We introduced you to Paradise Fears back when they were posting viral cover videos on YouTube. Now, they are a top five finalist in Macy's iHeartRadio Rising Star Contest. If they win, they get to perform at the iHeartRadio Music Festival AND on national television in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Check out Paradise Fears and if you like them best, vote for them. It also earns YOU a chance to win a trip to the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas this September. Vote and enter for a chance to win here.
Winning this contest would be the opportunity of a lifetime for Paradise Fears, an alternative pop band from a small town in South Dakota. They started from the bottom (traveling around the country selling CDs out of their cars), but now they're here and ready for what comes next. We talked to the band's lead singer, Sam Miller, about what winning this contest would mean to them, their new music and upcoming tour.
"We started our career by pretty tirelessly getting out and self-promoting, talking to the most dedicated pop rock fans, and once we had that audience, we decided to never stop releasing music, covers, videos and touring," said Sam. "We wanted to make sure that if people felt like caring, we were always giving them something to care about."
Paradise Fears just released their new single "You to Believe In." The band worked with mega-producer John Fields, the man behind the sounds of such artists as Demi Lovato, Jonas Brothers and Parachute, to bring together multiple styles on the new track.
"There's an interesting divide happening in music between the digital and the organic, the 'fake' and the 'real,' and we wanted to try to walk that line," said Sam. "We love synths and digital elements, and we feel a responsibility to stay current, but we also never want to lose our identity as a rock band." Listen to "You to Believe In" below.
The band is currently getting ready to go out on a headlinging tour later this summer and working on their next album. According to Sam, "You to Believe In" is a good example of what fans can expect from their new record, as it will also explore more experimental styles.
"We've written so many songs, tried so many things. Previously, I think we tried too hard to do too many things and ultimately everything blended into a product that was a bit too vanilla. For this album, we're embracing the ability that the internet gives us to try different styles and sounds," said Sam. "So we're doing a lot of different songs, and giving people the opportunity to react to what they like."
Vote for Paradise Fears in Macy's iHeartRadio Rising Star Contest and check out their full list of upcoming tour dates.