Disco Donnie Presents, NightCulture, and Something Wicked Music Festival Donate $10,000 in Support of Houston's The 100 Club

This past October, Something Wicked Music Festival drew over 20,000 fans, but the Halloween event continues to benefit the community in new ways for 2014. On Wednesday, Something Wicked donated $10,000 to Houston’s The 100 Club, a local organization dedicated to aiding the dependents of firefighters and law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.

With 20 years as one of the leaders in Event Production and Promotion, Disco Donnie Presents recognizes that safety at events is at the top of their priority list.

“Our number one priority is our fan’s safety, and we’re proud to give back and support those who put their lives at risk to protect our community and country,” said Donnie Estopinal, CEO of Disco Donnie Presents.

The donation is the festival’s second in the past three months and follows up on a Bob Moog Foundation music workshop at Houston’s Cornelius Elementary School this past fall. The 100 Club donation not only helps the families of those fallen, but it also helps to provide life-protecting equipment and education for Houston’s firefighters and police.

“We are extremely honored and proud to be able to support our local Houston firefighters and police officers through this donation. Their tremendous sacrifice and dedication for our city is truly appreciated,” Michael Long, CEO of NightCulture Inc. said.

Something Wicked is a partnership between Disco Donnie Presents, NightCulture Inc, and Houston venue, StereoLive. For the 2nd annual fall event, the festival featured world-renowned artist Tiesto, dozen of other artists, as well as the addition of a third stage, making the event the largest to date.

DDP and its partners strive to develop partnerships which build long-term relationships that positively affect the communities they operate in. Now more than ever, the positive impact of DDP’s events can be felt in local communities in a variety of ways. During this past year, DDP has donated over $40,000 to four philanthropies including The RICH House of Tampa, The Bob Moog Foundation, Texas Red Cross and now the 100 Club in Houston.

Something Wicked thanks the fans who came and danced with us on October 26, 2013. Your attendance did more than create memories – it also helped to educate, protect and provide hope.

Press Contact: Evan Bailey
Communications Director, SFX – Disco Donnie Presents
evan@discodonniepresents.com

The 100 Club receives 10,000 donation from Something Wicked Festival.
Mike Long of Something Wicked Music Festival delivers a $10,000 donation to 100 Club Executive Director Richard A. Hartley. The donation was made possible from 2013 festival ticket sales.

Join Sun City Music Festival and the Bob Moog Foundation to Inspire the Next Generation

When you purchase a Sun City Music Festival ticket and donate $1 to the The Bob Moog Foundation, SCMF will match your donation to double the impact of your gift toward the Foundation’s mission of inspiring innovation in future generations.

The Foundation, which carries on the legacy of Dr. Bob Moog’s groundbreaking contribution to electronic music, also runs Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool, a program dedicated to igniting creativity in children through the intersection of music and science.

The work of Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool is especially timely, as music and arts programs across the country have experienced sizable cuts to their funding. Together, the Bob Moog Foundation and the SCMF community can make a positive – and lasting – impact.

“The electronic music community is a very giving group and supporting the Bob Moog Foundation is a great way for our community receive recognition for it. I’m pleased to match all donations made through the ticketing portal to double the impact of the Foundation’s important work.”
-Donnie Estopinal, CEO of Disco Donnie Presents.

Matching donations can also be made at:
http://bobmoogfoundation.eventbrite.com

To learn more about the Bob Moog Foundation’s projects, please visit: http://moogfoundation.org

For media inquiries, please contact:
Evan Bailey, Communications Director
SFX – Disco Productions
evan@discodonniepresents.com

Tampa's R.I.C.H. House Program receives $10,000 donation from Sunset Music Festival

Thanks to the support of the fans, Sunset Music Festival is proud to announce a $10,000 donation to the R.I.C.H Houses in Sulphur Springs and Robles Park, a local organization dedicated to positively changing the lives of children through education.

