GIT AWARD 2015 - ‘One to Watch' winner named ahead of Merseyside bash

GIT AWARD 2015 - ‘One to Watch' winner named ahead of Merseyside bash

With just days to go until the winner of Liverpool’s GIT Award 2015 is announced at the city’s Kazimier venue on Saturday 4 April, organisers can reveal the winner of the One to Watch prize is 23-year-old rock and roller Louis Berry.

Huyton-born Louis Berry wins this year’s One To Watch Prize, which is awarded to one emerging artist and selected by the Merseyside  judging panel, having released just one track to date - yet was named Radio 1’s ‘hottest record in the world right now.’

Described by Getintothis’ Peter Guy as ‘channelling the energy of Jerry Lee Lewis through the story-telling of Dylan’, Berry follows on from the inaugural One To Watch winner Låpsley who has gone on to sign a deal with XL Recordings and release her critically-acclaimed debut EP earlier this year.

Berry’s debut offering .45 was tipped by national print press and radio and after playing just two gigs he signed a contract at each; a publishing deal following an explosive BBC Introducing set and recording terms after lighting up East Village Arts Club.

Louis has recently been in London recording more tracks ahead of a first full release. Berry will celebrate his One To Watch win with a live performance at the GIT Award 2015 ceremony on Saturday April 4.

The nominees for the main award are All We Are, Circa Waves, D R O H N E, Gulf, Hooton Tennis Club, Roxanne Jones, Låpsley, Esa Shields, Sundowners, Xam Volo, Jane Weaver and We Are Catchers.

Nine of these will feature in live performances plus specially created visuals at the Kazimier, transformed into an Aztec Jungle for one night only, alongside one-off performances and DJ sets.

The GIT Award this year will be hosted by Impropriety, Liverpool’s premier improvisational comedy group.

Angie Waller, of Impropriety, said: "Impropriety are overjoyed to be hosting this year's GIT Award. In our true style expect irreverent introductions and heroic stupidity galore."

This year, the Kazimier will transform their unique venue into an exotic Aztec Jungle, with guests encouraged to embrace the theme and dress the part for this invite only event.

The evening will also include entertainment from the spectacular Batala drummers, Arkopsy’s in-house jam band and the Krukthrust DJs.

GIT Award show producer, Joel Murray said: "The GIT Award represents a kaleidoscopic of music from the Liverpool scene - it has given much desired attention to so many emerging and experimental acts that otherwise maybe would not be given the recognition they deserve. It's a pleasure to be working with such talents."

Now in its fourth consecutive year, The GIT (Getintothis) Award, champions the best of Merseyside music providing a snapshot of the year in music, recognising significant artistic achievement across a range of musical styles.

This year’s shortlist was selected by national industry figureheads consisting of Bella Union Records’ Simon Raymonde, The Quietus editor John Doran, Heavenly Recordings’ boss Jeff Barrett, UK Music’s Dot Levine, author and journalist Simon Price, 4AD Records’ Rich Walker, Clash Magazine editor Robin Murray, Jarri Van der Haegen, editor of Belgian buzz blog Disco Naivete, XFM deputy programme manager Mike Walsh and Amazing Radio’s Shell Zenner.

The judging panel was completed by respected Merseyside music players including Liverpool Music Week director Mike Deane, Arts Club manager Victoria Smith, Sound City and Club EVOL promoter Steve Miller, Liverpool International Music Festival curator Yaw Owusu, Bido Lito! editor Christopher Torpey – and GIT Award founder and Liverpool Echo journalist, Peter Guy.

Also on the night, a special Inspiration Award, recognising services to Liverpool’s music industry will also be presented. Previous recipients are Africa Oye (2014), Hillsborough Justice Collective (2013) and The Kazimier (2012).

All awards on the night plus unique commemorative mementoes for all 12 nominees will be created by Liverpool design agency ArchiPhonic while Liverpool Craft Beer will provide refreshments.

GIT Award founder Peter Guy added: “This year’s GIT Award is the most exciting yet – not only have we ten first-time nominees but we’ve a show of great ambition and the Inspiration Award will resonate with not just Scousers but music-lovers around the country. Saturday’s show at the Kazimier is going to be a night that lives long in the memory – the whole of Liverpool will be watching.”

For all other details: www.getintothis.co.uk

GIT Award 2015 Shortlist Revealed Ahead Of Spectacular Ceremony At The Kazimier

GIT Award 2015 Shortlist Revealed Ahead Of Spectacular Ceremony At The Kazimier

General manager at 4AD Records and GIT Award 2015 judge, Rich Walker, said: “What a great award to be asked to help judge. Working at 4AD, there’s never a shortage of new music to listen to but I’ve particularly enjoyed discovering what a fertile and supportive scene Liverpool currently has. More cities really should copy the GIT template and do their own award.”

Now in its fourth consecutive year, The GIT (Getintothis) Award, champions the best of Merseyside music providing a snapshot of the year while recognising significant artistic achievement across a range of musical styles.

And the 2015 shortlist is no different...

From Double Six-signed groove funk trio All We Are to Transgressive Records’ rock and rollers Circa Waves through to surf-pop Domino signees We Are Catchers; Tim Burgess-affiliated electro duo D R O H N E, XL Recordings hype star Låpsley, swaggering Heavenly Recordings’ slouchers Hooton Tennis Club and Wire Magazine-endorsed enigma Esa Shields; emerging soul-pop diva Roxanne Jones, Finders Keepers-signed cosmic singer-songwriter Jane Weaver, swirling UK buzz band Gulf, Skeleton Key Records’ revellers Sundowners and neo-soul rising star Xam Volo – this year’s GIT Award shortlist represents a kaleidoscopic musical picture few cities in the world could match.

This year’s shortlist was selected by national industry figureheads consisting of Bella Union Records’ Simon Raymonde, The Quietus editor John Doran, Heavenly Recordings’ boss Jeff Barrett, UK Music’s Dot Levine, author and journalist Simon Price, 4AD Records’ Rich Walker, Clash Magazine editor Robin Murray, Jarri Van der Haegen, editor of Belgian buzz blog Disco Naivete, XFM deputy programme manager Mike Walsh and Amazing Radio’s Shell Zenner.

The judging panel was completed by respected Merseyside music players including Liverpool Music Week director Mike Deane, Arts Club manager Victoria Smith, Sound City and Club EVOL promoter Steve Miller, Liverpool International Music Festival curator Yaw Owusu, Bido Lito! editor Christopher Torpey – and GIT Award founder and Liverpool Echo journalist, Peter Guy.

Reflecting on this year’s shortlist, Dot Levine, from UK Music, said: "It was a huge honour to be a GIT Award judge. The standard in Merseyside is exceptionally high and we have heard some incredible music. It was a very difficult task choosing the shortlist - but boy did I enjoy the debates!

“The whole process for the Award has been brilliant. As a national judge, who attended an evening of debate in Liverpool, just being surrounded by some of the most engaging and inspiring music lovers based in the north west was a great moment for me."

Dubbed ‘the Scouse Mercury Prize,’ backed by Yoko Ono and the cornerstones of Merseyside’s flourishing cultural community, the winner of the GIT Award 2015 will be revealed on Saturday 4 April 2015 at The Kazimier in Wolstenholme Square. Like previous years, the winner will receive a specially commissioned trophy and cheque for £1,000.

Having relaunched for the fourth year at Liverpool Music Week in November 2014 up until the closing date at the end of January 2015, the GIT Award judges met on six occasions, discussing more than 330 eligible artists and bands, before carefully whittling them down to just 12.

Those 12 will now feature at the industry showcase on Saturday 4 April 2015 and will include performances from the shortlisted artists plus a dramatic aftershow featuring live music, DJs and specially produced set piece spectacles.

