Written by Sean O'Neill

The INDY Music Awards made its hugely impressive debut at London’s Clapham Grand. The ceremony was an innovative approach to the promotion and showcasing of independent acts with real talent. Independent meaning acts that are not signed to labels but who are recognised for their ability rather than their promotional budget. At least the grass roots industry has taken the step of doing something productive to help Independent talent in the UK. The genuine enthusiasm and commitment of the organisers was summed up by the Awards CEO Jeremy Glover who described what had led to the staging of the Indy Music Awards ‘I love live music and have so much respect for the whole grass roots music scene. It has a rawness and honesty and its full of amazingly talented artists and a dedicated support group of venue owners, promoters, friends and fans who give so much for the pure love of it all. I guess the INDY Music Awards are just a way of saying hey everybody you’re doing a great thing here, just stop for a moment and look at what you are all achieving’.

The event itself had a somewhat chaotic start but this soon gave way to a great evening of diverse and talented artists. Good performances were seen from Claire Toomey, Joanna and the Wolf, Kingsize and Suzerein. The Awards were hosted by Virgin Radio Extremes Greg Burns who demonstrated his usual good humour and kept the pace of things ticking over even when glitches reared their head. Jeremy Glover was refreshingly candid about the Awards

‘There are a lot of lessons to be learned and I will be speaking to everybody over the coming weeks to see how we can not just run the night better next year but how we can manage the whole process from the nominations through to the awards ceremony. Having said that what a great night with excellent performances from the INDY artists and a big thanks to all the established artists who came out in force to support the INDYs Tom McRae, Iyare, Omar, Rankin Roger, Andy Matthews, Neville Staple, Kevin Shirley, Glen Matlock, and a special thanks to Olivia Safe for opening the awards and Marcella Detroit for such a spectacular closing performance’.

It was inspiring to see that the support for the Independent artists not only came from the organisers and industry professionals but also from the established artists who attended. Jeremy Glover is not overstating the case when he described Marcella Detroit’s set as ’spectacular’, it certainly was.

Jeremy Glover continued to share his thoughts on the Independent UK music scene ‘From what I can see it’s incredibly healthy. We can thank new technologies and the internet for making it easier for a bunch of kids to get together, form a band, write and record their own songs and market themselves on social networking sites like MySpace or Bebo. There’s an estimated 250,000 of them in the UK wow!’. ‘This however raises issues that I hope the INDYs will go some way to address. First off they can’t all be good and they can’t all be signed …. I truly believe The INDYs, because of the nomination process resting in the hands of promoters and venues, is the perfect filter for identifying the real talent out there. If you go see a band that has been nominated I can guarantee you it will be well worth it.’

Real music fans will undoubtedly receive Jeremy Glover’s words as manna from Heaven. However, what did he think of shows such as the X Factor?
‘Of course there is a place for shows like X-Factor, since TV was invented there always has been. It’s a karaoke show lets face it and Simon Cowell is the later day Hughie Green…. Its great for a major label because it is one of the last mass market opportunities left to get a performer exposed. They are the McDonalds of the music industry heavily processed and marketed.’ He continued ‘I would recommend it to any band starting out to look beneath the superficiality of it all and realise there is a lot of work on vocals, styling, confidence and performance levels, that can really help artists who want to perform their own material.’

It is obvious that Jeremy Glover speaks with the voice of experience. And INDY artists should be grateful to have that experience and commitment in their corner. Having made such an impressive debut with the first Indy Awards what of the future? ‘As long as I promote live music there will be The INDY Music Awards because that’s where it came from, nominating bands that played with me at The Rock Garden last year….I will do everything I can to help it grow into something more significant and special but that is up to the venues, promoters and artists. I hope they all nominate again next year and word spreads and we can include venues and promoters the length and breadth of the Kingdom.’ These are admirable words indeed particularly coming from such a noted industry voice.

Jeremy Glover expands in passionate terms on how he plans to continue his musical renaissance. ‘I’m in talks with various people about how to move forward with not just The INDYs but other initiatives to serve the grass roots music industry. All along I’ve seen so much passion in what everybody is doing and where there is passion there is value and if you understand that value and can bring even more value then you have a great business opportunity. There is too much exploitation of young artists and their fan bases from unscrupulous corporates and music is being de-valued at an incredible rate. I want to try and re-address this.’

Not only were the INDY Awards themselves highly entertaining but incredibly the after show party proved to be excellent value in itself with an impressive start from Joe Driscoll (Best Solo Act) whose human beat box beats were looped as he sang several very impressive songs. Strong sets were later provided by Kuz, The Skallywags, Marner Brown and the Red Star Rebels.

Jeremy Glover and his compatriots deserve a firm round of applause for showing that someone in the industry is prepared to finally put the music before the money. Karaoke cover acts need not apply.

CALL TO ACTION

In 2008 the INDY Music Awards will cover the entire UK. If you are a venue
owner/band booker or promoter and wish to nominate your favourite artists
for a prestigious INDY then please register at www.indyawards.co.uk

Read Glen Matlock's interview at the INDY Music Awards here