The R.I.C.H. Houses, which are run by the support of the Tampa Police Department, were developed to help build positive relationships between law enforcement and residents, while cultivating at-risk children into leaders in their community. As a result of the original R.I.C.H. House in Sulphur-Springs, more residents are working together to lower crime and improve the overall quality of life in their neighborhood.

“Sunset is a proud supporter of the R.I.C.H. House, because we’re grateful for the important service it provides the community and its children,” said John Santoro of Sunset Music Festival. “Giving is an important part of the Sunset culture and our goal is to keep the fans and the festival active within our community.”

The donation will be used to help support the R.I.C.H. House in Sulphur Springs, a new R.I.C.H. House in Robles Park and technology for a summer youth academy program.

Sunset Music Festival is proud to donate toward the R.I.C.H. Houses and their support of our community’s children and neighborhoods.

Press Contact: Evan Bailey
Communications Director, SFX – Disco Donnie Presents
evan@discodonniepresents.com

About Disco Donnie Presents

Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) is an award-winning and recognized leader in electronic dance music event production. Since the company’s inception in 1994, DDP has generated over 10,000 live events, arena shows and outdoor festivals in the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. DDP, both on its own and through partnership, develops innovative, creative and strategic business opportunities in live entertainment. For more information, please visit www.discodonniepresents.com

About Sunset Events

Sunset Events is a premier producer of live concerts, festivals and club shows in the Tampa Bay area. For more information, please visit: http://www.sunsettampa.com

Disco Donnie Presents and The Bob Moog Foundation announce strategic partnership

Dance music promoter donates $10,000 to Foundation, develops ticketing donation portal for its fans. http://bobmoogfoundation.eventbrite.com

American electronic music promoter Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) and the Bob Moog Foundation have announced a strategic partnership to further the Foundation’s mission to educate and inspire children through the intersection of music and science.

The Asheville-based Foundation, which carries on the legacy of electronic music icon Robert Moog, received a $10,000 donation to assist with its innovative science and music education outreach program, Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool (DBSS), as well as a donation portal on all Disco Donnie Presents tickets pages to help raise additional support. The $10,000 donation was provided from the proceeds of Houston based Halloween electronic music festival, Something Wicked, a partnership between Disco Donnie Presents and Houston promoter Nightculture Events. Additionally, Disco Donnie Presents will match fan donations received through the donation portal.

“We’re thrilled to have found a partner in The Bob Moog Foundation — a foundation that shares the same values in the importance of education and creativity in the areas of music, math, and science. The strategic partnership paves the way for online donations from our customers, but also the continued support of our company,” Disco Donnie Presents CEO Donnie Estopinal said.

The Foundation sees the partnership as a perfect fit for both organizations.

“Donnie’s prominence within the EDM community and his interests in the area of innovative education that integrates music and science make the partnership a natural fit. We look forward to cultivating our strategic partnership with DDP to work together to ignite creativity in children’s lives through Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool,” said Michelle Moog-Koussa, Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation. She continues, “We are especially grateful that DDP has agreed to match all donations made through the ticket donation portals. This extra show of support will provide added incentive for concert-goers to pay tribute to their musical roots while inspiring the future through supporting the Bob Moog Foundation”.

The Foundation is in at a pivotal juncture of growth with Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool. The acclaimed program is centered in western North Carolina, but the foundation hopes to grow it regionally and nationally in the next three to five years. The growth of the program costs $20 per student or $500 per classroom.

The idea for a strategic partnership first came about when a mutual friend introduced Moog-Koussa and Estopinal at the EDM Biz conference in Las Vegas earlier this year.

Estopinal’s Disco Donnie Presents, both on its own and through partnerships, produces over 1,000 live events, festivals and club shows around the US annually. Ticket buyers for every show will now have the ability to donate to the Foundation. The Foundation and DDP hope the national focus and number of events will help spread the word and raise financial support.

