RKA Records
Encyclopedia
RKA Records, a London-based Independent Record Label established in October 2010 by Ryan Ashmore and Liam Webb.
The company was formed on the 5th November 2010 through Companies House, with Ryan holding an 80% share in the company, leaving the remaining 20% to Liam.
Throughout the year Ryan and Liam worked with MarQ and Chris on their debut albums and are slowly getting them ready to start the promotion stage.
TV Show Dragons Den. Ryan and Liam successfully gained investment from dragon Duncan Bannatyne
taking a 79% share of the company for £50,000.
Having many studio sessions over the years and several live performances, he knew that this was a career he wanted to pursue. Chris Parham has sold several choruses over soundclick.com to many other musicians with tremendous positive feedback. Furthermore he has done songwriting for multiple newcomer albums and demo tracks that have been presented to Universal Music Group and EMI in Europe. Chris in late 2010 signed a recording deal with UK based label RKA Records. Chris has worked with the well known german producer Mark Figuli aswell as singer/songwriter Rachel Kerr from the United Kingdom. He is very close to the completion of his first upcoming Pop/Rn´B album “Twelve”, with the first single “Loud”. Chris´s musical influences go from Usher
, Craig David
, Beyoncé and Ne-Yo
, to Paramore
, Muse
and 30 Seconds To Mars
.
in early 2010, along with twins Connor & Myles Ryan. For their audition, they sang "I Want It That Way
" by the Backstreet Boys
. While they received positive feedback from judges Piers Morgan
and Amanda Holden
, Simon Cowell
criticized the band for looking 'out-dated' and claimed that they should not have tried to impersonate a band that are no longer relevant, and claiming that their styling during the audition, donning suits like Westlife
, was actually done by their mums, after which the boys hit back. In retaliation to this, the band performed "Ain't No Mountain High Enough
" to win him over. They received three yes votes from the judges. They then found out they went through to the semi finals.
In the second semi final, the band performed "No Boundaries
" by Kris Allen
. They received positive feedback from all three judges, and after landing in the judges vote, they were chosen by Cowell and Morgan to go through to the final.
In the final, the band performed "What About Now
" by Westlife
, originally by Daughtry
. While they received positive comments from two of the judges, Cowell was yet again to criticize the song choice as he believed that the song did not make them 'young enough'. They eventually finished in 8th place.
After the show, the band performed on the Britain's Got Talent
Live Tour, across arenas all over the UK, performing the songs "Never Forget
" by Take That
, "Everybody in Love
" by JLS
, and "Don't Stop Me Now
" by Queen
as part of the finale.
The band are currently working with known industry professionals. They are managed by Cent Management and also work with Freedom Management in London working with singer/songwriter Tim Woodcock.
The band have finished recording their first six singles which were first sung live in May 2011.[dated info] These are called "ReConnected", "Superhuman", "Seeing Stars", "December" ,"Wish You Were Here" and "Stranded", and they will also be releasing short acoustic versions of these songs.They will be launched on 26 May 2011 at Sound Control in Manchester. They also be held another launch show on 2 June, which was be filmed for a documentary and music video. They also had launch shows in Nottingham and Newcastle and have shows coming up on there Launch tour in October. Theses shows are at Birmingham, Bristol, Bournmouth and London. There also seems to be more gigs on this tour awaiting confirmation.
It has also been reported that an album will be released sometime next year.
Every Friday, the band do a 'twitcam' live on Twitter, which regularly pulls over a thousand views every week. Fans can ask them questions through tweets. They call this 'Fitzdryk Friday'.
The band currently broadcast their own radio show, titled 'The ReConnected Show'. The show is broadcast live over the Internet weekly on UK Undiscovered, an Internet radio station of unsigned and undiscovered talent. Their first show featured the band going ghost hunting.
Overview
RKA Records was setup in October 2010 by Ryan Ashmore and Liam Webb in Ryan's bedroom. The label began when Ryan was on holiday in Spain. There he met current artist MarQ Figuli for the first time. When Ryan returned he consulted Liam and told him about the idea for the label, a couple of weeks later both Ryan and Liam flew out to Germany to meet with MarQ to discuss a possible recording contract. While there current artist Chris Parham was visiting MarQ working on some songs in the home studio, Ryan and Liam loved both MarQ and Chris and decided they wanted to sign them both to the label. The contracts were drawn up and two weeks later the pair flew back out to Germany again to close the deal with the two singers.The company was formed on the 5th November 2010 through Companies House, with Ryan holding an 80% share in the company, leaving the remaining 20% to Liam.
