The Country’s Top Names in The Independent Scene Battle It Out at The Inaugural Edition of Award Show The Indies
Nominees include Blackstratblues, Sid Sriram, Thaikkudam Bridge, Lifafa and more
Artists (from left) Warren Mendonsa, Sid Sriram and Lifafa are nominated for a number of awards at this year's The Indies. Photos: Swaraj Sriwastav; Chelsey Croucher; Monisha Ajgaonkar
Earlier this year, Indian Independent musicians and fans of the scene were treated to good news away from the negativity brought upon due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was announced that a new award show called The Indies would take place digitally and that all artists who released music in 2019 were eligible for nominations over 17 categories.
Guitarist Warren Mendonsa’s Mumbai/New Zealand blues rock outfit Blackstratblues has a stellar eight nominations to their name for last year’s record When it’s Time. The band is up and running in categories such as Best Artist, Best Album and Best Rock Artist. The four-member band – which includes Mendonsa, drummer Jai Row Kavi, bassist Adi Mistry and keyboardist Beven Fonseca – are also competing for individual awards in the Best Guitarist, Best Drummer and Best Keyboardist categories as well as Producer of the Year for their talisman Mendonsa and Best Artwork.
Other nominees include Kochi fusion rock/metal group Thaikkudam Bridge with six categories attached to their name and New Delhi vocalist-producer Suryakant Sawhney bagged a number of nominations for his work with his electronic project Lifafa and gypsy band Peter Cat Recording Company.
Amongst the frontrunners is also Indo-American musician Sid Sriram, Bengaluru rockers Thermal And A Quarter, Kolkata dream pop duo Parekh & Singh, hip-hop crew Swadesi, rapper Prabh Deep, singer-songwriter Karshni’s teaming with electro outfit Three Oscillators and more.
The results for The Indies will be decided by an internal jury and announced later this year. Stay tuned for updates.
Full Nominees List below:
| Artist of the Year |
| Blackstratblues |
| Lifafa |
| Parekh & Singh |
| Peter Cat Recording Company |
| Prabh Deep |
| Sid Sriram |
| Swadesi |
| Thaikkudam bridge |
| Best Rock Artist | Best Pop Artist | Best Rap/ Hip hop Artist | Best Electronic Artist | Best Metal Artist | ||||||
| Blackstratblues | JBABE | Ahmer x Sez On The Beat | Aqua Dominatrix | Dymbur | ||||||
| Gauley Bhai | Karshni and Three Oscillators | Arivu x ofRO | Jamblu | Haiku-Like Imagination | ||||||
| Parvaaz | Parekh & Singh | Kaam Bhaari | Lifafa | Maneating Orchid | ||||||
| Peter Cat Recording Company | Shubhangi Joshi Collective | Prabh Deep | Pulpy Shilpy | Pacifist | ||||||
| Sarathy Korwar | Sid Sriram | Seedhe Maut | Riatsu X Neil Gomes | Prophets of Yahweh | ||||||
| Thaikkudam bridge | Vaisakh Somanath | Swadesi | Your Chin | Trancemigrate | ||||||
| The F16s | ||||||||||
| Artist/Band Name | Album/EP of the Year | |||||||||
| Bandish Projekt and Swadesi | Khulle Naagde | |||||||||
| Blackstratblues | When It’s Time | |||||||||
| Lifafa | Jaago | |||||||||
| Parekh & Singh | Science City | |||||||||
| Peter Cat Recording Company | Bismillah | |||||||||
| Sarathy Korwar | More Arriving | |||||||||
| Sid Sriram | Entropy | |||||||||
| Thaikkudam bridge | NAMAH | |||||||||
| Artist/Band Name | Song of the Year |
| Arivu x ofRo | Kalla Mouni |
| Aswekeepsearching | Rooh |
| Karshni and Three Oscillators | Drowning |
| Lifafa | Nikamma |
| Seedhe Maut and Delhi Sultanate | Scalp Dem |
| Swadesi | The Warli Revolt |
| Parvaaz | Soye Ja |
| Thermal And A Quarter | Leaders of Men |
| Artist/Band Name | Music Video of the Year |
| Ahmer x Sez On The Beat | Little Kid Big Dreams – Kasheer |
| Fopchu | Chapel O Fopalop |
| Marshall Sachin | Hit By The Gravity |
| Parekh & Singh | Science City – Summer Skin |
| Your Chin | Luv Important |
| Artist | Artwork of the Year: Album/EP/Song Name |
| Ritviz | DEV, by Santanu Hazarika |
| Shubhangi Joshi Collective | Babelfish, by Annada Menon |
| Ady Manral | Talk, by Ghost Animation |
| Black Letters | Still As You, by Noopur Choksi |
| Blackstratblues | When It’s Time, by Arjun Rajkishore at Arkwerk |
| Dymbur | The Legend of Thraat, by Visual Amnesia |
| Karsh Kale ft Komorebi | Disappear, by Archan Nair |
| Album / EP / Song | Producer of the Year |
| FLESH by Aqua Dominatrix | Akshay Rajpurohit |
| Rooh by Aswekeepsearching | Aswekeepsearching and Ritwik De |
| Khulle Naagde by Swadesi and Bandish Projekt | Mayur Narvekar |
| When It’s Time by Blackstratblues | Warren Mendonsa |
| Play The Piano Drunk Like A Percussion Instrument Until The Fingers Begin To Bleed A Bit by JBABE | Harshan Radhakrishnan |
| Slough by Pulpy Shilpy | Gowri Jayakumar |
| More Arriving by Sarathy Korwar | Sarathy Korwar |
| Best Male Vocalist of the Year |
| JBABE |
| Lifafa |
| Khalid Ahamed (Parvaaz) |
| Sid Sriram |
| Vaisakh Somanath |
| Best Female Vocalist of the Year |
| Abhilasha Sinha |
| Hanita Bhambri |
| Karshni |
| Mali |
| Meera |
| Shubhangi Joshi Collective |
| Artist/Band Name | Guitarist of the Year |
| Haiku-Like Imagination | Sucheth Ramprasad and Soorya Praveen |
| Blackstratblues | Warren Mendonsa |
| Samar Mehdi | Samar Mehdi |
| Takar Nabam | Takar Nabam |
| Thermal And A Quarter | Bruce Lee Mani |
| Artist/Band Name | Bassist of the Year |
| Thaikkudam Bridge | Vian Fernandes |
| Heat Sink | Raag Sethi |
| Smalltalk | Yohann Coutinho |
| Thermal And A Quarter | Leslie Charles |
| Artist/Band Name | Drummer of the Year |
| Haiku-Like Imagination | Aniketh Ashok |
| Blackstratblues | Jai Row Kavi |
| Pineapple Express | Gopi Shravan |
| Thaikkudam bridge | Anish TN |
| Thermal And A Quarter | Rajeev Rajagopal |
| Artist/Band Name | Keyboardist of the Year |
| Blackstratblues | Beven Fonseca |
| Flaw & Order | Sudharsan Krishnakumar |
| Heat Sink | Nayan Kapadiya |
| Shubhangi Joshi Collective | Nishant Nair |
| Thaikkudam bridge | Ruthin Thej |
