Ben Rimmer is Head of Label Management UK at Believe Digital where he manages digital distribution and services for leading independent labels and artists. Ben previously worked at Far Out Recordings and Proper Music Group. He co-runs the Cambridge/London/Chicago indie label Tip Top Recordings. He was included in Music Week’s 30 UK Music Professionals Under 30 in 2014 and has also written for The Fly, AU, Matador and The Britsh Arts Council.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. I live in the UK in London where I work as Head of UK Label Management at Believe Digital managing the likes of Xtra Mile, One Little Indian, Mute and Future Classic working on projects such as Goldfrapp, Björk, Flume, Chet Faker, Frank Turner and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Together with David Warn I also run the Cambridge/London/Chicago based independent record label Tip Top Recordings, which has launched new bands Blue On Blue, The British Public, Cassels, Forest, GXHST and SEVERIN.
Top 3 favourite or most visited websites and why?
www.teamtalk.com – to feed my football fix
www.thelineofbestfit.com – to satisfy my alt-music addiction
www.vice.com – to laugh at the crazies and the cutting comments
Who is your ideal business sponsor/partner? I already have him. David Warn funds Tip Top Recordings and in partnership we discover new bands for the label to release. David is extremely supportive and allows me to get on with the job.
What are some recent, upcoming or current projects you are working on? Last year we released the debut EP from Forest, which saw the band gain attention from the likes of Pitchfork, Spinner and Q. In 2014 we have put out the debut single by Cassels, who have now been tipped by BBC, Artrocker and The Great Escape. May 19th Tip Top is proud to release ‘Elektrichka’s Favourite Party Record ‘, the fourth album by The Projects, which has been completed by the band three years after lead singer and songwriter Graeme Wilson’s sudden death at the age of forty two in December 2011. The band includes members Mira Aroyo (Ladytron), Koichi Yamanoha (Grimm Grimm, Screaming Tea Party) and Mon Chan (Bo Ningen).
How did your interest in your work begin? Watching live music almost every night in Liverpool and around the UK, while at University gave me a huge passion for new music. Early shows by The Libertines, British Sea Power, Micah P Hinson, The Cribs and discovering the likes of The Smiths and Stone Roses changed everything. I am still as excited about music now, but working behind the scenes takes away some of the magic and mystery.
How long have you lived in London and what brought you there? I was born in Greenwich, London in 1984 and moved back in 2008 to live with some of my best school friends and begin an internship at Brazilian/Electronic record label Far Out Recordings with the mighty Joe Davis, Alex Knezevic and Elaine Obeng.
What’s your absolute favourite place in the world to be? On the top of a mountain skiing in Europe or North America.
What are you reading right now? I am reading A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami (a brilliant Japanese writer of surreal fiction).
What do you do when you’re not busy with Tip Top Recordings? I love to travel. My last trip was to Austin, TX for SXSW and next is to Helsinki and Lapland in Finland with my girlfriend Sarah. My friends and I also run a small food club where we eat at many of the interesting new start up restaurants in London and cook Sunday dinners for each other. I play squash, football and have passions for film and live music.
What are you really excited about right now? New music from Thief, Labyrinth Ear, Holden Girls and Holy Esque plus House of Cards on Netflix