Hello!
I am honoured
to have the opportunity to attend such a beautiful event next month – the Music
Awards of Staffordshire and Cheshire. I believe that our local music scene is
currently in its prime, and to be able to get involved in it is such a
privilege. The event is a brilliant way for the industry to come together and
celebrate what’s important. I’ve caught up with organiser Lee Barber, as well
as some of the nominees and sponsors! Here’s what everyone has to say!
I asked Lee
why he’d decided to set up the Music Awards of Staffordshire and Cheshire; he
replied, ‘I’ve set up the Music Awards of Staffordshire and Cheshire to
celebrate the amazing music and musicians we have. There is so much talent.
Across many different genres of music, going unappreciated, and the aim of the
music awards is to not only give musicians’ recognition for their talent, but
also get their name spread across the area. I think the event itself, at the
Kings Hall on Friday 12th of February, will also provide a great
opportunity for musicians to connect with other budding artists as well as
promoters, recording artists and music managers who will be in attendance.’ –
Lee Barber
The titles
that are being awarded at the event are shown below, along with the list of
nominees in each category:
There are a
number of local sponsors for the event, whom I asked ‘how does it feel to be
involved in the Music Awards of Staffordshire and Cheshire’ which prompted some
lovely and enthusiastic replies!
Riff Factory
(sponsoring the Best Single Award) stated, ‘It’s great, at Riff Factory, we
want to bring as many people together as possible to create a strong community
again in the local music scene. This event is doing exactly that.’
‘We believe
that [the local music scene] is getting stronger and stronger with each passing
opportunity. With how popular this event has become, it really shows too.’
‘We are really
looking forward to seeing everyone in the music scene together and celebrating
what the music scene should be about, which is having fun!’
Record
Producer, Sam Bloor (sponsoring the Best Record Award) said, ‘it’s a great
honour to be a part of something like this! It’s a really new and exciting
idea, so it should be a lot of fun too. There are some incredible bands and
musicians right here, in Stoke, so I feel really proud to be a sponsor.’
I also wanted
to get in and amongst the talented musicians that have been nominated for
awards to see how they felt about being nominated and what it would be like for
them to win. I also asked what their opinion is regarding our local music
scene, and the Music Awards event that had been established to celebrate it.
Here are some of the best responses:
Poliptik: ‘We are honoured and excited to have
been acknowledged with the nomination. This city has always had a band to be
proud of at any given time over the decades past but right now - at a time
where the arts are being squeezed and also as this city bids to be named
'European City of Culture' - the creative explosion has led to so many good new
bands appearing and Poliptik are super happy to have been noticed amongst this,
whatever the outcome of the award.
We feel
that the Award Event is a great step towards pushing the area's music closer in
to the public's conscious and now there seems to be a coming together of the
area's Music scene - from the acts, the studios that bands use, to Six Towns
Radio, BBC Stoke and The Sentinel, and some brave local promoters - so moving
forward anything that all these musical acts want to achieve now comes with a
strong level of support and blessing from people who deeply care about music.’
Alter
Eden: ‘The nomination alone
is incredible - some of the bands that we're up against have been some of our
favourite bands from the area (and nationally) for years, so even being
compared with these guys in the same breath is a huge compliment, let alone
being compared to them as peers.
Of course, winning the award would be amazing - music fans are at the heart of EVERYTHING that we do so to be held in that high a regard from voters would be one of those warm fuzzy moments that you dream about as a musician.
Stoke on Trent & Staffordshire on the whole
has one of the most diverse and exciting music scenes in the country - in some
ways it's a shame that bands judge their own success by their ability to break
out of it to be honest. Every weekend (and often in mid-week too) there will be
a gig worth going to going on somewhere in the city.
I love the fact that [the Music Awards event]
picked up such pace in such a short amount of time. There's such a high quality
of bands coming out of Staffordshire & Cheshire, it's exciting to see a
celebration of that quality.’
Tussk: ‘We're really proud to be put up for
nomination in such a tough category alongside so many awesome bands. The local
rock scene is on form at the minute. If we won it'd be great but even getting
nominated means that people dig what we're doing which is awesome.
