rocks until neophyte director Albert Magnoli dared to tell Prince the truth about the film’s initial script: “Well, I think it sucked.” Muir chronicles the history and lasting impact of Purple Rain in his new tome, on shelves today, from Prince’s early quest to find the right film vehicle for himself to his collaboration with director Magnoli in making drastic changes to screenwriter William Blinn’s original script (then called Dreams ) — a script that, Magnoli and producer Robert Cavallo say had been passed over by countless directors. Also included: What happened when Prince subsequently put himself in the director’s chair for Under the Cherry Moon (1986) and Graffiti Bridge (1990), Tipper Gore’s infamous shock over the lyrics to “Darling Nikki,” and considered analysis of the themes and symbolism that make Purple Rain resonate. In Movieline’s exclusive excerpt, Magnoli recounts his first, insightful encounter with Prince and how he pitched the shy artist on the story that would become Purple Rain . The film’s lore has long held that Purple Rain ‘s story originated from Prince himself — but according to Magnoli, it was destined to be a much different film before he stepped in. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Limelight Editions, an imprint of Hal Leonard . ======= Meeting His Majesty, Prince The next task at hand was to introduce Magnoli to Prince , and simultaneously, for Magnoli to further familiarize himself with the artist, his background, and his works. Magnoli knew and had liked the 1982 Prince hit singles “1999” and “Little Red Corvette.” He held a powerful image of the artist as “a loner” and “iconoclastic,” but more research was still necessary to get an authentic feel for the man and the performer. So, while he finished an editing job on a Wednesday and Thursday and prepared for a flight to Minneapolis on Friday to meet his movie’s star, Magnoli wanted to learn everything he could about the musician. “I didn’t know his early career,” Magnoli acknowledged. “‘Send to the editing room every video and any foot¬age you have on Prince, so I can see the visuals,’” Magnoli remembers saying to Cavallo on the phone. “So he sent me all of this video of Prince in concert in Minneapolis, and it was during his bikini-wearing, high-heel wearing, long coat days. This was prior to the 1999 album, where I think he had his self-titled album Prince . . . I think that’s what it was called. He was wearing a jacket on the cover [of the album] with a bikini bottom, with his chest sticking out, looking very androgynous. “So now I’m watching all this video that supports this androgyny, and I’m thinking, Wow . . . okay. . . . I realized trying to bring Prince to the public—and I always knew I wanted to cross over from an urban base to a wider one—was going to be difficult,” Magnoli explains. “So I’m watching all this imagery, but I do see the vulnerability under all that crap, and I think, Okay, I need to focus on that,” he notes. “That’s where this is coming from anyway.” An encounter on the way to the airport didn’t exactly quell Magnoli’s concern that the visuals surrounding Prince might have difficulty playing in Peoria. He asked his African American cab driver on the way to LAX if he knew of the performer/songwriter Prince. The man did know of him, so Magnoli next pressed the gentleman on what he thought about him. The man replied that Prince was gay, and furthermore, couldn’t imagine that Prince was not gay. “Don’t forget,” admonishes Magnoli, “we’re back in 1983 now. Nowadays it’s not even an issue. We’ve come a long way, baby. But now I’m thinking, All right . . . more . . . stuff. But when I later met him, I realized, no, this is not even an issue. This is just the noise. This is just the chatter. I never factored it in, ever — ever — from that point on. The frills didn’t bother me. The purple coats didn’t bother me. This was all the stuff, all the chatter, that anybody who didn’t know the soul would just latch on to. And they were going to do that anyway. As long as I could stay focused on the heart and soul, I knew I would be fine.” Albert Magnoli, from the archive of John K. Muir When Magnoli arrived in Minneapolis late in the evening, he met Steve Fargnoli, who promptly informed him that his new story was off and the Blinn story was back on. Fargnoli — whom Magnoli sometimes jokingly referred to as “the second part of a three-part series,” approached him with grave seriousness. “The first words out of his mouth are: ‘Understand this: I don’t give a damn about the story you told Bob [Cavallo]. We’re doing the story that’s already written.’ And I said, ‘Uh huh.’” Then Magnoli was taken to actually meet with Prince. In a hotel lobby, Magnoli first met Chick, Prince’s legendary, Nordic bodyguard, whom Magnoli described as a very “tall, Viking-looking person,” and then went off to a corner to observe the dynamics of the situation. “To my right were the elevator doors,” Magnoli explains. “To my left, across the lobby, was the front door of the building, where Steve [Fargnoli] and Chick were positioned. Then the doors opened at the crack of midnight sharp and out walks Prince by himself. “Because he didn’t know who I was, he didn’t see me. He saw Chick and Steve at the end of the hall and walked to them, which allowed me to do a right-to-left pan with Prince, unencumbered by him knowing I was looking at him. As a result, I ended up filling [in] the whole story based on him walking across the lobby. Because what I saw was extreme vulnerability, in spite of all the bluster and the costume and the music. This was a vulnerable young man. I saw all the heart and soul. I saw all the emotional stuff. I saw the tragedy of his upbringing. I just saw stuff and felt stuff that filled in the three-act story.” Together, Prince, Magnoli, Cavallo, Fargnoli, and Chick went to a working dinner. “I was looking at Prince and I could tell he didn’t like being looked at,” Magnoli says. “He’s very shy. Everybody ordered food, and as soon as the waitress left, Prince looked at me and said, ‘Okay, how did you like my script?’ “I realized a few things there. One, he said, ‘my script,’ which meant that he had personally invested himself in whatever it was that William Blinn had written. And two, that he hadn’t been told anything that I felt about it.” “The words that came out of my mouth were the following: ‘Well, I think it sucked.’” Magnoli pauses for dramatic effect. “At that moment, Steve dropped his head, Chick leaned closer to me, and Prince looked startled. Then I could see him thinking and what he was thinking was: ‘I wasn’t told this before this meeting was to take place. Why wasn’t I told?’ Then he looked toward Steve, because obviously Steve had told him nothing. That look to Steve took about three seconds, but it was telling to me, because now I saw how the operation worked. He had been kept in the dark about this.” “So then Prince looked back to me and said, ‘Why does it suck?’ And I said, ‘You know what, it’s not important why, but here’s what we can do about it. Let me tell you the story.’ So now, with even more passion, because I have more information now that I’m looking at this kid, I told this story. “There was five seconds of silence. Then he looked at Steve and said, ‘Why don’t you take Chick and go home.’ Then he looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t you come with me?’ ‘I’m just going to take Al for a ride.’” Not knowing exactly what was going to happen, Magnoli remembers feeling a little uncertain. Had he offended Prince? Had he made him angry? “We got in his car; he got behind the wheel, I got into the passenger’s seat, and he took off fast,” Magnoli notes. “The next thing I knew, we were driving in pitch-black darkness, [with] not a light in sight. I had no idea where we were. It looked like we were driving in a black tube. A day later I realized we were in horizon-to-horizon farmland, but there were no lights. So I was thinking, He didn’t like the story . . . and now I’m dead. I can die right now. and no one will know. . . .” This nighttime ride was not the beginning of a murder plot, however, but the start of a very fruitful working relationship for Magnoli and Prince. Even though the story Magnoli had recounted involved the lead character (Prince himself, hereafter called “The Kid”) being at odds with his parents, his bandmates, and even his girlfriend, Prince never once flinched from a warts-and-all, three-dimensional presentation. “The thing about Prince is that he wasn’t concerned about his image,” Magnoli reveals. “He was concerned about whether the film would communicate. Would the music communicate? “I said to him, ‘If you’re willing to let me have your father in the movie give you a kick in the face on a certain page and get thrown across the room — if you’re willing to take that hit — we can make a great movie.’ “And he said, ‘I’m willing to take that hit.’ So that was it, metaphorically, realistically, and literally. Because he does get smacked by his old man in the movie. “And then I jokingly said to him, ‘There isn’t a person on the planet who wouldn’t want to hit a rock star in the face,’” Magnoli continues. “And he laughed and said he understood that. We both understood that the image of these people as entitled and selfish was a target. We understood that. “We never discussed warts and all. It just became part of the script and it was totally embraced,” Magnoli explains. When interviewed some time later, Prince reflected on the seemingly biographical aspects of the Magnoli script. “We used parts of my past and present to make the story pop more, but it was a story,” he emphasized. Purple Rain: Music on Film is available in stores today. Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Rapper aims to change music-distribution system by releasing Sex, Drugs and Videogames for online donations. By Rob Markman David Banner Photo: MTV News David Banner has seen his share of ups and downs in the music biz. After running through deals with indie rap label Penalty and then Universal, the Mississippi rapper/producer has been inspired to do things a little differently for his next album. “What I am trying to do is make the two most important parts of the musical equation … important again: That’s the artist and that’s the fans,” Banner told MTV News of what he dubs the 2M1 Movement. On May 22, Banner will release Sex, Drugs and Video Games as a free download on LiveMixtapes.com and bypass traditional record-distribution methods by giving music directly to his fans. DB hopes to fund the LP — anchored by the singles “Believe” and “Let Me In” (featuring Tank) — with fan donations to his own website. “Corporate entities have made the artists and the fans feel like they’re not important, where, without them, it all would fall,” he explained. Banner’s goal is to get 2 million fans to support financially; judging from the album’s high-profile guest list, it seems like it’s worth the money. “You got 16 songs from everybody from Chris Brown to Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, A$AP Rocky, Big K.R.I.T., 2 Chainz, all of my people that’s featured on it, and we got 16 videos,” he said. “And I’m asking for is a minimum donation of $1 at DavidBanner.com .” In the end, Banner aims to build a reliable base of fans he can speak to directly, whether he is selling an album or rallying support for social issues. “People think it’s about the money, but it’s not. What it’s about is creating a power structure of 2 million people that we keep activating,” he explained. What do you think of David Banner’s 2M1 Movement? Tell us in the comments! Related Artists David Banner