Throughout the year Ryan and Liam worked with MarQ and Chris on their debut albums and are slowly getting them ready to start the promotion stage.
Dragons Den
The label is best known for its appearance on well known BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV Show Dragons Den. Ryan and Liam successfully gained investment from dragon Duncan Bannatyne
Duncan Bannatyne
Duncan Walker Bannatyne, OBE is a Scottish entrepreneur, philanthropist and author. His business interests include hotels, health clubs, spas, media, TV, stage schools, property and transport. He is most famous for his appearance as a business angel on the BBC programme Dragons' Den...
taking a 79% share of the company for £50,000.
Artists
| Artist | Signed | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| MarQ Figuli | 2010 | |
| Chris Parham | ||
| ReConnected ReConnected ReConnected are a British boyband, who were finalists in the fourth series of ITV reality talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2010, as part of the boyband 'Connected', won by Spelbound.... |
2011 | The band competed in the fourth series of Britain's Got Talent Britain's Got Talent (series 4) The fourth series of Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV from 17 April 2010 to 5 June 2010. It was presented by Ant & Dec and won by gymnastic troupe Spelbound. Judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden returned for the televised auditions on 18 January at the Clyde Auditorium in... , finishing in eighth place; having finished as the runner-up in the second semi-final. |
| Janet Devlin | Janet competed in the eighth series of The X Factor The X Factor (UK series 8) The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eighth series began airing on ITV on 20 August 2011. Louis Walsh is the only judge from the previous series to return, as the other three, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole, all left to join other... , finishing in fifth place; having been mentored by Kelly Rowland Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene "Kelly" Rowland is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, and television personality. She rose to fame as one of the founding members of the American girl group Destiny's Child... . |
MarQ Figuli
MarQ has a wide range of skills in the music industry. As well as his varied and unique voice he also is master at producing. For example he produced Chris Parham’s ‘Baby cant you see’ single which has received a great reception from radio DJ’s and critics alike. As well as this he is soon set to record his own début album that will no doubt have a significant impact on the music scene.Chris Parham
Christian J. Parham is an American singer and songwriter. Born April 27, 1989 in Utah, Hill Air Force Base to a mother of European descent and an African American/Native American father. At the age of eleven, he moved with his mother and one younger sibling to Western Germany. At the age of 14, Chris began writing songs and discoved his interest in music. He started with Hip-Hop and then switched to Rn´B/Soul shortly after.Having many studio sessions over the years and several live performances, he knew that this was a career he wanted to pursue. Chris Parham has sold several choruses over soundclick.com to many other musicians with tremendous positive feedback. Furthermore he has done songwriting for multiple newcomer albums and demo tracks that have been presented to Universal Music Group and EMI in Europe. Chris in late 2010 signed a recording deal with UK based label RKA Records. Chris has worked with the well known german producer Mark Figuli aswell as singer/songwriter Rachel Kerr from the United Kingdom. He is very close to the completion of his first upcoming Pop/Rn´B album “Twelve”, with the first single “Loud”. Chris´s musical influences go from Usher
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
, Craig David
Craig David
Craig Ashley David is an English singer and songwriter. He has released five studio albums: Born to Do It, Slicker Than Your Average, The Story Goes..., Trust Me, Signed Sealed Delivered and a Greatest Hits album...
, Beyoncé and Ne-Yo
Ne-Yo
Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. , better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, is an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor. Beginning his career as a songwriter, Ne-Yo penned the hit "Let Me Love You" for singer Mario...
, to Paramore
Paramore
Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, bassist Jeremy Davis, and guitarist Taylor York...
, Muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
and 30 Seconds To Mars
30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1998. Since 2007, the band has consisted of actor Jared Leto , Shannon Leto and Tomo Miličević...
.