“One of the reasons I’m excited about the strategic partnership is that fan ticketing donations are a good way for the electronic music culture to start giving back, said Estopinal. Historically, electronic music fans haven’t really been known for philanthropy, and I’m hoping that’s a perception we can all change together. I’m pleased to offer to match all donations that are made through the ticketing portal to enhance everybody’s contributions to this important cause.”

With school music and arts program cuts all across the country and U.S. students lagging behind students in other countries in the areas of science and math, the Bob Moog Foundation seeks to make an immediate impact in the lives of children through Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool.

The Foundation operates with two main objectives, education and preservation. The goals come to life through Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool and Archive Preservation Initiative. Eventually, a Moogseum is also in the works.

Contact: Evan Bailey
Communications Director, Disco Donnie Presents
evan@discodonniepresents.com

Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool

Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool (DBSS) is a 10 week curriculum which engages 2nd grade children in the science of sound through the magic of music. The curriculum explores such basic physics of vibrations, waveforms, amplitude, and pitch. Both acoustic and electronic musical instruments are used to demonstrate concepts, as well as custom designed educational materials developed by our DBSS team of educators and technologists. The curriculum is currently in 32 schools in Western North Carolina. The Foundation’s goal is to grow the program regionally and nationally in the years ahead.

Archive Preservation Initiative

The Bob Moog Foundation Archive is a unique and vast collection of schematics, notes, breadboard prototypes, photos, articles, reel-to-reel tapes, instruments and more. The Foundation works to protect, interpret and exhibit these materials so that future generations can be inspired by Bob Moog’s legacy, and by the work of those with whom he collaborated. The manifestation of this preservation will be to share the archives through traveling exhibits and eventually through our own Moogseum.

Moogseum

The Moogseum is planned to be both a website and facility in Asheville where the outreach and preservations goals converge in a hands-on interactive environment.

For more information about the Bob Moog Foundation and ways you can help, please visit: www.moogfoundation.org. Donations of any size can also be mailed to: Bob Moog Foundation, P.O. Box 8136, Asheville, NC 28814.

About Disco Donnie Presents

Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) is an award-winning and recognized leader in electronic dance music event production, generating over 1,000 live events, arena shows and outdoor festivals annually. DDP, both on its own and through partnership, develops innovative, creative and strategic business opportunities in live entertainment. For more information, please visit www.discodonniepresents.com

About NightCulture, Inc.

NightCulture, Inc. (NGHT.OB), “Concerts that Change Your Life”, is a premier producer of live concerts and events in the following U.S. markets: Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Oklahoma City.

American Red Cross to receive $10,000 donation from Meltdown Music Festival

American Red Cross to receive $10,000 donation from Meltdown Music Festival to assist West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion victims.

Meltdown Music Festival leadership announced today that the festival will donate $10,000 to the American Red Cross for disaster relief in West, Texas, where a fertilizer plant explosion killed 14 and injured approximately 200. The funds will help support disaster relief and recovery in West Texas, as well as disaster preparedness in other communities in the Central Texas chapter.

Promoters Disco Donnie Presents and Full Access held Meltdown Music Festival, one of the country’s longest-running electronic music festivals, April 27 in at LaGrave Field in Fort Worth.

“Meltdown Music Festival is proud to support the Red Cross. We’re grateful to them for helping provide disaster relief to the West, Texas explosion victims and want to help ensure the organization is well supplied and prepared to assist,” said Disco Donnie Presents CEO Donnie Estopinal.

The Meltdown Music Festival donation will go toward relief items, meals, shelter, health needs and emotional support for victims in the West, TX, which is still designated by the Red Cross as a disaster area. The donation will also support supplies for readiness to help the organization respond to disasters in surrounding communities quickly and efficiently.

“Each year the Red Cross responds to tragedies like we have recently seen in West, Texas. We also give comfort and hope to individual families suffering from a single-family home fires. A gift to the disaster relief fund means the Red Cross will always be there to deliver vital help when disaster strikes. We are very grateful to Meltdown Music Festival for their generosity and support,” American Red Cross Regional CEO, Marty McKellips said.