This year, a specially commissioned Merseyside team will transform the unique setting of the Kazimier into an Aztec Jungle while 50 lucky souls will also have the chance to log on to the Kazimier website and obtain a pass to this once-in-a-lifetime occasion.

Also on the night, a special Inspiration Award, recognising services to Liverpool’s music industry will also be presented. Previous recipients are Africa Oye (2014), Hillsborough Justice Collective (2013) and The Kazimier (2012).

Bella Union boss and GIT Award judge Simon Raymonde, added: "The waiting is almost over. The GIT Award shortlist is now finalised – and what a near-impossible job that was! You have 12 outstanding talents, all equally deserving of the Award. Quite how we will whittle this down to one I don't know but the good news is that whoever does win will be a beacon of light for all future artists from the area. April 4, The Kazimier - enter it into your phone now.”

All awards on the night plus unique commemorative mementoes for all 12 nominees will be created by Liverpool design agency ArchiPhonic who have overseen projects in the Baltic Triangle

GIT Award founder and chair of judges, Peter Guy, said: “The GIT Award 2015 shortlist represents a new phase in Liverpool and the wider region’s artistic development; these artists are creating new sounds quite unlike any other and surpassing most other cities in the world. This year there’s 10 brand new names on the shortlist selected by judges who travelled from all corners of the UK to Liverpool to listen to them and deliver the final shortlist - it proves what a vital time in Merseyside music’s history this truly is. Saturday April 4 at the Kazimier is set to be another monumental occasion.”

Limited tickets and event link: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/308044

For all other details: www.getintothis.co.uk

Label bosses and UK music industry heads to judge Git Awards 2015

Label bosses and UK music industry heads to judge Git Awards 2015

Iconic record label bosses, industry heavy-weights and respected UK journalists are among the 16-strong judging panel to preside over Merseyside new music prize The GIT Award 2015.

For the first time in its four year history, The GIT (Getintothis) Award panel features founders of three globally-renowned labels, a member of the UK’s key industry body plus its first international representative from an overseas blogger and talent scout. 

Joining the judging panel for the 2015 prize is ex-Cocteau Twins member Simon Raymonde – founding owner of Bella Union records who has signed acts such as Flaming Lips, Fleet Foxes and The Walkmen.  

Rich Walker, General Manager of 4AD label, home to critically-acclaimed Bon Iver, Daughter, Grimes and The National will also sit on the panel and joining him is Jeff Barrett, founder of Heavenly Recordings (Doves, Beth Orton, Saint Etienne) which celebrates its 25th birthday in 2015. 

New journalists and bloggers joining the panel for 2015 include the GIT Award’s first ever international judge - Belgian-based Jarri Van der Haugen who runs Disco Naïveté, a ‘buzz blog’ which broke artists such as Lana Del Rey and Haim; Shell Zenner, North West Amazing Radio presenter and blogger; Robin Murray editor of Clash magazine and Chris Torpey, editor of monthly Liverpool music paper Bido Lito!

Also new to the panel are Victoria Smith, manager of The Arts Club, one of Liverpool's leading inner city venues and Dot Levine, head of campaigns and communications at UK Music - the umbrella organisation which represents the collective interests of the UK’s commercial music industry.

Returning for the 2015 panel are Mike Deane, the founder and director of Liverpool Music Week, John Doran, editor of acclaimed pop culture webzine The Quietus, Mike Walsh, deputy programme director and head of music at Xfm and Simon Price, music journalist with decades’ worth of experience writing for a host of national titles.

GIT Award founder and Liverpool Echo journalist Peter Guy joins Liverpool music promoter, Steve Miller, the man behind club night EVOL. Completing the judging line up is Yaw Owusu, music manager and curator of Liverpool International Music Festival.  

