I had the absolute privilege of attending the second annual Jagermeister AIR Awards at The Toff In Town where various independent artists are honoured for their work in the music industry.
Chatting casually to one of the organisers of the event (“I’m only called into organise this stuff..”, the rest of the time, somewhere in the background), I almost choked on my fingerfood when Wally de Backer, aka Gotye, wandered past me with a glass of cranberry juice in hand. Such was my excitement! As well as Gotye, some of the nominees present were Muph & Plutonic, Midnight Juggernauts, British India, Hilltop Hoods, Urthboy, Ricki-Lee, Blue King Brown, C.W. Stoneking, Ben Winkelman Trio and Daimon Downey aka MC Double D from Sneaky Sound System. You didn’t have to look far to find one of them.
With Mountain Goat beer, champagne, V and later Jagermeister on the house, everyone was in good spirits; some more than others. After introducing myself quickly to Lisa the photographer, we found a good spot to stand off to the side of the stage and settled back for a good night.The ceremony started a little after 6:30pm, opening with Blue King Brown and their Triple J fave ‘Stand Up’.
Presenters David Vodicka (The “Chair of AIR”) and RRR’s James Young were the emcees for the night, with James quipping “David will be announcing the winners; I am his little bitch,” which earned a laugh. First award of the night went to Gina Jeffreys for Best Independent Country Release, followed by Ben WInkelman Trio taking out Best Independent Jazz Release for The Spanish Tinge, C.W. Stoneking’s King Hokum! earning Best Blues and Roots Release, and Best Dance/Electronic Release going to Midnight Juggernauts for Dystopia.
The emcees managed to race though the winners so quickly that the stage crew had to call a 15 minute break so they could set up for Urthboy’s set. In the meantime, I was approached by a publicist for Muph & Plutonic and Hilltop Hoods to have a quick chat with them (unfortunately, I couldn’t use any of it).
After a spirited conversation with Suffa MC from Hilltop Hoods, I followed everyone else back inside for the second part of the evening. Urthboy performed a track from album The Signal. The next awards presented went to Sneaky Sound System’s UFO for Best Independent Single/EP. John Butler Trio’s Grand National took out Best Independent Album, which Best New Independent Artist went to British India (presented by Gotye, last year’s winner) and, finally, Best Independent Artist of the Year quite deservingly went to Sneaky Sound System. MC Double D received the award on behalf of the rest of the band and he was rather exuberant about it.
Since the ceremony finished at least 40 minutes before time, everyone was encouraged to take advantage and let their hair down at the end of the night, Most of the press took the opportunity to interview and take pictures of the winners and guests out on the deck, while some went out for dinner before the after-party.
The after-party was held at Sister Bella, where Jagermeister was the drink of choice. But it all got a bit much for yours truly, so I was on my way home in a cab by 11:30pm, thanks to a certain MC. Which goes to show, not only does this country have brilliant independent artists, they’re also some of the nicest people you could hope to meet.