“Bringing people together through music has been our vision from day one and I am extremely thankful that we can put those ideas into direct action via the Red Cross,” said Jeremy Word of Full Access.

The Meltdown Music Festival donation check will be presented on Friday, May 31 at 10:30 a.m. the Red Cross office in Austin, Texas. For more information about Meltdown Music Festival, please visit www.MeltdownDallas.com

Contact: Evan Bailey
Communications Director, Disco Donnie Presents
evan@discodonniepresents.com

american red cross to receive $10,000 donation from meltdown music festival

About American Red Cross of Central Texas

American Red Cross is a neutral, humanitarian organization that provides relief to victims of disasters, and prepares people to prevent and respond to emergencies. Like all Red Cross chapters, the local chapter is self-sustaining and is funded by local contributions. All assistance to disaster victims and to members of the armed forces provided by the Chapter is free and made possible by voluntary donations of time and money by the people of local communities. Donations can be made at www.arcsm.org, www.redcross.org, via mail to American Red Cross, 2218 Pershing Drive, Austin, TX 78723, or by phone at 512.928.4271 (American Red Cross of Central Texas).

About Disco Donnie Presents

Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) is an award-winning and recognized leader in electronic dance music event production. Since the company’s inception in 1994, DDP has generated over 10,000 live events, arena shows and outdoor festivals in the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. DDP, both on its own and through partnership, develops innovative, creative and strategic business opportunities in live entertainment. For more information, please visit www.discodonniepresents.com

About NightCulture Inc.

NightCulture Inc., “Concerts that Change Your Life”, is a premier producer of live concerts and events. NightCulture operates in the following markets: Houston, TX, Austin, TX, Dallas, TX, San Antonio, TX, and Oklahoma City, OK. NightCulture is the first Electronic Music Company to trade in the public markets. NightCulture Inc. produces two branded music festivals a year, Meltdown Music Festival in Dallas, TX http://www.meltdowndallas.com and Something Wicked Halloween Festival http://www.SomethingWickedFestival.com in Houston, TX.

Meltdown Music Festival pledges donations to benefit fertilizer plant explosion victims

Meltdown Music Festival’s mantra “We Are All Together” is taking on new meaning to festival organizers following the deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas last week. Organizers announced the festival will work alongside fans to offer assistance to the victims of the explosion, which killed 15 and injured more than 160 people.

“Our heartfelt sympathies are with the people of West, Texas, following this terrible event,” said Jeremy Word, one of Meltdown Music Festival’s organizers. “West is one of our neighbors and the Meltdown Music Festival community has pledged to help them.”

Meltdown Music Festival organizers, Prototype Industries, Full Access and Disco Donnie Presents, have committed to donating $1 per ticket to assist victims of the explosion and their families. Meltdown will also match donations collected from fans during the festival. Donations will be accepted during festival operating hours of 4pm-1am, April 27 at LaGrave Field in Fort Worth, Texas.

To make an immediate donation, please visit:
http://www.redcross.org/news/article/West-TX-Disaster-Response-FAQs

For more information about Meltdown Music Festival and tickets, please visit:
www.MeltdownDallas.com

Meltdown Music Festival

LaGrave Field * 301 NE 6th St, Fort Worth, TX 76164 * (817) 332-2287 * 17+ event

Meltdown Music Festival announces venue to change to LaGrave Field in Fort Worth

Fort Worth ballpark offers fewer restrictions on sound levels for fans.

Promoters of Meltdown Music Festival, an electronic music festival being held Saturday, April 27 in QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie, announced today they have changed the venue for Saturday’s festival to LaGrave Field in Fort Worth, Texas. Festival performance times and age requirements will remain the same and tickets bought previously from authorized outlets will be honored.