On being chosen for the GIT Award, Simon Raymonde reflected: “For more than half of the 17 years I have been running Bella Union, I have been mostly disinterested and disappointed in the music coming out of the UK. 

“Maybe this is in part due to being 15-years-old in 1977 and having my mind blown and my life taken over by the likes of The Slits, Josef K, The Pop Group, Joy Division, Wire, Buzzcocks, PiL, Associates, The Cure, etc.. The end result being that no subsequent period of British music seemed to affect me close to that degree. 

“As the label formed in 1997, I subsequently turned my eyes and ears toward America, and found bands like Midlake, Lift To Experience, Beach House, John Grant, Fleet Foxes, Explosions In The Sky instead. It continued to bother me through the first decade of the 21st Century that UK music was still obsessed with sounding like the Beatles or The Kinks, and I think the only British band on the label at one point was My Latest Novel. 

“Since around 2008, something happened, maybe the end of Labour's time in Government coming up, the initial euphoria of Tony Blair as PM replaced by that jaw-dropping reality that he was just another false prophet, the widening economic disparity between North and South, all suggested a sea-change in art and culture, in a way harking back to the late 70s where we just stopped and said 'ok you know what? F*ck this, we are not standing for this sh*t any more', and somehow all that energy and excitement that flows through the creative minds of today's young musicians and artists I see as their way of combating the bleak prospects they see ahead of them in Cameron's Big F*cking Society. 

“And my soul is enriched and my heart swollen from the incredible variety that is coming out of the UK. I now have around 15 UK-based artists on the label, and appropriately I am in the process of trying to sign a couple of bands from Liverpool as I write this. 

“I've been spending most weekends this past year on trains up from my coastal home town of Brighton to all the corners of our fair isle, and beyond, and it is no exaggeration to say, without wishing to put the curse of 'scene' upon it, the most consistently exciting bands right now ARE from Liverpool. That is an irrefutable fact. 

“I present a weekly radio show of new and unsigned music from all over the world, and you only need to listen to a cross-section of the shows from the last year, to hear that my claims are wholly justified! It is therefore an honour to be involved this year with Getintothis’ GIT Award. 

“Forest Swords were worthy winners last year, and with such a wonderful array of talent again on show this year, I have no doubt, the judges will all pick an artist to make you all proud.”

The fourth edition of Liverpool’s new music prize The GIT Award 2015 returns with a special showcase ceremony at The Kazimier on Saturday 4 April 2015. 

The GIT Award is the first, and only, regional award of its kind championing new emerging talent within Merseyside’s eclectic arts and music community, pushing innovative musicians right across the world, and the nominations process to find 12 shortlisted artists is already open.

The 16 judges will decide the 12 shortlisted nominees and the eventual winner for this pioneering award. The GIT Award 2015 winner will follow on from Loved Ones (2012), Baltic Fleet (2013) and Forest Swords (2014) and receive £1000 prize money on Saturday 4 April 2015 at the Kazimier.

A special Inspiration Award, recognising significant outstanding achievement in Merseyside’s music industry will also be presented. Past Inspiration Awards have been won by Africa Oye (2014), the Hillsborough Justice Collective (2013) and the team behind Liverpool’s Kazimier club (2012). 

A ‘One To Watch’ prize will also be on offer, following in the footsteps of last year’s winner – and newly-signed to XL Recordings, Lapsley.

Liverpool has long been considered a hotbed of musical talent and The GIT Award is committed to putting the city’s most innovative new bands and artists on the national and international stage.

Musicians, bands and creative types who would like to enter for this year’s prize are asked to send four tracks to getintothis@gmail.com 

Businesses who would like to get involved with the GIT Award can email getintothis@gmail.com for more information.

Liverpool music prize The GIT Award 2015 returns plus Launch Party

Liverpool music prize The GIT Award 2015 returns plus Launch Party

Liverpool’s premier new music prize The GIT Award is back for its fourth successive year. 

