Fun
Lead singer Nate Ruess at Electric Ballroom, Camden, London.
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	indie pop, alternative rock, power pop[1]
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Fueled by Ramen Records/Nettwerk Records (US) Hassle Records (UK)
Associated acts	The Format, Steel Train, Anathallo
Website	ournameisFun.com
Members
Nate Ruess Andrew Dost Jack Antonoff

Fun (often stylized as fun.) is an American alternative rock band based in New York City that was formed by Nate Ruess, formerly of The Format. After the 2008 breakup of The Format, Ruess formed Fun with Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff of Anathallo and Steel Train respectively.^[2] Fun has released two albums: their debut Aim and Ignite in 2009 and their latest Some Nights in February 2012.

The band is best known for its hit single "We Are Young" featuring Janelle Monáe. "We Are Young" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Digital Songs charts, becoming the first alternative song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart since Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" in 2008. It also peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart.

History[link]

2007–2008: Career beginning and formation[link]

The Format split in February 2008. Immediately afterward Nate Ruess asked Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff to join his new project. Dost had toured with The Format and provided various instrumentation. Ruess met Antonoff after The Format toured with Steel Train.^[3] The three began working together in New Jersey within a week. Ruess sang melodies while the other two provided music for them.^[4] The first demo song the band recorded was "Benson Hedges," which was made available for free in Spin's September 20, 2008 article on the band.^[5] Fun approached Steven McDonald, who produced The Format's album Dog Problems with Ruess, to produce their debut album. McDonald was enthusiastic about the project and stated, "I can’t believe what we’re working on here. This crushes anything I’ve ever done."^[4]

[edit] 2009–2010: Aim and Ignite

Recording took place in the fall of 2008. The band's first single, "At Least I'm Not as Sad (As I Used to Be)" was made available as a free download on the band's Myspace page on April 6, 2009.^[6] Aim and Ignite was released on August 25, 2009 and had positive reviews. AbsolutePunk.net's Drew Beringer praised the album, stating it was "what a pop album 'should' sound like" and "the most essential pop album of 2009."^[7] Allmusic called the album "progressive, but in the best possible way" and admired Ruess's lyrics for "investigating the larger truths of life...with a witty approach that keeps the songs bubbling merrily along on a positive note".^[8] Dave de Sylvia of Sputnikmusic wrote, "Aim and Ignite isn’t the most consistent pop album around," but he ultimately commended the album as "a superbly mixed and arranged album made by musicians who clearly understand the limits and potential of pop music".^[9] Estella Hung of PopMatters was less impressed with the album. She praised songs "Be Calm" and "The Gambler", but criticized the lyrics and production of the album's early tracks. Hung concluded that while Aim and Ignite is "pretty original to say the least", it "fails to live up to the Format’s last outing."^[10] Popdose's Ken Shane called the album "an interesting and unusual listen." Shane applauded the album's songwriting and said "many of the songs are really good," but he objected to the "cute" production, desiring to hear the band "in a more stripped-down form." He ended his review with: "I have a similar problem with Dr. Dog, a band that was recommended to me by a number of people. I think much of their recorded work is too fussed over, but when I saw them live and their sound was more stripped down out of necessity, emphasizing their powerful songwriting, I thought they were wonderful. Perhaps the same fate awaits me with Fun."^[11] The album reached number 26 on Sputnikmusic's top 50 albums of 2009. The album peaked at 71 on the US album charts.

Fun began its first North American tour on November 8, 2008 with Jack's Mannequin.^[12] The debut album Aim and Ignite was released on August 25, 2009.^[13] In reviewing the album, The Washington Post called some of the arrangements "theatrical, much like those on Panic! at the Disco's 2005 debut".^[14] In February 2010, Fun supported Jack's Mannequin on their headline tour, along with Vedera which was followed by their first UK appearances in March. Their current touring band also includes Will Noon, Rob Kroehler, Emily Moore, Nate Harold, and Jon "Jonny Thunder" Goldstein.^[15] In April 2010, Fun supported Paramore's headline tour. Other support for the tour includes Relient K and Harriet Ellis of Summer Beats.^[16] The band then embarked on a full UK tour in May. On August 4, 2010, Fun announced that they had signed with label Fueled by Ramen.^[17]

On August 14, 2010, it was announced via the Official Paramore Fan Club that Fun would be opening for Paramore on their November UK tour.^[18] In 2010 Fun's single, "Walking the Dog," was used in a commercial for the travel site Expedia.com.^[19] In 2010, Will Noon (formerly of Straylight Run) played drums with Fun on tour, according to Noon's Twitter page.^[20] To celebrate the Paramore UK tour and the band’s new single ‘Walking The Dog’, Hassle Records gave away a free download of an acoustic version of the track.^[21] On April 27, 2011, a video of the band performing a new song entitled "Carry On" was uploaded to YouTube.^[22]

[edit] 2011–present: Some Nights

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (April 2012)

On May 17, 2011, the band released "C'mon" as a joint single with Panic! at the Disco, who they opened for on their 2011 Vices & Virtues Tour.