“Making a switch away from QuikTrip Park was a difficult decision considering the great show of support from the Park’s representatives and the fact Meltdown is only a few days away,” explained Evan Bailey, Meltdown Music Festival spokesperson. “However, showcasing Meltdown in the most fitting setting for the fans and artists is what led us to the change. We are honored by the generosity LaGrave Field has shown us in allowing use of their facility and we are excited to hold the event in a venue with best possible setting for live music. Our first priority is always to create the best atmosphere for the fans, artists and the communities we operate in.”

The event is expected to draw thousands of attendees and features Grammy Award-winning artist Justice as well as internationally renowned electronic music acts Flux Pavilion and many more.

“With multiple events playing out this weekend here in the entertainment district of Grand Prairie, and with concerns of sound cross over, sound levels and potential traffic issues, we have moved Meltdown to LaGrave Field in Fort Worth,” said John P. Bilbow, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Grand Prairie Airhogs Baseball. “We believe that this will maintain the best possible concert experience for the artist and concert goers and all parties involved.”

The change in venue was determined by promoters Prototype Industries, Full Access and Disco Donnie Presents to be especially advantageous because it offers fewer restrictions on sound levels, which allows patrons to optimally enjoy the event and later into in the evening. Meltdown Music Festival will now conclude at 1am.

“We determined LaGrave Field to be the best venue for festival, because it offers attendees a better live music experience, coupled with access to the lodging and dining options found in Forth Worth,” Bailey said.

For more information about Meltdown Music Festival and tickets, please visit:
www.MeltdownDallas.com

LaGrave Field

301 NE 6th St, Fort Worth, TX 76164 * (817) 332-2287
17+ event * All tickets purchased for Meltdown at all outlets will be honored.

About Disco Donnie Presents

Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) is an award-winning and recognized leader in electronic dance music event production. Since the company’s inception in 1994, DDP has generated over 10,000 live events, arena shows and outdoor festivals in the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. DDP, both on its own and through partnership, develops innovative, creative and strategic business opportunities in live entertainment. For more information, please visit www.discodonniepresents.com

Meltdown Music Festival 2013 Lineup Announced

Festival producers Prototype Industries, Full Access, and Disco Donnie Presents have announced the lineup for the 2013 Meltdown Music Festival, to be held Saturday, April 27 at QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.

The festival’s 14th installment, dubbed “We Are All Together,” continues the festival’s tradition of combining top quality headliners and buzzworthy newcomers to create a stir. This year’s lineup appeals to a range of tastes and includes the likes of Justice (DJ Set), Flux Pavilion, 12th Planet, Adventure Club, Bro Safari, Candyland, Carnage, Delta Heavy, Deniz Koyu, Gent & Jawns, Kill Paris, Ming, Morgan Page, W&W, and Zomboy

From the festival’s genesis in a warehouse, to bigger and better venues, like the Dallas Market Hall and Fair Park, Meltdown has grown like many of the artists the festival has helped debut. Well known electronic music superstars like Grammy Award-winning Skrillex, David Guetta, Krewella, Adventure Club, Matthew Dear, Afrojack all played their debut Texas gigs at Meltdown, to name a few. And the festival organizers say the trend is not a coincidence.

“One of the goals with Meltdown is bringing people together to see the headliners people want to see, but also to showcase artists we believe are the future headliners of tomorrow,” said Jeremy Word of Full Access.

Tickets are on sale now and festival passes and more information are available at the Meltdown Music Festival website: www.meltdowndallas.com. General admission passes are $54 and VIP passes are $84. VIP ticket perks include access to a separate no-waiting entrance to the festival, private bars located around venue, a VIP deck and a VIP pool. VIPs also receive a commemorative Meltdown VIP laminate and lanyard. Ticket prices are subject to change. Additional information can be found at: www.facebook.com/meltdowndallas.

