Breakthrough: Release Ready

Amelia Coburn has a knack for making the unusual sound timeless. Her honest, occasionally hilarious and quintessentially north-eastern persona disarms and beguiles in equal measure. 

Drawing inspiration from gothic literature and the shadowy allure of film noir, there is a darkness at the heart of many of her songs, populated by vivid characters and nocturnal creatures that inhabit the liminal space “between the moon and the milkman”.  

2024’s Bill Ryder-Jones produced debut album gained a cult following, including praise from British music legends Paul Weller and Paul Heaton – as well as national radio play across BBC Radios 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. 

Hailed as “one to watch in 2025” by Louder Than War and Drowned In Sound, Amelia hit the ground running with spellbinding sets at SXSW in Texas and a feature on Paul Weller’s latest album ‘Find El Dorado’. 

Audiences continued to grow thanks to enchanting support slots with the likes of The Levellers, Rianne Downey, Hamish Hawk, Stornoway, Rumer and Katherine Priddy – not to mention her own headline UK tour and mesmerising sets at some of the UK’s best loved boutique festivals. 

Supported by PRS Foundation’s Open Fund and inspired by the feminist works of writers like Angela Carter and Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Coburn’s latest single ‘Something. Wild’ continues to solidify Coburn’s burgeoning reputation. 

The Loft Music group of businesses is run by Andrew Archer and his business partner John Elliott and includes a recording studio, a sync licensing agency, a publishing company, a record label and a successful artist/production team at its centre.

Andrew has been working in the music industry for over 25 years, having started at Global Underground, the internationally renowned dance music brand, from its inception in 1996 until leaving to run Loft Music full time in 2007, and was an instrumental figure in Global Underground’s success.

Loft Music creates and licenses music to some of the world’s leading entertainment brands, including Sony, EA Sports and CBS Television for titles such as Gran Turismo, CSI: New York and SSX Tricky.

For the past 10 years Loft Music has been back working with Global Underground. Andrew is now Label Manager and runs the label, roles include licensing, royalty accounting, artist liaison, manufacturing, distribution, D2C sales, social media management, tour support and anything else that is needed within this ever changing industry. 

Chelsea Wood has worked on global campaigns for the likes of Nina Nesbitt, Ella Henderson and Grammy Award winner Foxes. She started in the music industry over a decade ago managing artists and running North East’s ‘Blast Recording Studio’ which saw the likes of Sam Fender, Take That and The Marmozets using its facilities. She went onto move to London where she helped secure over 1 billion streams on Nina Nesbitt’s record, tour managed four North American tours, created a breakthrough strategy for her clients on Tik Tok, generated over £80,000 worth of funding for her acts and headed up indie label ‘Truth Records’ as marketing manager for their releases. She now runs Wood Management focusing on UK and US based clients including Finn Forster, Maius Mollis and DBMK, and her sync agency Got Music.

Grace is a musician, sound artist, producer, and facilitator from Hartlepool, best known for writing and performing with the rock band Venus Grrrls, playing international showcases such as SXSW and co-writing with Max Helyer from You Me At Six. She directs ‘We Make Sound’ alongside Nell Catchpole, a community music company that helps young people collaborate creatively, write music, and access opportunities such as festival showcases and radio play on BBC Tees and CVFM. As a community producer for BBC Tees and a sound artist, Grace has composed for major projects, including Walk The Plank’s Tower of Light and Tala Lee Turton’s ballet. She recently co-produced a ballad-style podcast with the community of Washington, supported by folk legend Peggy Seeger. Grace has collaborated with Anna Meredith and Shiva Fesharaki and works with environmental soundscapes using field recorders and hydrophones.

Henry Carden is an award-winning music manager and festival promoter based in the heart of Tees Valley. Recent highlights include a Local Hero award from AIM & BBC Introducing, a place on the MMF & YouTube’s prestigious ‘Accelerator’ programme, and an invite to the BRITs Voting Academy. Carden has extensive experience managing national and international campaigns for artists; with chart success, national airplay, major brand syncs, festival bookings and impressive streaming numbers all par for the course.

Representing the careers of a growing range of nationally and internationally respected indie, singer-songwriter and alt-pop artists, Henry also works as a mentor and artist development consultant. Artists to benefit from his expertise in recent years include Cattle & Cane, Amelia Coburn, Jodie Nicholson, Cape Cub, Mt. Misery, Melanie Baker, Sarah Johnsone, Komparrison, Marketplace, Loren Heat and many more.

As a promoter, Henry brought the likes of The 1975, Wolf Alice, Sam Fender, Field Music, Frank Turner, Alt-J and many more to Teesside when they were first emerging. This track record of working with the brightest and best breaking bands inspired the launch of Middlesbrough’s critically acclaimed multi-venue festival Twisterella alongside fellow north east promoter The Kids Are Solid Gold.

Ruth has held various roles in the industry for over 15 years, from booking and shooting shows to radio and content creation, as Artist Liaison at the UK’s leading funder of new music, artist and producer management, and writer of Compass: the weekly new music column at Record of the Day, for almost a decade. Most recently, Ruth was tasked with redesigning and running ReBalance 2024 for Festival Republic – a development programme creating opportunities for women and gender-expansive artists, producers and engineers, in studios across the UK. Finding unsigned (and under-represented) artists across all genres and providing a platform for growth has always been at the core of each project. In every workplace, Ruth has highlighted and encouraged consideration of class barriers to growth, hidden or otherwise. Passionate about transparency, accountability, and fair access for all.