We The Kings

For pop-rock quartet We The Kings, it’s all about staying connected – with each other, with their hometown roots, and especially with their fans.  Named for hometown Bradenton, Florida’s King Middle School where they first made music together, the band – Travis Clark (lead vocals, guitar), Hunter Thomsen (guitar, backing vocals), Drew Thomsen (bass) and Danny Duncan (drums) – has grown into one of the most engaging and exciting acts on the pop-rock circuit.  Talent, ambition, and hard work have all played a part, but for We The Kings, nurturing the bonds between the band and their fans is what makes it all happen.

In the age of Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube, interactivity and engagement are key to success, and the band has worked hard over the past two and a half years to stay as close to their fans as possible.  The results are obvious in what they’ve accomplished.  Their self-titled debut album hit #1 on Billboard’s New Alternative Album sales chart and spawned the Billboard-charting tracks “Secret Valentine” and “Check Yes Juliet,” which is nearing Platinum status.  They’ve sold over 2 million tracks and had over 56 million plays on MySpace, 15 million YouTube video plays (including the #1 most played music video), and three of MTV.com’s most requested videos.

The infectious first single from second album “Smile Kid”, titled “Heaven Can Wait,” is gaining nationwide airplay in the US, climbing the Billboard Singles chart, and has already reached the Top 10 on the Alternative Singles chart.  It’s the band’s third Top 40 charting single in their home country.  On the road and in the studio the band has had the opportunity to collaborate with artists like teen sensation Demi Lovato who appears on the new album on the pop ballad “We’ll Be A Dream.”

With all their travels and recent success, the band remains bonded by their network of fans, friendship, and hometown pride, always coming back to their home. In fact, We The Kings were awarded the key to the city of Bradenton last year and Travis wears the key around his neck, so wherever the band may travel, they’re never far from home.

Funeral For A Friend

Funeral for a Friend‘s energized blend of emotional rock, metal, and post-hardcore was first created by the Welsh quintet in 2002 with a series of EPs and singles, including ‘Between Order and Mode’, ‘Four Ways to Scream Your Name’, and ‘Juneau’. Such releases helped land the group on the cover of Kerrang! magazine, a recognition of the band’s growing hype and widespread appeal. Funeral for a Friend’s debut full-length, ‘Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation’, was then issued in October 2003. Meanwhile, Funeral for a Friend embarked on a series of high-profile touring engagements, including a series of European dates opening for Iron Maiden.

Touring continued through summer 2004, and Funeral for a Friend returned with new material in June 2005 in the form of ‘Hours’, their second full-length. The guys picked up that year’s Kerrang! award for Best British Band. Two years later in 2007, Funeral for a Friend issued their next album, ‘Tales Don’t Tell Themselves’, subsequently jumping on the road for headlining dates in the U.K. and U.S. before spending summer on the Warped Tour. ‘Memory and Humanity’ followed shortly thereafter, arriving during the final quarter of 2008 and featuring the band’s familiar mix of emotional songcrafting with an anthemic rock uplift.

NASS Festival 2008

When Sports Vision decided to get us involved with the NASS Festival this year, we took the opportunity to promote the eclectic music bill of the event to as wide a range of sites as possible. News for the event has appeared across the board on sites such as Kerrang!, NME.com and a plethora of online zines including Rocklouder and Clickmusic. Dance sites such as Harder Faster have also been getting the word out. Competitions will also run on a variety of larger sites including Aloud, NME and Rock Sound.

The festival is in its tenth consecutive year and on June 13th-15th 2008 action sports and live music will rule at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Somerset. The highly charged festival has seen crowds in excess of 15,000 attending to experience a premier music and sports line-up, an extensive trade and adrenaline village, paintball arena and climbing area. The music bill consists of 35 internationally renowned acts across two live stages and the Relentless Bar. The Rock Sound magazine sponsored main stage will play host to a live set from Pendulum with support from newcomers Late of the Pier, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Metronomy, Ghost Frequency, Devils Gun and We Smoke Fags. Saturday night will welcome some of the best names in rock and punk with headliners Less Than Jake and The Subways with support from Elliot Minor, Beat Union, In Case of Fire, Skirtbox, *Shels and Lioness.

Relentless NASS’s music bill also includes two days of renowned drum and bass and electro in the Indoor Arena. A 3am late license has paved the way for some big name DJ’s including Eddy Temple Morris, Micky Slim, Adam F and Subfocus. The final facet of the music-based entertainment comes in the form of the Relentless Bar – hosted by Streetwise Music. With DJs all day and a few acoustic sets from bands, this bar will be rounding off musical proceedings perfectly.

Longwave

These epic indie rock aficionados have toured with the likes of The Strokes and The Vines and after a string of major label releases, have broken free from that world and are forging their own way independently. Since 1999, Longwave has been one of New York City’s leading exports. After the success of their 2000 independent release ‘Endsongs’, the band signed with RCA Records and recorded album, ‘The Strangest Things’ which subaequently led to critical raves and tours across all parts of the world. When they entered the studio in 2004 with famed producer John Leckie, whose work with Radiohead and Pink Floyd endeared him to the critical taste of the band, they came up with full-length ‘There’s a Fire’ which was released in 2005. Longwave’s latest album, ‘Secrets are Sinister’, was released in 2008 on Original Signal Recordings.