On November 7, 2011, the band announced that their next album would be titled Some Nights and released on February 21, 2012. Its first single, called "We Are Young" and featuring Janelle Monáe, has since been used in several other media including:

• Gossip Girl season 5 episode 24 "The Return of the Ring"
• 90210 season 4 episode 24 "Forever Hold Your Peace"
• Glee episode "Hold On to Sixteen"
• introducing the Game Changer of the Year at the 2011 WWE Slammy Awards
• Chuck episode "Chuck Versus the Baby"
• Chevrolet Chevy Sonic Super Bowl XLVI commercial "Stunt Anthem", also featuring American professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and the rock band OK Go.^[23]
• a vignette promoting the WWE Wrestlemania XXVIII Main event match between John Cena and The Rock
• BBC Radio One as Scott Mills' Big Thing
• The trailer for the Judd Apatow film This is 40

On December 12, 2011, the band's song "One Foot" was available for instant streaming and free download on Nylon's website.^[24]

On February 13, 2012, the band released an album stream on their website along with a note from Ruess thanking fans for their ongoing support. Ruess states he is "over the moon about what you're about to hear and falling asleep knowing that as soon as I wake up, this will no longer be a dream."^[25]

On March 7, 2012, Fun's single "We Are Young" reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This makes Fun the first multi-member rock band to have a #1 Billboard debut on the Hot 100 since Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" in December 2001/January 2002.^[26] On the same day, "We Are Young" was used by Apple in a promotional video of their recent retail development in Grand Central Terminal.^[27] On April 11, 2012, Billboard.com announced that Fun's "We Are Young" also made Digital Sales history. As the song was at the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a sixth consecutive week, it has become the first, and at this time only, song that has ever gained 300,000+ downloads for seven weeks straight.^[28]

On March 19, 2012, Fun was announced as a performing band at the Bonnaroo 2012 music festival.

On June 3, 2012, Fun will perform "We Are Young" at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards.

"We Are Young" peaked at number 1 on May 27, 2012 in the UK.

Band members[link]

Current members

• Jack Antonoff – vocals, guitars, trumpet (2008–present)
• Andrew Dost – vocals, piano, guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, trumpet, flugelhorn, glockenspiel, drums, percussion, beach ball, cardboard box (2008–present)
• Nate Ruess – lead vocals (2008–present)

Current touring members

• Nate Harold – bass guitar, vocals, sampler (2009–present)
• Emily Moore – guitars, vocals, keyboards, saxophone (2009–present)
• Will Noon – drums (2010–present)

Former touring members

• Jon Goldstein – drums (2008–2010)
• Rob Kroehler – guitar (2008–2010)
• Mike Schey - guitar (March 2010-May 2010)
• Michael Newsted (The Soil & The Sun) – bass guitar (2010)
• Maggie Malyn – violin (2008)
• Evan Winiker – bass guitar (2011)
• Ryan Lallier – guitar (2010–2011)

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Aim and Ignite (2009)
• Some Nights (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Fun on Myspace
• Fun on YouTube
• Fun coverage on Audioholic Media
• Alter the Press Interview
• March 18, 2012 NPR story and interview by Guy Raz

Ryan Lewis
Ryan Lewis (back) performing with Macklemore (front) at Sasquatch! Music Festival
Background information
Born	(1988-03-25) March 25, 1988 (age 24) Spokane, Washington, U.S.
Origin	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Producer, DJ
Years active	2006–present
Associated acts	Macklemore
Website	rlewis.com

Ryan Lewis (born March 25, 1988) is an American music producer, musician, music video director, photographer, graphic designer, rapper and DJ currently based in Seattle. He is best known for his collaboration with American rapper Macklemore (Ben Haggerty) producing Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — The VS. EP (2009), The Heist (2012) and a handful of other singles. Since the beginning of their collaboration in late 2008, Ryan has produced, recorded, engineered and mixed all of the music, directed music videos ("Same Love", "Thrift Shop", "And We Danced", "Otherside (Remix)"), designed visuals (album art, web design, posters) and DJed the live show.

In a recent mini-documentary, Lewis recalled meeting Macklemore for the first time. "When I met him, it was a really different time. It was less than a year after [2005's] Language of My World had come out. So he had buzz. For me being a young kid, it was very exciting to link with him. The bulk of our original relationship was photo shoots. I became kind of his photographer."^[1]

[edit] The Heist

On October 9, 2012, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis released The Heist. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums, selling 78,000 copies in the first week.^[2] The album also debuted at #1 on iTunes Digital Albums chart.^[3] The duo's album has received more than 1 million plays on SoundCloud, 70 million YouTube views and was accompanied by a sold-out 50-date U.S. and Canadian tour.^[4]

Discography[link]

(All credited to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)

Studio albums[link]

EPs

Singles[link]

Notes[link]

