2015 AP Music Awards

     

        For alternative music fans all over the world, last week was no ordinary one, as it played host to the annual AP Music Awards, fueled by Monster of course. Finding myself down in dumps over the lack of what I consider to be “quality music” in the recent VMA nominations, I found a flicker of solace in seeing some of my favorite artists receive the recognition they deserve on a large scale.

       Obviously I believe that some of the artists nominated for AP awards could stand toe to toe with the likes of Ed Sherran and fucking Walk the Moon, but for the time being the AP Music Awards exists as the only awards ceremony for alternative music, and I can live with that.

       

       Usually trying to keep it glass-half-full, I fought hard to look past some of the rather lackluster nominations for this year’s Awards, which took place in the rather sold out Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. I must admit though that I don’t personally agree with the way in which the certain categories become created, as well as the whole voting process in general. For example, this year DW Drums presented the award for Best Drummer, with the artists such as Matt Greiner (August Burns Red), Luke Holland (The World Alive), and my one of my personal favorites Adam Gray (Texas In July) receiving shout outs for their contributions this past year. Now, anyone with the slightest bit of hardcore knowledge instantly knows that these three gentlemen exist as some of the best behind the kit in the scene, arguably in music period. However, due to the voting system which uses internet votes as the method of victory in each individual category, this year’s Best Drummer award naturally went to Rian Dawson, the drummer of alternative icon All Time Low.

       Now, I don’t want to take shots at ATL (because we see how far that got Trace Cyrus this year) but seriously what the fuck? Because of the fan based voting format, the AP Music Awards mimic everyone’s experience with high school superlatives, where the popular kids effortlessly skate past their competition who truly may become president one day, or might have changed more since middle school. 

      

       All jokes aside, this same trend of popularity topping pure talent could been seen in a number of other categories:

• A Day to Remember topping both letlive. and The Wonder Years for Best Live Band
• Tony Perry (Pierce the Veil) topping out both Will Swan (Dance Gavin Dance) and Jordan Buckley (ETID)
• Black Veil Brides taking Album of the Year over Beartooth, ETID, and La Dispute.

       Don’t get me wrong, the discrepancies I see within these various categories exist solely because of my opinions and musical interests. With that being said however, I believe that in order for the APMAs to receive any sort of large scale credibility, the nomination and voting systems needs a serious overthrow, or bands with the largest amount of Twitter followers will continue to snag awards that other less known artists may deserve, creating an almost glass ceiling in the likes of recognition and praise.

       The most asinine example of this can be seen in questionably the most bonehead category held during the AMPAs, Sumerian Records’ Best Underground Band. The nominations for this year’s award included the likes of Being As An Ocean, Knuckle Puck, Tigers Jaw (I don't really understand how they got thrown into this mix) and pop punk powerhouse State Champs. