REPORT ｜ 15th Golden Indie Music Awards

Text by Masako Takeuchi
Photo provided by GIMA

On Saturday, November 2nd, the 15th Golden Indie Music Awards (GIMA), a Taiwanese music award, was held at the Taipei Trend Music Center in Taipei, Taiwan.

This year’s theme is “Shout Out / Shout Out to”. The main visual was designed by Blob Club.

This piece was designed using the G of GIMA as an outline, the shape of an ear, and the symbol of a sound wave.It expresses how people resonate with each other through music.The shape, which looks like a bean sprout, This award symbolizes that this award is a stage where all artists can grow freely.

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Fire EX.’s Sam Yang, who served as the chairman of the judging committee, talked about how difficult it was to judge each award, and how most of the awards were decided by just one or two votes. “For example, for ‘Best Album,’ the judges debated for about an hour, and at one point they were divided and reached a stalemate.As a result, they finally decided on Bremen’s new work ‘Best Album.’ The Great Bremen This work continues the story of the first album, Taured, but incorporates more diverse elements musically through the unique characters and progression of the story. It is distinctive in that it develops styles.”

He went on to say, “GIMA has an important mission to encourage creativity,” and added, “Each judge has a slightly different perspective, but I think that Furaibai’s work received everyone’s support.” As they said on stage, even though our culture is still young and immature, it is worth paying attention to and nurturing. I hope we can go a long way.”

The first performance, titled “Shout, Shout, Let It All Out,” featured rock bands from Taipei, Modern Cinema Master and Wayne’s So Sad. Post-rock to alternative rock-based music by Joshi Film Daishi, while also focusing on alternative rock, the band is more punk-inspired. I thought they would be performing alternately, but in the middle the band turned into a collaborative performance with two bands playing at the same time. It was the moment when a new door opened for Taiwanese indies.

The ceremony was hosted by comedian Hau Ping Huang. It was very pleasant to watch as they slowly warmed up the temperature of the venue without going too far or pulling it down too much.

I’ll be picking out some of the award winners that I personally found interesting. For “Best New Artist,” he was chosen ahead of other notable nominees such as Plutato, who also received attention at the GMA (Golden Melody Awards), Makav Maa, who also won the GMA Newcomer Award, and Andr, who has been receiving a lot of attention. , the rap survival show “Daisang Ha Jidai The Rappers 2” was won by Taiwanese rap handsome man (rather than Taiwanese Mandarin, which is Taiwan’s official language). When accepting the award, she took to the stage with a band-aid on her face and wore the baggy blue-and-white sandals that are “Taiwanese” and was seen unable to hide her joy.

The winner of “Best Jazz Song” was “Chamakana” by Minyen Hsieh, who is actively performing live in Japan. In his comments after receiving the award, Meiji said, “I’m very surprised.This song was created by meeting Japan’s Suga Dairo, Tokutaro Hosoi, and Osamu Akimoto.I’m so happy and grateful.”
Bay, thank you GIMA,” he expressed his gratitude.

And I’m always curious about who wins the award for “Best Rock Album” every year. This time, the award goes to SorryYouth, a band that sings in Taiwanese and frequently performs live in Japan and has a large fan base in Japan. In his acknowledgments, Giang Giang (Ba.) said, “Before being a musician, I want to be a Taiwanese first.” This is what I would like to say to everyone. We want to sing and deliver our story to everyone.”

When they returned from the stage, the fans who rushed to the venue started chanting “Xie Ten Ja Di Xie Zong Han”, which is derived from the name of Chung-Han (Dr.), which is often heard at Chung-Han live venues. There were voices of joy.

Hip-hop is also gaining popularity in Taiwan’s music scene. Six groups were nominated for this year’s “Best Hip-hop Song”: Newcomer of the Year award winner Abamen, Night Limited (wannasleep & GummyB), Flowstrong, smashRegz, Kamiyogen, and Robot Swing. This is also a lineup that wouldn’t be surprising no matter who was chosen.

The presenters are BSB, a rap group consisting of four members: Ma Ke, Afu, Abo, and Ami Li AMILI. They never forget their sense of humor and say, “We’ve never been nominated before, but this time we’re the presenters,” which is really cool.

This year’s award-winning performance was “ABC” (with Kumachan), which was only available at night. By the way, Gummy B won the “Best Live Performance Award” and “Best Hip-hop Song Award” (“Dunhua South Road Revisit”) at last year’s GIMA, making this the second consecutive year they have achieved this feat. The two were dressed in white (Gummy B) and black (wannasleep) costumes, and briefly conveyed their words of gratitude and hope.

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This year’s GIMA was an amazing collaboration between 7 groups from Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. I would like to take a look back at three groups that particularly attracted me, along with videos.

