Some of the most influential, unsung heroes of the UK’s independent live music scene have been recognised in the inaugural INDIE50.
Following an open, public nomination phase earlier in the year, the judging panel, including BBC 6 Music’s Tom Ravenscroft and Pitchfork’s Laura Snapes, deliberated the final 50, which is featured in full below.
The list takes in promoters such as Eat Your Own Ears and Field Day founder Tom Baker, Tramlines festival booker Kate Hewett, SBTV’s Jamal Edwards, Femi Adeymi of online radio hub NTS; and label founders including Simon Williams of Fierce Panda. It also includes Nathan Clark of Leeds Brudenell Social Club, Jeff Horton of London’s The 100 Club; and Kathianne Hingwan, general manager of Dalston’s Vortex Jazz Club.
Dave Newton, co-founder of WeGotTickets, the company behind the award, said: "We started out in 2000 as a small ticketing company working on local gigs in Oxford. We now work with thousands of venues and promoters across the UK, and we’ve seen first hand, time and time again, the effect that certain individuals can have on a local scene. INDIE50 is all about celebrating those people and giving them some recognition on a national level.”
Also announced is the INDIE50 photographic exhibition, Don’t Be A Dick – an exhibition of the WeGotTickets INDIE50, launched on September 1 and runs until September 8 at 71a Gallery in London.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a limited edition Zine, titled, Don’t Be A Dick – people & stories from behind the scenes of independent music, produced by photographer Dan Wilton and journalist Josh Jones. All will be available online at www.indie50.com as of the exhibition launch.
"Josh and I spent a week travelling the country to meet, photograph and interview the INDIE50,” explained Wilton. “To say it was an eye opening experience is an understatement. The passion and sense of community that underscores the country’s independent live scene, that gives grass roots music a platform, really shone through. We were on a really tight schedule so we didn’t have long with each person - the fact we wished we could have had a pint with many of them speaks volumes to the individual people that make the scene what it is."
For more information visit www.INDIE50.co.uk.
INDIE50 LIST:
Alex Murray - Promoter, One Inch Badge
Alice Passey - Owner, Servant Jazz Quarters
Amanda Stanley & Stacey Walton - Co-Founders, TYCI
Camille Rearden - Independent Promoter
Caroline Simionescu-Marin - Editor, GRM Daily / A&R Manager, XL Recordings
Chris Bye - Music Manager, The Arts Council
Chris Horkan - Promoter, Hey Manchester / Editor, Manchester Wire
Chris Tipton - Promoter, Upset The Rhythm
Craig Johnston - Booker, King Tuts
Daniel Monsell - Promoter, Rockfeedback
Dominique Frazer - Founder/Director, The Boileroom
Dylan Clarke - Booker, The Brook
Ed Lilo - Head of Venues, London for DHP
Emma Daman Thomas - Curator and Designer, Shape
Femi Adeymi - Founder, NTS
Grainne Braithwaite - Promoter, Synergy Concerts
Howard Monk - Promoter, The Local
Immy Doman & Risa Tabatznik - Managers, The Green Note
Jamal Edwards - Founder, SBTV
Jeff Horton - Owner, The 100 Club
Jeffrey Johns - Individual
Jess Partridge - Editor, London in Stereo
Jodie Layton - Co-owner, Space Station and Brixton Beach Boulevard
Joe Caithness - Co-Founder, JT Soar, Subsequent Mastering & Second Stage Audio
Joe Grant - Founder, Be Nothing Concerts
Joel Thompson - Booker, The Cluny
John Rostron - Co-Founder, Swn Festival & The Welsh Music Prize
Jon Hillcock - Presenter, BBC 6 Music / Podcaster
Jon Wickstead & Wesley Jones - Founders, Now Wave
Jules Bigg - Owner, Ramsgate Music Hall
Julian Deane - Founder, Raygun Management
Kate Hewett - Booker, The Harley & Tramlines Festival
Kathianne Hingwan - General Manager, Vortex Jazz Club
Liam Jolly - Promoter, SW1 Productions
Loretta DeFéo - Booker, The Sebright Arms
Nathan Clark - Owner, The Brudenell Social Club
Rachel Aggs - Band Leader / Manager, Power Lunches
Ronan Munro - Founder/Editor, Nightshift Magazine
Rupert Morrison - Owner, The Drift
Sarah Cole - Promoter, Supercharged
Simon Baker - Promoter, Green Mind
Simon Catling - Booker, Soup Kitchen
Simon Williams - Founder, Fierce Panda Records
Steve 'Revo' Miller - Promoter, EVOL
Tallah Brash - Marketing Manager/Booker, Electric Circus
Thristian Richards - Co-Founder, Boiler Room
Tom Baker - Founder, Eat Your Own Ears & Field Day