• A ^ "Wing$" did not enter the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but peaked at number 7 on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, which acts as an extension to the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[27]
• B ^ "Same Love" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 25 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as an extension to the Hot 100.^[28]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

de:Ryan Lewis

Nigahiga

Ryan Higa at the 2010 Streamy Awards
URL	www.youtube.com/nigahiga
Created by	Ryan Higa Sean Fujiyoshi
Launched	July 20, 2006; 5 years ago  (2006-07-20)
Current status	Online

Nigahiga ( /ˈniːɡɑːhiːɡɑː/) is a popular YouTube channel, and personality of Japanese American Ryan Higa (born (1990-06-06) June 6, 1990 (age 22), in Hilo, Hawaii).^[1] Since relocating to Las Vegas to study filmmaking at UNLV,^[2] Higa's videos are either solo efforts or videos with other people such as KevJumba.^[3] They are known for their YouTube comedy videos, which have been viewed over 1.1 billion times.^[4] As of May 2012, Higa's YouTube channel, nigahiga, has over 5.3 million subscribers, and is the second most subscribed YouTube channel of all time, surpassed only by RayWilliamJohnson.^[5] According to Higa, his channel name is a combination of "Niga", which means "rant" in Japanese,^[6] and his last name, "Higa".

Content[link]

Ryan Higa and Sean Fujiyoshi started posting YouTube videos of themselves lip-synching to songs in mid 2006 while attending Waiakea High School.^[7] They quickly expanded beyond songs, with a variety of other comedic pieces. Occasional guest appearances are made by Tim Enos, Ryan Villaruel, Kyle Chun, and Tarynn Nago, collectively known as the "Yabo Crew".^[8]

On Christmas Eve of 2008, Higa and Fujiyoshi's two most popular videos, How To Be Gangster and How To Be Emo, were removed due to copyright violations.^[9] On January 21, 2009, the nigahiga account was temporarily suspended and was required to remove more copyrighted videos. Because of this, nigahiga's lip synching videos were all removed (with the exception of You're Beautiful, which was audio swapped),^[10] and so were most of his videos that include copyrighted music. As of now, all the music that is being played in nigahiga's videos is music Higa composed himself. How to be Gangster and How to be Emo were put back on nigahiga's channel in late August 2009, only to be removed a few days later, along with How to be Ninja and How to be Nerd. In Spring 2010, How to be Ninja, How to be Gangster and How to be Emo were made public once more.^[11] He created a second channel recently, where he posts video blogs and behind the scenes movies. His second account is under the name of "HigaTV".

Due to Ryan Higa moving to Los Angeles for college, most of the Nigahiga videos are solo efforts, usually featuring collaborations with other YouTube users. However, the other members of the Yabo crew have made appearances whenever Higa visits Hawaii.

Films[link]

In 2008, Los Angeles producer Richard Van Vleet offered to help them create their first feature-length film. The resulting film, Ryan and Sean's Not So Excellent Adventure, was directed by Richard Van Vleet and released on November 14, 2008.^[12][13] It was shown in sold out theaters in Hawaii and California.^{[citation needed][14]} The DVD was released on July 14, 2009 in the USA.^[15]

Ryan and Sean's Not So Excellent Adventure is about a down on his luck movie producer, played by Michael Buckley, who is seeking out famous celebrities in order to make a hit movie in 30 days or risk being fired. He chooses Ryan Higa and Sean Fujiyoshi after discovering the popularity of their YouTube videos. He invites them to Hollywood to make a movie. They accept the offer, and run into some amusing situations on the way.^[16]

Ninja Melk, a 26 minute short film about ninjas, was released in August 2009. The plot revolves around a ninja master named Master Ching Ching sending his student Lapchung (played by Bryson Murata) to find a replacement, finding Ryan and Sean to catch the evil Bokchoy (played by Tim Enos) and his henchwoman, Gina (played by Tarynn Nago).^[17]

A new independent 35 minute film he created with Wong Fu Productions called "Agents of Secret Stuff" was uploaded on Ryan's channel on November 24, 2010. It features some other popular YouTube users as well as actors such as Aki Aleong. "Agents of Secret Stuff" is about a teenage A.S.S. (Agent of Secret Stuff) (Higa) who is sent undercover to a high school to protect one of the students, a girl named Taylor (Arden Cho) from the A.S.S.'s enemy, the S.I.N.S (Society Involving Not-So-Good Stuff). It included guest appearances from Ian and Anthony of Smosh, D-Trix, Kassem G and Hiimrawn.

Ryan Higa's and Sean Fujiyoshi's YouTube channel, nigahiga, was created on July 20, 2006. By December 21, 2010, it had reached 3 million subscribers, the first channel to do so,^[18] and by May 2012, their videos had been viewed over 1.17 billion times.^[19]

Videography[link]

^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site www.HigaTV.com
• nigahiga's channel on YouTube
• Official homepage of Ryan and Sean's Not So Excellent Adventure
• Ryan and Sean's Not So Excellent Adventure at the Internet Movie Database