Hip-hop artist Hsien Ching performed in collaboration with pop/hip-hop electronic composer Dac. Although Chen Yingling has been attracting attention among people in the music industry for some time, he has not yet performed many live performances, and this will be his first live performance at a large venue. They mesmerized the audience with their different expressions, from the tight rapping of “Jinsukka Weitamai” to the mellow hit song “輕輕,” and the gorgeous collaboration with Dac, “沒辦法.”

The night-only performance that won the award for “Best Hip-hop Song” featured a collaboration stage with Korean rapper SINCE. Together with a band, they performed in the order of SINCE only at night, and at the end Gummy B and wannasleep added a new verse to SINCE’s song “Dream”. A valuable cross-border collaboration that could only happen at GIMA was realized.

Singer-songwriter Enno Cheng also collaborated with Korean folk singer Lang Lee. After their respective solo performances, the sight of the two singing at the left and right ends of the stage, far apart in a sense, seemed cold but very beautiful, and their respective singing voices resonated with each other, elevating it into a strong and warm expression.

Lee Tae’s words about the “difficult situation of Korean independent music, which is different from the glamorous world of K-POP,” are sure to resonate with many musicians. I look forward to their future activities as they continue to create wonderful music.

The last award I would like to introduce is the “Special Contribution Award.” This year, the award was not given to a person, but to the event “THE NEXT BIG THING”, which, like GIMA, is celebrating its 15th year this year and has made a major contribution to the formation of the contemporary Taiwanese music scene.

This event is held once a month at Legacy Taipei, and as the title suggests, they quickly hook up with newcomers who are looking forward to their future activities. According to what I hear, it has produced many bands/artists such as Roo Rakutai, Chair Rakudan, and YELLOW Huang Xuan.

The special guest was Wu Bai, also known as the “King of Rock.” During his speech, he threw away the notes he had prepared and sang a rendition of his rock opera, “How to Be a Rock Star.” “No one knew this when I joined, but if we don’t follow this path, our future will be…” We will never know what will happen,” he said, receiving a big round of applause from the audience.

Lastly, I would like to share with you the words that I mentioned at the beginning, after receiving the award for “Best Album” and “Best Rock Song.”

“I would like to sincerely thank GIMA and everyone who supports us. Our culture is still young and immature, especially when it comes to subcultures. Taiwanese labels, live houses, festivals, agents, showcases, And organizers of various events…especiallyFat Head Music,FINAL,Suck Glue Boys,Shuangfeng Song Piece (TWIN PEAKS Records)I would like to express my gratitude to

The live performance is a very important “nutrient” for musicians. And it makes us realize that we are never alone as we walk the path of music. Additionally, there are many people who are contributing to culture in their own ways and trying interesting things. Every time I watch a live performance by a band I don’t know, I feel that each band expresses their own aesthetic sense, transcending the boundaries of size, major/indie, etc.

That is why we are constantly exposed to various activities and influenced by different atmospheres from different parts of the world. thank you. Our culture is still very young and immature. This is especially true when it comes to subcultures. Anyway, let’s support local and do it our way! ”

This year, I was able to experience the steady increase in the presence of independent artists in Taiwan’s music industry. This leads to new encounters across countries and collaborations from there. I couldn’t help but feel the momentum of Taiwanese indie music that continues to expand beyond various frameworks.

▼List of 15th Konion Award winners (artist name/work title)

■Best Album Award
Bremen Entertainment Inc. (Producer: Michael Wu) “The Great Bremen Show”

■Best Band Award
Elephant Gym “World”

■Best singer-songwriter award
Joanna Wang “Hotel La Rut”

■Best New Artist Award
Taiwan rap handsome man “Kokoro” (SIM)

■Best player award
Cheng Chia Fu “Pluto Potato” – Drum, Electronic, Effects
Mao-Sung LEE “MANAGONA” – Synthesizer, Marimba, Percussion, Drums
Simple FlyingPP “Geometry” – Drums

■Best Live Award
Robot Swing ““Is It Alive?””

■Best Asian Creative Artist Award
Silica Gel『POWER ANDRE 99』

▼Genre Music Awards

■Best Rock Album Award
Sorry Youth “Noise Apartment”

■Best Rock Song Award
Bremen Entertainment Inc. “Peace and Quiet (Bremen announcement)” (“The Great Bremen Show”)

■Best Folk Album Award
Shuchan Chiu “Shape of Life”

■Best folk song
Rural martial arts youth TUDI-VOICE “Native Tongue” (“The Song for You”)

■Best Hip Hop Album Award
SmashRegz “Sanfukan” (WHO CARES)

■Best Hip Hop Song Award
wannasleep & Gummy B feat. Kumachan “ABC” (“BS”)

■Best electronic music album award
Chill Qin 『Wonderful One』

■Best Electronic Music Song Award
Chill Qin “Wonderful One”

■Best Jazz Album Award
Plutato『Pluto Potato』