Meltdown is also offering owner’s box packages for groups of 10-20 (purchasers must be 21+), Owner’s box packages feature an excellent view of the field stage and include tickets, parking, liquor and mixers. For more information on sales, please email jeremy@fullaccessdallas.net.

About Disco Donnie Presents & Full Access

Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) is an award-winning and recognized leader in electronic dance music event production. Since the company’s inception in 1994, DDP has produced over 10,000 live events, arena shows and outdoor festivals in over 100 cities around the world. DDP, both on its own and through partnership, develops innovative, creative and strategic business opportunities in live entertainment. For more information, please visit www.discodonniepresents.com.

Prototype Industries and Full Access are premier producers of live concerts as well as club shows in the Dallas area. Meltdown is their anniversary and flagship event every year.

Disco Donnie Presents and V2 Presents to host Entertainment Showcase at Park City Live during 2013 Sundance Film Festival

Park City, UT – Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) and V2 Presents announced the debut of the two companies’ entertainment showcase at Park City Live, to be held Jan 23-26 during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The announcement was made Monday on discodonniepresents.com/sundance.

This year’s showcase is comprised of four events:

NERVO
Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 at Park City Live
http://discodonniepresents.com/events/2013-0123-parkcity-parkcitylive

KASKADE, TRENT CANTRELLE
Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 at Park City Live
http://discodonniepresents.com/events/2013-0124-parkcity-parkcitylive

MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 at Park City Live
http://discodonniepresents.com/events/2013-0125-parkcity-parkcitylive

KE$HA
Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 at Park City Live
http://discodonniepresents.com/events/2013-0126-parkcity-parkcitylive

The first annual Entertainment Showcase is in line with Disco’s recent expansion in new markets such as Latin America and the Caribbean, but the company has a long history of producing events in the Salt Lake area alongside local promoter and partner, V2 Presents.

“The long term potential of building our showcase during Sundance is enormous, and Disco and V2 will work hard to deliver the best artist lineups possible,” stated Donnie Estopinal, CEO of Disco Donnie Presents. “We want our Showcase to be a important part of the experience for those who travel to Sundance.”

Disco Donnie Presents and V2 Presents are responsible for hosting numerous large scale music festivals in the Salt Lake City area including Get Freaky, Legends, Get Lucky and Das Energi. The lineups for the festivals include top-notch electronic artists, such as world famous Dutch DJ, Tiësto.

For information on the Entertainment Showcase, press access or interview requests, please contact Evan Bailey, marketing coordinator, Donnie Presents at evan@discodonniepresents.com.


ABOUT DISCO DONNIE PRESENTS

Disco Donnie Presents (DDP) is an award-winning and recognized leader in electronic dance music event production, generating over 1,000 live events, arena shows and outdoor festivals annually. DDP, both on its own and through partnership, develops innovative, creative and strategic business opportunities in live entertainment. For more information, please visit www.discodonniepresents.com

ABOUT V2 PRESENTS

V2 Presents is a premier producer of live concerts, music festivals and events in the Salt Lake City area. For more information, please visit www.facebook.com/V2SLC.

Nervo

NERVO are sisters Mim and Liv Nervo. These multi-talented Australian DJs emerged as hit songwriters; Ke$ha to Kylie; Guetta & Rowland; Pussycat Dolls and more. Their growing list of collaborators include Avicii, Afrojack, David Guetta, Steve Aoki, LMFAO, Nicky Romero, Armin Van Buuren to name a few. They have remixed Sergio Mendes, Katy Perry, 30 Seconds to Mars, Cobra Starship, topping club charts worldwide. Since landing a deal with Virgin America/Astralwerks as artists, they have been working on their debut album – where they not only write, produce but will step into the spotlight and perform. Their first Astralwerks release – a collaboration with Afrojack and Steve Aoki – “Weʼre All No One” reached Top 10 on Billboard club charts, was play listed on BBC Radio 1 in The UK, and racked up more than 3.7 million views on YouTube. Their chart-topping follow up “Youʼre Gonna Love Again” was released in summer 2012.

Kaskade

The New York Times may have called him the “new face of electronic dance music” in a recent profile, but Ryan Raddon, known as Kaskade, has been in the trenches of the EDM scene as an original recording artist and in-demand DJ for more than a decade. He has released seven studio albums, including his latest, Fire & Ice, scored nine Top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot Dance Airplay Chart, created chart-topping remixes for everyone from Lady Gaga to Beyoncé, appeared at all the major summer festivals, and has performed between 150 and 200 headlining shows a year for the last 10 years, building a name for himself as an innovator of the EDM scene as we know it today, which has opened doors for the likes of Deadmau5, Tiesto, Skrillex and more. In doing so, he has helped to lay the groundwork for a titanic musical and cultural shift: a post-rock EDM revolution that has captured the imagination of a new generation of music lovers across North America

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, a duo from Seattle, Washington, have emerged as a premier national hip-hop group known for their electrifying live shows, expertly crafted music, and innovative music videos and media. After years of building momentum with impassioned support from their devoted fan base, 2012 has been a banner year for the group, kicked off by Macklemore’s feature in XXL’s Freshman Class. Most recently, they have broken new ground by independently releasing their debut full-length album, The Heist, which shot into the #1 spot on iTunes and debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts without the support of a traditional record label. Their single “Thrift Shop” has top 40 on the Billboard Top 100 chart and is still climbing, with a wildly popular music video (20 million+ views on YouTube) on heavy rotation on BET and MTV2. “Same Love,” a song and video in support of marriage equality, galvanized young fans and voters and led to a live studio performance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. While on their 70-city, completely sold-out world tour supporting The Heist, they have garnered attention in Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, TIME and GQ, with live performances on VH1 and an upcoming feature on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Ke$ha

If there’s one thing Ke$ha knows how to do, it’s tell stories. Here’s a pretty good one: Two years ago, the aspiring pop singer and songwriter decided she wanted Prince to produce her first album. So, she found out his address and drove to his Beverly Hills home, where she paid the gardener five dollars to let her squeeze herself under his front gate. Then she hiked up the driveway (which was lined in purple velvet), let herself in through an unlocked side door, and rode the mirrored elevator up to the third floor where the Purple One himself was jamming with his band. “It was kind of awkward,” she recalls, “but who cares, right? So I sat on one of the purple thrones in the room until he noticed me, which he finally did. He was like, ‘How the hell did you get in here?’” she says with a laugh. “His security kicked me out, but not before I left him my demo CD wrapped in a giant purple bow.”

Ke$ha never did hear from Prince, but the incident speaks volumes about this 22-year-old newcomer’s firecracker personality and determination. “I’ve always known I wanted to be a performer,” she says. “There’s video of me at age five, naked and covered in body paint, saying, ‘I’m going to be a rock star and there’s no way anyone is going to stop me!’ It’s my calling. If I don’t go for it, I’m going to feel like a tool when I’m 50.”

Luckily, Ke$ha won’t have to find out what regret feels like. She is currently at work writing and recording her debut album with executive producer Dr. Luke, who has scored No. 1 smashes for Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, and Flo Rida. After falling for her playful half-sung/half-rapped vocal delivery on a rough demo, Luke brought Ke$ha to RCA Records, which signed her in February 2009. The album — which will also feature Ke$ha’s collaborations with veteran hitmaker Max Martin (Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears) and in-demand songwriter/producer Benny Blanco (Katy Perry, 3OH!3, Spank Rock) — is shaping up to be an edgy collection of hard-hitting electro-pop songs, made all the more irresistible by their high-octane punk energy and Ke$ha’s irreverent lyrics and attitude. “I want my music to be fun, unapologetic, rowdy, quirky, humorous, and interesting,” she says, “but with substance behind it. I’m an emotional person underneath all my fronting. I want people to listen to it and feel like they can relate.”