[The
Music Awards Event] a great way of bringing awareness across all of the musical
genres that Staffordshire and Cheshire are producing, which is awesome for the
local scene. We take our hats off to the guys behind it all.’
Sworn To Oath: ‘We're
privileged to be up for the award & for the support from our local scene.
We're really proud of where we're from so to be recognized in our territory for
our hard work would mean a lot!
I think
[the local music scene]’s better than it's ever been, there's some really
exiting bands coming out of the area & it's great to be a part of it.
Mirror Signal: ‘[The
nomination] felt really cool actually. I'm not actually from the area, I've
been studying here for the last 3 years, so it's really nice to be accepted and
recognised for my music in the area.
I think
there are some great acts coming out of the area, like Delamere and Racing
Glaciers. Also venues like the Sugarmill offer bands cool opportunities to
support bigger bands and play to friends. I think as all award ceremonies do,
it will help to make people more aware of the scene and hopefully appreciate it
and want to contribute.’
Chris Hough: ‘It absolutely insane I can't
get my head around it in the slightest, like I'm nothing special all I do is
play guitar sing and write songs with my band like, I'm so overwhelmed about it
all. It's mad like proper madness and I haven't even thought about winning it
I'm just over the moon to have even been nominated, there's so much talent up
for the same award I've got no chance.
Stokes
scene finally looks like it's doing something again, it's been dead since like
2012 and it's finally picking up again I love it, I love local music like its
literally all I listen to, as for the awards evening it's brilliant, Lee Barber
deserves a medal, everyone involved does. One day people will know stoke and
not just for football or pottery, music will put stoke on the map if we all
carry on the way we are.’
Ryan Dooley: ‘[To win the award would] mean a lot
but I believe John Dhali should win it this year as I've been largely inactive
due to illness. It's great to be recognised though and I'm looking forward to
this year immensely. There'll be a release and a lot more shows. There is some
top talent on the scene at the moment.’
Lost Russle: ‘Shocked! I love my music, so hearing
other people enjoy it as much as I do is a super boost for me. I wrote it in
college whilst I was supposed to be doing an assignment deadline so I wasn't
expecting the track to get so far! To think that somebody likes my music enough
to nominate it for an award, no matter how significant, it instils a lovely
kinda warmth inside. Hearing people respect you and your art is awesome when
you've worked for it.
It would
mean a massive lot to monument the debuting of my music, especially with such a
thing as an award. Not only would it be the first award I've won since primary
school, but in much distaste, it'd be a proud, intermediate 'in your face/told
you so' message to all the shit teachers I've had. It would mean consolidating
my career; however it decides to pan out, which is a good feeling as a young
artist.’
The Gurus: ‘We are very happy to have been nominated
and are thankful for the recognition of our efforts as a band; it feels
like all of our hard work is being recognised. It’s quite an honour.
Some top acts in the category, and to be mentioned in the same league as them
shows we must be doing something right'
Broken Flags: ‘It's
great to be nominated, especially considering how new we actually are.
Literally about 3 months in the public domain! It's an incredible event for the
area, and all of the nominees are worthy of it. For us though, playing live at
the ceremony and wrapping the event up live onstage is what really matters to
us.
I've seen
quite a few Stoke 'scenes' come and go, and I can honestly say this is one of
the most vibrant I have ever been part of. Psyence, Rinse, Delamere and John
Dhali amongst others are really taking things up a notch and sounding way ahead
of some of the more recognised bands from bigger cities. It's a potentially
golden age, and we'll be bang involved throughout.’
Shakedown Stockholm: ‘It would
mean a lot. To win any award for doing what we love is an added bonus. We'd
love for the record to be recognise as the best in the area we grew up in.
I think
[the Music Awards event] is brilliant. The current British music scene allows
national awards to go to bands and artists who often aren't worthy of the award
they receive. We feel that there are many bands and artists who are unsigned
but yet produce just as good, if not better music but haven't yet been given
the national recognition some bands have. To have an award night like this
allows unsigned bands, not necessarily talking about solely us, to receive the
recognition they deserve. We feel, win or lose, it's a great event.’
Narn: ‘I work really hard and I spend all
of my time doing music 24/7 so to not just get one nomination but to get 2 is
insane, I'm really grateful if I won
it would be an amazing feeling! I'm nominated against some really talented
musicians and anybody in the categories could win!
I think
it's a really awesome event and I'm really excited that there's now an event
completely dedicated to celebrating and awarding the local musicians! There's a
variety of nominations and musicians of all different genres and styles and I
think it's great that everybody's coming together for one night to all be with
each other and support each other! It's going to be a really great night.’
Wires: ‘We think it's awesome! Although
we've been going for a while, we only completed the present line-up in July --
straight to the rehearsal room, a couple of gigs and recording the single. It
means people are listening to local music and that's key.
We dig [the local music scene]. We're in it!
We support local music, we watch local bands, we buy their merch
and we spread the word and hope they do the same in return. Stoke seems to be
the centre of the local scene; Stafford doesn't have much going on (even though
it's the county town) and bigger cities like Manchester and Birmingham have
their own thing going on. We're just lads who rehearse in a studio in Burslem
who make the music we enjoy - unashamedly - and we spend a lot of time and
effort on it, which is why we want to showcase ourselves. I'm sure a lot of
local bands do the same - we're all in it together.
Anything that recognises the effort that goes into local music
is a plus, if you ask us. I'm sure that regular radio listeners think music
just happens and it's almost disposable; so to recognise the fact that bands
have to meet, write, rehearse, gig, record, produce, make merchandise and
actually like doing that? And each other? It's a wonder any of us get anything
done.’
Malthouse: ‘Nice to get recognition by the hierachy of Stoke on Trent’s
music scene. We were all happy with the vibe of the EP and the way it turned
out so it's great to see it in and amongst other great local acts.
Local
music scene is outstanding. Quality everywhere and in all genre camps. The
awards evening is a great idea to celebrate good local music.’
Ivory Bloc: ‘It would be an honour to be recognised and win an award for
something that we worked hard for, especially as we're trying to push our work
in America, to get recognised by our area would be a big thing for us.’
Exowaves: 'Great to be nominated for another award after winning Best Band in the 6 Towns Radio Awards.... Going to be another top night out. It would mean alot to win best New Act because we believe our songs will take us to the heights we deserve to be at.'
Pacific: ‘It would be terrific yeah [to win the award], it's always
great to get that little bit of extra attention for one of your songs...
especially when it's coming from somewhere local!
Think
the music scene is really good - there's a lot of hard working bands in the
area, who are supported by equally hard working pluggers, promoters and DJ's.’
Max Raptor: ‘Always cool to have our music recognised,
especially as it's where we're from. If we won we'd be stoked (Staffordshire
pun).
Think
[the Music Awards Event] is cool to support local live music. Guess it's pretty
inspiring for new bands too to see the scene being supported like this… Also
good chance for a piss up.
[The
local music scene] is good, it can always be better.. There always seem to be
little pockets of great music but the support isn't always there. It's about
getting people out and putting on great nights where people are getting an awesome
night out, discovering new bands and meeting new mates.’
Thieves Asylum: 'It was a real shock to us, with us only gigging together for a year, it was amazing to be recognized as a best band. We found out just as we were going on to play our first headline show at The Underground in December so it added to the night perfectly.
Winning would be something special but it already felt like win to be even considered in the same category of the other nominated bands, ones we’ve looked up to in the local scene for a long time.
Thieves Asylum: 'It was a real shock to us, with us only gigging together for a year, it was amazing to be recognized as a best band. We found out just as we were going on to play our first headline show at The Underground in December so it added to the night perfectly.
Winning would be something special but it already felt like win to be even considered in the same category of the other nominated bands, ones we’ve looked up to in the local scene for a long time.
We are really enjoying our time on the local music scene at the moment, and over the past year have made some top friends with other local musicians. There are some quality bands around the area and hopefully more recognition will come to the scene in general over 2016.
We think [the Music Awards event] been a real positive thing and it's a great excuse to get the beer funnel out.. Top respect to Lee Barber for daring to put something of this scale on, and we wish him and all the bands playing the event all the best on the night.
