The 2011 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards was hosted in Melbourne this week at the Revolt warehouse in Kensington. The building was originally built in the 1800s and has kept its industrial interior design. Strung from the ceiling were hundreds of exposed light bulbs which made for a homely, fairylit backyard party on Wednesday night. Dylan Lewis - who hosted the awards - described the building as something you would usually find hidden in Berlin.

When entering, the bar area was tight with award nominees and music industry guests touching side by side. They enjoyed the Jagermeister happy hour with icey cups of Jager fresh lime and ginger beer. The dimmed L shape room enhanced Kane Hibberd's photography exhibition which had overtaken the walls. The photographs displayed were a collection of fellow music photographers who responded to Kane's prompt to submit their best work. Close up shots of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Bliss and Esso and the Jezabels were the three shots which caught my eye. The photographs pulled me up onto the stage with the artists and gave me the buzz of being in the moment with them.

In front of Hibberds photography exhibition, Channel V hosted interviews with award nominees like Big Scary and Oscar + Martin. Dylan Lewis later announced that Channel V will be replaying the awards on Wednesday the 26th of October. The live performances by Calling All Cars, Illy/Owl Eyes, Emma Louise, The Holidays and Adalita will be shared with you then!

The above nominees and a list of others were judged by a pool of 450 music industry representatives. The opinions from broadcasters, PR, print media, and managers powered the winning votes. There was one public vote, which was executed through the Jagermeister Facebook page. With the nature of technology, Twitter and the speed of the internet, you already know the winners. I have listed them again below, with extra insights into how the nominees accepted the award.

The 2011 Jagermesiter Independent Music Awards

1. BEST INDEPENDENT HARD ROCK OR PUNK ALBUM:
My Disco with Little Joy (Shock Entertainment)

2. BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE/ELECTRONICA OR CLUB SINGLE was a draw between:
Tommy Trash and Tom Piper with “All My Friends” Feat. Mr.Wilon (Ministry Of Sound)
Seekae with “Blood Bank” (Rise Is Nice/Popfrenzy)

3. BEST INDEPENDENT DANCE/ELECTRONICA ALBUM presented by Billy Russell:
Pnau with Soft Universe (Ect Ect). They were unable to personally accept the award but created a thankyou video from within their England studio to show their gratitude to everyone else who contributed to the making of Soft Universe.

4. BEST INDEPENDENT COUNTRY ALBUM
Wagons with Rumble Shake And Tumble (Spunk). Henry Wagons appeared on the flat screens with a thank you video. He had had just arrived in Nashville, where “bad haircuts and deep fried food” reside. He was estatic to have won the award, and also apologised for his chaotic video as he had just watched the movie 'Bridesmaids' for the fifth time.

5. BEST INDEPENDENT JAZZ ALBUM Presented by Derek Guille:
Sandy Evans with When The sky Cries Rainbows (ABC Music)

6. BEST INDEPENDENT HIP HOP ALBUM:
Drapht with The Life Of Riley (The Ayems), also unable to receive the award.

7. BEST INDEPENDENT BLUES AND ROOTS ALBUM:
Gurramul with Rrakala (Skinnyfish)

8. BREAKTHROUGH INDEPENDENT ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Emma Louise at only 19 years old, with her single “Jungle” which has been synchronised to television shows like 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Slap'

9. BEST INDEPENDENT SINLGE/EP:
Jezabels with Dark Storm (Independent)

10. BEST INDEPENDENT ARTIST:
The Jezabels, who were also unable to accept the award due to their overseas location. The acknowledgement of the award came from a video whereby Tim took the lead in speaking. The other band members sat slumped in their chair looking unappreciative and far from thrilled about winning the Best Independent Artist award. This is a really exciting achievment, yet it didn't appear that they valued the win. I suggest they watch it back again themselves and see what message it sends.

11. JAGERMEISTER MOST HUNTED (Public Vote) Presented by the Jagermeister brand manager Shannon Own and the Facebook competition winner:
360 got his chance on stage to tell the bar staff “a shot of jager and red bull, is a jagerbomb!”

12. BEST INDEPENDENT ALBUM:
Adalita with Adalita (Liberation). With enormous gratification for the award, she accepted in honour of Dean Turner who dedicated twenty years of his life into developing Adalita as the superb artist she is today.

Award Statistics
Only 4.5 from the 13 artists who were awarded a Jagermesiter Australian Independent Music Award personally accepted the trophy. Although it is disappointing, it demonstrates that these artists are touring, recording, collaborating or producing overseas.

The success of independent artists was also reflected in Nick O'Bryne's statistics about the ARIA nominees. He pointed out that 91/163 of the ARIA (Australian Record Industry Charts) nominees were associated with independent releases. O'Bryne declared that without indie music there would be a huge chunk of the music industry missing. Cudos to independence, passion, creativity and the opportunity to celebrate it.