Transgressive Records was named Independent Label of the Year at the 2015 AIM Awards last night in London.
Handed out by The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess, the gong was collected by Transgressive co-founders Tim Dellow and Toby L, backed by their team.
Dellow thanked the label’s artists including Mystery Jets, Songhoy Blues, Gengar and Alvvays – who opened the AIM Awards by playing three tracks.
“The thing that’s good about a label is that it represents a bunch of great individuals – and that’s what AIM, who are so supportive of independents, are about,” he said.
“I hope we all continue to support great, unique musicians for many years.”
“I want to thank every artist in this room and every independent label in this room,” said Toby L. “I want to thank the people on this stage; these are my best friends and I get to work with them every day. That’s probably the highlight of absolutely everything we do.
“Thank you to the labels and people who inspire Transgressive and make us do what we want to do… Seymour Stein was one of the first people that believed in us. And this is for Jazz Summers as well.”
Independent Label of the Year goes toooo @transgressiveHQ 😀 #AIMAwards2015 pic.twitter.com/q2rouzpaj3
— Key Production (@KeyProduction) September 8, 2015
Toby L recently said of Summers, who died aged 71 last month, that he “was one of the very first managers that Tim and I ever worked with”. “He not only showed us the ropes – he pulled them taut,” he wrote following Summers’ death. “Jazz made us quickly realise that the only way to operate in an industry as commonly insecure and transitory as the musical one was to stand with utter conviction, belief, love and passion. “Occasionally, he challenged and tested, but typically there was a cheeky glint in his eye when doing so – he only ever wanted the best.”
Team Transgressive, winners of Label of the Year #AIMAwards pic.twitter.com/gSfa2qqFjj
— The AIM Awards 2015 (@AIMAwards) September 8, 2015
Other highlights of the night included FKA Twigs picking up her award for Independent Track of The Year for Two Weeks.
The XL Recordings artist talked of her pride at being signed to an independent label, and how it had helped her realise the difference “between the music industry and the entertainment industry”.
Noel Gallagher handed Jungle the PPL Award for Most Played New Independent Act,while grime legend Skepta receieved the Outstanding Contribution To Music Award.
Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis presented Enter Shikari with Independent Album of The Year for their fourth album The Mindsweep, while Wolf Alice picked up the Independent Breakthrough of the Year award.
Ninja Tune founders Matt Black and Jonathan More (aka Coldcut) and label manager Peter Quicke collected the Innovator Award, while the founder of Earache Records and legendary pioneer of extreme metal and modern day blues rock Digby Pearson, took home the Pioneer Award.
The full list of winners:
Best Small Label (in association with Disc Manufacturing Services): Erased Tape Records
Best Difficult Second Album (in association with XFM): Young Fathers – ‘White Men Are Black Men Too’
Special Catalogue Release of the Year (in association with Amazon Music): Cities of Darkscorch Boardgame
Hardest Working Band or Artist: Swans
Golden Welly Award for Best Independent Festival (in association with AIF, voted for by readers of DIY): Brainchild Festival
Independent Breakthrough of the Year: Wolf Alice
Indie Champion (in association with CI): Marc Riley, BBC 6 Music
Independent Video of the Year (in association with Vevo): Flying Lotus – ‘Never Catch Me’
Best Live Act (in association with Jack Daniel’s, voted for by visitors to Songkick): All Time Low
Independent Track of the Year (in association with Spotify): FKA Twigs – ‘Two Weeks’
PPL Award for Most Played New Independent Act: Jungle
Independent Album of the Year (in association with dotFans): Enter Shikari – ‘The Mindsweep’
Independent Label of the Year (in association with Believe Digital): Transgressive Records
Pioneer Award (in association with The Orchard): Digby Pearson, Earache Records
Innovator Award (in association with Promostream) Peter Quicke, Matt Black and Jonathan More of Ninja Tune
Outstanding Contribution to Music (in association with Merlin) SkeptaMusic Business Worldwide