ReConnected
The band auditioned as 'Connected' on the fourth series of ITV reality show Britain's Got TalentBritain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
in early 2010, along with twins Connor & Myles Ryan. For their audition, they sang "I Want It That Way
I Want It That Way
"I Want It That Way" is a song by the Backstreet Boys, and their first single from their 1999 album Millennium. It was written by Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson along with other producers. The song was highly played on the radio and the video, directed by Wayne Isham, was well played on television...
" by the Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
. While they received positive feedback from judges Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan
Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan , known professionally as Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of First News, a national newspaper for children....
and Amanda Holden
Amanda Holden
Amanda Louise Holden is an English actress and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award...
, Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
criticized the band for looking 'out-dated' and claimed that they should not have tried to impersonate a band that are no longer relevant, and claiming that their styling during the audition, donning suits like Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
, was actually done by their mums, after which the boys hit back. In retaliation to this, the band performed "Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is an R&B/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla Motown label. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, becoming a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes...
" to win him over. They received three yes votes from the judges. They then found out they went through to the semi finals.
In the second semi final, the band performed "No Boundaries
No Boundaries
No Boundaries may refer to:* "No Boundaries" , the American Idol season 8 winner's song, recorded by Kris Allen and by Adam Lambert* No Boundaries * No Boundaries...
" by Kris Allen
Kris Allen
Kristopher Neil "Kris" Allen is an American musician and singer-songwriter from Conway, Arkansas, and the winner of the eighth season of American Idol...
. They received positive feedback from all three judges, and after landing in the judges vote, they were chosen by Cowell and Morgan to go through to the final.
In the final, the band performed "What About Now
What About Now
What About Now may refer to:*"What About Now" , also covered by Westlife*"What About Now"...
" by Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
, originally by Daughtry
Daughtry
Daughtry is an American rock band from North Carolina, formed and fronted by former American Idol season 5 finalist Chris Daughtry in 2006. Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006...
. While they received positive comments from two of the judges, Cowell was yet again to criticize the song choice as he believed that the song did not make them 'young enough'. They eventually finished in 8th place.
After the show, the band performed on the Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
Live Tour, across arenas all over the UK, performing the songs "Never Forget
Never Forget
"Never Forget" is a 1995 song recorded by Take That, from the album Nobody Else. It was released on 24 July 1995, and achieved success in many countries, including the UK, Spain and Ireland where it topped the singles chart.-Song information:...
" by Take That
Take That
Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...
, "Everybody in Love
Everybody in Love
"Everybody in Love" is the second single by English boyband JLS from their self-titled debut album. The song was released as a digital download on 1 November 2009, followed by a physical release on 2 November 2009...
" by JLS
JLS
- Music :* JLS, an English boyband** JLS , debut album by JLS* JLS a Spanish Rock band based in Zaragoza , Spain formed in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by lead Leo Susana.- Organizations :...
, and "Don't Stop Me Now
Don't Stop Me Now
"Don't Stop Me Now" is a song by English rock group Queen, featured on their 1978 album Jazz. Written by vocalist Freddie Mercury, it was recorded in August/September 1978 at Super Bear Studios in Berre-les-Alpes , France, and is the twelfth track on the album.Musically, the song is based around...
" by Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
as part of the finale.
The band are currently working with known industry professionals. They are managed by Cent Management and also work with Freedom Management in London working with singer/songwriter Tim Woodcock.
The band have finished recording their first six singles which were first sung live in May 2011.[dated info] These are called "ReConnected", "Superhuman", "Seeing Stars", "December" ,"Wish You Were Here" and "Stranded", and they will also be releasing short acoustic versions of these songs.They will be launched on 26 May 2011 at Sound Control in Manchester. They also be held another launch show on 2 June, which was be filmed for a documentary and music video. They also had launch shows in Nottingham and Newcastle and have shows coming up on there Launch tour in October. Theses shows are at Birmingham, Bristol, Bournmouth and London. There also seems to be more gigs on this tour awaiting confirmation.
It has also been reported that an album will be released sometime next year.
Every Friday, the band do a 'twitcam' live on Twitter, which regularly pulls over a thousand views every week. Fans can ask them questions through tweets. They call this 'Fitzdryk Friday'.
The band currently broadcast their own radio show, titled 'The ReConnected Show'. The show is broadcast live over the Internet weekly on UK Undiscovered, an Internet radio station of unsigned and undiscovered talent. Their first show featured the band going ghost hunting.