‘It’s still a little top-secret,’ Jepsen tells MTV News about the track. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Sway Calloway Carly Rae Jepsen at 2012 Spring Break Photo: MTV News Carly Rae Jepsen is poised to break out of the shadow out of label boss Justin Bieber , thanks to her catchy ode to flirting, “Call Me Maybe.” But that doesn’t mean she and the superstar are going their separate ways. Recently, the Canadian singer revealed that she and Bieber worked on a track together , and when MTV News caught up with her in Las Vegas at mtvU Spring Break , she teased a bit of what their team-up sounds like. “We collaborated on one song together, but in general, I was blown away by Justin,” Jepsen said. “He’s so down-to-earth and very charming and very talented. It’s still a little top-secret, but it’s going to be coming out soon, I hope. “Mum’s the word!” she added. “It’s a really lovely song. The way he presented it was pretty cool. It was my first time meeting him. I was at the studio, and he basically just said, ‘What do you think of this song?’ and I was like, ‘Wow, I love it.’ ” From there, the “Boyfriend” singer asked her to collaborate on it, and she happily accepted the offer. “It’s pretty stripped-down,” she said. “It’s pretty casual. It’s not too dance-y; it’s more intimate. It’s a duet.” While Jepsen is riding high off the success of “Call Me Maybe,” she is hard at work on her album, and she hopes to one day be able to help out another artist like Bieber did for her. “It’s hard to believe at the moment. It’s definitely a surreal life that I’m in right now, but I’m enjoying every second of it,” she said. “It’s pretty crazy. They say it’s called paying it forward [since Usher signed Bieber and then he signed me], so I’m gonna hope that I have the opportunity. That’d be pretty rad. “He’s such an inspiration,” she added. “No matter what his age, I think his career is really impressive. It’s pretty amazing that he’s remained so humble and cool.” What are you expecting from Carly and Justin’s duet? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Carly Rae Jepsen Justin Bieber
‘Free,’ which the singer describes as a ‘playful, fresh’ break-up track, is the first single off her debut album, Listen Up! By Christina Garibaldi Haley Reinhart Photo: MTV News She may not have been crowned the winner of last season’s “American Idol,” but that hasn’t seemed to have any effect on the career of third-place finisher Haley Reinhart . The singer captivated viewers week after week on “Idol” by bringing her own soulful flare to songs like Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” and Lady Gaga’s “You and I.” And now, nearly a year later, the jazzy singer is finally ready to show fans who she really is with “Free,” the first single off her debut album, Listen Up! “It’s amazing,” Reinhart told MTV News Wednesday (March 28) of the release of her single. “I know I took some time after the tour just to make things work and really worth it for me and the fans. It feels amazing to actually put it out there, my own material. I just wanted to make sure it had substance to it, and really could define me and show the artistry.” Reinhart, who returned to the “Idol” stage last week to perform “Free,” says it’s the perfect song to define the artist she’s striving to be. “I picked it out while I was touring with the ‘Idols’ and I was getting all these songs shipped into me,” she said of “Free.” “This one I just had to stop and say ‘Hey this has my name written on it.’ It’s something that I can look in the future and see it being able to define me. It’s got elements of the sultry, even hints of jazz in there.” On Tuesday, Reinhart made her acting debut when she played herself on “90210,” and we will see her stretch her acting ability even more when she debuts the video for “Free” on Thursday. She said the filming the video was “a dream come true.” “I had this vision and the director, Christopher Sims, really brought it to life for me,” she said. “There’s a guy involved, it is kind of a motivational break-up song, so I wanted to keep it mature, yet have the playful scenery behind us. We put it out in a ’50s-style diner and just kept it playful, fresh.” And she’s bringing that playful, fresh vibe to Listen Up! which features collaborations with rapper B.o.B and Reinhart’s own father (whom she performed with on “Idol” ). “You’re going to be surprised to hear a lot of different flavors, but at the same time it all meshes well together,” she said of the album, which hits stores May 22. “I show a lot of different sides. I have my roots I come from a lot of different genres, so you’ll hear definitely sultriness throughout the entire thing, very retro yet modern take, and there’s pop undertones in it with some funk jazz rock, it’s got a lot going on.” What do you think of Haley’s single “Free”? Let us know in the comments. Related Artists Haley Reinhart
