Introducing... Amelia

Hi everyone!

My name is Amelia Zimmatore (actually Amelia-Rose Eloisa Zimmatore) but that's a secret. It's also a secret that Zimmatore is a Sicilian name. I have five older brothers, 30+ cousins, a cat and a dog. Yes, a big Sicilian family... we all know what that means.

I have worked my way up the ranks at ARC Music from receptionist to the Director of Licensing's Assistant. Though I'm new to this department I'm learning fast and have so far assisted in placing our music in the two motion films 'Conan the Barbarian' and 'The Machine Gun Preacher'.

I started playing violin when I was 6 and piano when I was 12. If I had practiced as much as I was supposed to as a kid I would probably be pursuing a career in music and orchestra, as it is one of my great loves.
Due to my step dad's fortunate penchant for business travelling, I'd been to Iceland, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, Greece, Los Angeles, Florida, New York and Morocco by the time I was 13.

After I graduated school at 15 I found I couldn't face the prospect of sitting in a classroom for the next four years or so. I took an 'elongated gap year' and travelled as a volunteer with a Human Rights video team, adding Ukraine and Israel to my travel repertoire.

So working here is quite relevant for me. Having seen and experienced a wild array of cultures and traditions first hand I very much admire the ARC Music Founder's ambition to give all traditional, ethnic music a chance to be heard and expressed internationally though it's not mainstream and part of the Western culture.

Even after arriving here I found I couldn't escape my inevitable plane boarding fetish. In 2010 I was lucky enough to attend the Drummondville Music Festival (Mondial des Cultures de Drummondville) in Canada with a work colleague- and don't even get me started about that- ...simply beautiful!

Some of my favourite ARC CDs would have to be "EUCD1815- Finland- Modern Tradition", "EUCD2046- Fado Ladino", "EUCD2210- The Most Beautiful Songs of Corsica", "EUCD2038- Tribal Beatz of Africa", "EUCD1964- Best of Irish Fiddle" & "EUCD2349 `Rock The Tabla".

Some of my favourite books are  all the 'Harry Potter' books, 'Clan of the Cave Bear', 'The Great Gatsby', 'Gone With The Wind', 'The Da Vinci Code', 'A Tale of Two Cities', 'To Serve Them All My Days'.
Some of my favourite movies would be: The Watchmen, Iron Man 1 & 2, Pineapple Express, Rosemary's Baby, Princess Mononoke, Bad Santa, Raging Bull, Inception & Walk The Line.

I don't have TV at home but have recently become obsessed with Lionsgate's 'Mad Men'- a TV series about and surrounding an advertising agency on Madison Avenue in the 1960's."

So, that's me. Thanks for reading!


Amelia

Introducing... Caren

Hi All,

My name is Caren-Alexandra Entwistle and I’m the Director of Licensing at ARC Music.

I’m originally from Germany but moved over here in 2000 and finished all my school studies in the UK. Pretty soon after leaving school I started work at ARC Music as the receptionist. This was back in 2002. In 2004 I became the Director of Cooperate Affairs' Assistant and started working the Licensing Department, and I became the Director of Licensing at the start of 2011.

I love working in the licensing area as I get to speak to new people every day and help them with the music choice for their project. Be it an instructional belly dance DVD or a Hollywood movie such as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

I also get to travel a lot especially to LA to meet music supervisors.

“Flamenco Rumba” by Engergipsy (EUCD1883) has been a long time favourite of mine and I do listen to it on a regular basis. I have been listening to one of our latest releases “Traditional and Popular Songs from Goa” by Gonzaga (EUCD2350) a lot in recent weeks and don’t seem to be getting bored of it. Every time I put it on it is as if I’m listening to it for the first time. :o)

Introducing... Phil

Hi, my name is Phil and I am the Director here at Arc Music. I manage the business on a day to day basis and I look after all the staff that works here.  Although I call them “staff” it’s more like being part of a big family really. I’ve worked in most departments in the company from Accounts and Media, to Personnel and logistics, so I’ve a good grounding in what makes the business tick.  Some of my executive functions include strategic planning, financial management and chairing our production and marketing meetings. 

I’ve been involved in the music industry in some capacity since 1995 and everyday there are new challenges to overcome or new skills to learn.

Although ARC Music is tucked away in the rolling countryside in the south of England, I actually grew up in a village in the cultural centre of the north, namely, Manchester. I was around during the eighties and nineties when the music scene exploded with a succession of hugely influential acts like The Smiths, Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets. Manchester was also famous for the drink Boddingtons bitter (“If you don’t get Boddies you’ll just get bitter” - I loved that slogan), Coronation Street, the Hacienda nightclub and a little footie club called Manchester United.

Music has played a big part of my life since then. And over the years my tastes have matured to encompass a whole variety of genres and styles, from Beethoven’s finest concerto, to uplifting gospel music from Africa, or even the latest slickly produced dance track from Judge Jules.  If it sounds good and suits my mood, I’ll listen.

Being part of the music industry is such a privilege.  What finer way to spend your working life than to preserve traditional music for future generations which is one of the purposes of ARC Music. It makes coming to the office each day such a pleasure.

I’ll think you will agree that music is such a versatile art form. Just look at its scope for unrivalled creativity. What else has the ability to make people laugh, lift weary minds, or even change points of view through powerful lyrics and a dynamic musical arrangement. 

I think it only appropriate that I finish by penning those profound words uttered by Plato that perfectly illustrate the greatness of music and its influence on us all,

“If I can write the songs of the nations, I don't care who writes the laws.” - PLATO

I’ll drink to that.

A pint of Boddies should do the trick…

 

Philip Collinson
Director

Introducing... Sarah

I am Sarah Ash, the Graphic Designer at ARC Music Productions. I recently joined ARC in the summer of 2011 after graduating from The University of the Creative Arts.

My role here is to design the CD covers for a range of musical genres from all over the world. I get the opportunity to source some amazing photographs and get creative in portraying each CD to represent the music being produced.

I also have a hand in video editing where I get to create a range of short slideshows and videos promoting our latest releases, or filming interview snippets and behind the scene footage etc. This is one of the many pleasures in my job as mixing graphics with beautiful music is always a enjoyable and creative task.

I think my job here at ARC Music Productions is fantastic, in fact I don't even think of it as a job as such, more like a hobby that I get paid to do while among friends! It's the best job I’ve ever had and I'm not just saying that either...

Below are some of my personal favourite covers that I would like to share with you (not all mine) However please do get in touch with me over facebook and let me know your thoughts on our cover designs or videos, what do you like about them? What don't you like about them? Please let me know your ideas, you'll find me on Facebook

 

Introducing... Julia

My name is Julia Beyer and I am the Art Director of ARC Music Productions International.

As the Art Director I am over all aspects of Artists and Repertoire (A&R) which is the division of ARC Music that is responsible for finding and bringing new artists to our label, overseeing their artistic development and acting as a liaison between artists and the record label. I also oversee the CD Design & Manufacturing line which includes booklet text translation and typesetting as well as the CD pressing.

Although world music has always been a big part of my life having grown up with ARC Music as the family business, I have myself been actively involved in the label, holding this particular job for the past 2 years. Prior to this I was the Art Director’s Assistant for a year and before that I was involved in Corporate and Charity Event Management & Coordination as well as Public Relations.

The parts of my job that I enjoy the most are being able to assist artists to express themselves through their music across the world. I enjoy researching different cultures and discovering new musical talents. I find this job very rewarding as it is not only a pleasure to be able to listen to music and make it available to the people to hear but working for a world music label is also very educational as you learn something new about music, instruments and cultures almost every day.

Introducing... Chris

Hi everyone. My name is Chris, and I am responsible for Public & Media Relations here at ARC Music.

I always wanted to work in music and was fortunate enough to find a record company in my home town of East Grinstead. I have been with ARC Music since 1999.

The main part of my job is to work with media outlets to gain exposure for our artists. Specifically that means getting music played on radio and TV, reviews/articles in magazines, profiles on websites, etc. We distribute in approximately 65 countries worldwide, so that’s a lot of radio and TV stations, magazines, newspapers and websites to work with. I enjoy my job because every day provides something different and an outlet for my creativity.

There are various other aspects of my job, such as writing and distributing press releases, involvement in our overall marketing strategy, and just generally helping to raise the profile of our artists. I also write these blog entries and the newsletters that many of you receive.

Being a big music fan I feel extremely privileged to work for a company that produces such an abundance of fantastic music. ARC Music’s purpose of “preserving the ethnic music of different world cultures, and spreading traditional and original music with a positive message” is one that I can really support, and I enjoy working with our artists every day.

On my ‘playlist’ at work right now is a lot of Fado, Calypso, Klezmer and Arabic music. So far today I’ve listened to Gonzaga’s album of music from Goa and Hossam Ramzy’s ‘Rock The Tabla’. I also can’t stop listening to the new album by ‘Las Chicas del Tango’, which ARC Music will be releasing in February 2012 (Finnish Tango).

The best thing about being at ARC Music is that every now-and-then we work with a style of music that is totally new to me, that I never even knew existed. These tend to be very ethnic, very raw, and rarely recorded. I’ve “discovered” some truly amazing music this way.

Music is a big part of my life inside and outside of work. I have a very wide taste: from A to Zeppelin and everything in between. Other interests include reading and writing (but not ‘rithmatic). Some of my favourite books? ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’, ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Mankind: Have a Nice Day! A Tale of Blood & Sweatsocks’.

 

In the coming weeks we will be introducing you to all of our staff, with each of them writing a blog post and telling you a bit about themselves. Who should we do next?