Nuclear Blast strengthens international A&R team with appointment of Nathan Barley Phillips as Senior A&R

DONZDORF, Germany - September 29, 2020 – Nuclear Blast, the World‘s number 1 Metal label, belonging to parent company Believe, announces the nomination of Nathan Barley Phillips as senior A&R for the label.

Nathan comes to Nuclear Blast via Believe, where he was Head of TuneCore UK since the start of 2018. Nathan was responsible for all operations and relationships with artists, managers and industry partners working with TuneCore in the UK.

Before joining TuneCore, Nathan Barley Phillips followed an early career as a musician and promoter. He formed Basick Records in 2005 and set about the task of developing a forward-thinking record label for heavy music. Giving emerging UK artists such as Enter Shikari, Bury Tomorrow and Sleep Token their first commercial releases, the Basick label soon became synonymous with the cutting edge of heavy genres, with Nathan going on to sign and release music from Misery Signals, SikTh, Monuments, Skyharbor, Ion Dissonance, Devil Sold His Soul, Intervals, Heart Of A Coward and Napoleon among many others. After generating many commercial successes and accolades, Basick Records was nominated three times in a row for the Metal Hammer Golden God ‘Best Indie Label’ Award (2016, 2017, 2018).

Nathan also recently served 4 years (2014-2018) on the board of directors at the Association Of Independent Music (AIM), a trade body organization based in the UK that represents over 800 music companies, from some of the largest and most respected independent record labels in the world, to small start-ups.

"Getting the opportunity to join the Nuclear Blast family is a great honor for me. I grew up listening to pretty much every band on the roster and Nuclear Blast was a huge influence when I was starting my own label 15 years ago. I have a deep respect for the heritage of Nuclear Blast and I am relishing the task of signing and developing the new talent that will come to define the future legacy of the label.” Nathan Barley Phillips

“We are building an international company to best serve artists at all stages of their career. At Nuclear Blast, we are actively building new teams across the world in our offices of Donzdorf, Los Angeles, Paris, Hamburg or London, in an effort to continue the signing of new talents and legacy acts, and the development of the best services for our artists, from A&R, to marketing, promotion or distribution” says Thorsten Freese, Managing Director of Believe Germany.

“We are thrilled to welcome Nathan to the Nuclear Blast team, with his strong background and experience. Nathan’s recruitment represents a great step forward in building the future of Nuclear Blast”. Thorsten Freese

Known for setting trends in the Metal community and always going against the grain, Nuclear Blast records believes in investing towards the future. Now, more than ever, bands, their beloved scene and genre need Nuclear Blast the most. The label is actively building new teams across the world in their offices of Donzdorf, Los Angeles, Paris, Hamburg and London, in an effort to continue the signing of new talents and legacy acts and the development of the best services for their artists, from A&R, to marketing, promotion or distribution. In the hard time of 2020, Nuclear Blast keep on building the future of hard and extreme music. 

About Believe

Believe is a world leading digital music company, helping artists and labels to build their audiences and careers, at all stages of their development. It is a best-in-class technology organization, providing global distribution and digital marketing services to its partners, with more than 1,200 professionals and offices in 45 countries. Believe owns several brands, labels and companies including Believe Distribution, TuneCore, Nuclear Blast, Naïve, AllPoints.