Well this may sound like some wacky wish fulfillment but the A Train juggernaut has hitched itself up to cherry pick and develop various artists who currently work with Total Creative Freedom Ltd in North and South America. The idea behind TCF really is that the lunatics have taken over the asylum and guess what, they are doing a great job. Musicians and labels within the TCF structure are empowered to make their own choices as they negotiate their way through the digital age and all the many possibilities it presents.
Currently TCF license and manage releases for Knumskull HQ, Sup Peeps Records, The Big Chill Label, Bob Hillary and The Massive Mellow, Mezzowave, Mano De Dios, Paul Diello, Holotronica and Patrick Bergin. Major label refugee and recording artist Eugenie Arrowsmith and producer, re-mixer and artist Lee Pepper founded TCF. Eugenie had been signed to Virgin 10 Records as a teenager in the late 80s (and yes there are YouTube videos out there to prove this). She made a half a million pound album with the likes of Steve Hillage, members of Shriek Back and Mercury nominated trumpeter Guy Barker. Similarly Pepper (as he is commonly known) had been signed to EMI and spent 3 years working in Paris and New York.
Both individuals had similarly formative and frustrating experiences of the industry and had come to similar conclusions about the need for change. Eugenie took the route of working tirelessly in independent promotion in order to better understand the industry. Working with Sarah Jane Morris, The Hot House Flowers and Banco De Gaia and crucially with artists like King Britt and Roy Nathanson through representing US label Six Degrees Records in the UK. She also worked for Buddha Bar, DJ Pathaan, Aiwa and for The Big Chill since 2005 that she now manages within Total Creative Freedom.
Pepper began his career working as a tape op for Trevor Vallis (who produced the Europeans and Marillion) in Kent and then moving to Brixton in the early 90s where he worked with Danielle Dax, Fuzz Townsend of Pop will Eat Itself and co produced at Eastcote Studios with Steve D’Agostino (Depeche Mode, Heaven 17, John Foxx). Over the years he has worked with folk legends the Copper Family, Beverly Martin, Chris Coco and Sacha Putnam, Marcella Detroit, Celtic Legend (with Chris Payne and members of the Medievil Babes) and Dave Hemmingway of The Beautiful South. He also managed Bliss Studios in Sussex for Hollywood actor Patrick Bergin, for whom he produced an Irish top ten hit. He also produced a track for the band Pushka that was used globally to promote the Worldwide Beach Volleyball championships.
Total Creative Freedom tip their hat to the great traditions of the music industry (artist development and free creative expression) and bring that awareness and fair play to the table. The decision to become a TCF artist is the decision to take responsibility for your output and your alliances. TCF facilitates but ultimately the artists choose or are chosen to participate in an unfolding network of relationships, A Train is a big part of that picture. “It’s really, really exciting to be working with A Train on these debut US releases and to be developing the publishing side of the conversation too. I am really excited to see how Turncoat (signed to Brighton based alternative label Knumskull HQ) will be received. Equally I feel Bob Hillary and The Massive Mellow have a definite place in the hearts of US listeners because the message of the music started in San Francisco in the 60s” says Eugenie.
Al Evers, CEO of A Train, adds “A Train Entertainment began over 25 year ago as an artist management company and a facilitator for independent labels to get their music seen and heard outside of the United States. Although the means by which audiences find and enjoy music and art have changed over the last 25 years, the concept of empowering the artist while they retain ownership of their work has remained at the core of our business model. Total Creative Freedom is a natural fit with A Train, both in terms of their core mission and the music they are associated with. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship”.
For more information, contact Bob Williard, Bob {at} a-train.com