The process to find the 12 shortlisted GIT Award 2015 nominees opens today ahead of the official award launch event which will take place at Liverpool Music Week's closing party on Saturday 1 November 2014. 

The GIT Award winner will be announced at a showcase ceremony at The Kazimier on Saturday 4 April 2015, featuring nominees and special guests. 

The GIT Award, dubbed by the NME as the ‘Scouse Mercury Prize,’ is the only prize of its kind in the UK, championing vital new talent within Merseyside’s eclectic music community, pushing innovative musicians right across the world. 

The overall winner of the GIT Award 2015 will receive a cash prize of £1000. 

The fourth GIT Award recipient will follow in the footsteps of previous winners Loved Ones (2012), Baltic Fleet (2013) and  last year's victor Forest Swords, who due to touring commitments drafted in reggae legend Lee Scratch Perry to collect his prize. 

A special Inspiration Award, recognising significant outstanding achievement in Merseyside’s music industry will also be presented. The 2014 Inspiration Award went to the team behind Africa Oye while previous recipients include Hillsborough Justice Collective (2013) and the directors of the Kazimier club (2012). 

This year's GIT Award launch is on Saturday 1 November 2014 at one of the city's most vital emerging clubs, 24 Kitchen Street, in the Baltic Triangle as part of Liverpool Music Week's closing party. It is headlined by the winner of the very first GIT Award One To Watch prize, Lapsley. 

In a little under nine months, 18-year-old Merseysider, Lapsley (aka Holly Lapsley Fletcher) has seen her music played on Radio 1 and 6 Music, played Glastonbury, racked up widespread national print coverage and over one million plays on her SoundCloud page despite having yet to sign a record deal. 

Alongside Lapsley, and in keeping with the GIT Award's ethos, also performing at 24 Kitchen Street are a raft of artists who are gaining buzz in their home city and further afield. They include electronic artist VEED, experimental duo Queen Maud and avant-garde fusionists Chemistry Lane. There will be additional DJ sets by acclaimed Liverpool-based, Irish producer or:la. 

Speaking ahead of her headline set, Lapsley said: "It's great to be a part of the GIT Award 2015 launch at Liverpool Music Week. I love playing in my home town and having won the GIT Award One To Watch last year it's wonderful to have the support once again." 

Launched at Liverpool Music Week in November 2011, the GIT Award, founded by Liverpool-based blog Getintothis is now an annual fixture on the Merseyside music scene, supported by musicians, industry figures and national media. 

Among the judging panel during the GIT Award’s three years were NME, 6 Music’s Tom Ravenscroft, The Quietus, The Guardian, Liverpool Football Club, Q Magazine, Vice Magazine, Creation Records boss Alan McGee and the cornerstones of Liverpool’s music scene. 

Liverpool Music Week director, Mike Deane, added: "It's great to be once again hosting the GIT Award launch at Liverpool Music Week. Both organisations are dedicated to championing adventurous and exciting artists from Merseyside, reflected perfectly in our diverse GIT Award stage at this year's Music Week closing party." 

Open to all artists and bands from or based in Merseyside, the GIT Award has showcased the region’s rich musical diversity, from the thriving hip hop scene to its electronica artists, from its long-established country and roots community to punk, folk and metal. 

Getintothis editor and founder of the GIT Award, Peter Guy, said: “It's great to be back for a fourth year. The GIT Award has consistently shone a light on the first-rate music emanating from within Merseyside - and it's through the passion of the judging panel and the small but excellent team which put it together that those artists and their work are pushed to the forefront of the national music industry's consciousness. 

"I'm delighted to be teaming up with Liverpool Music Week once again for our launch party - the Award's grown beyond our wildest dreams from that small gathering back in 2011 - I'm sure Lapsley and the other musicians will provide a tremendous evening of music on November 1." 

Musicians, bands and creative types who would like to enter for this year’s prize are asked to send four tracks to gitaward@getintothis.co.uk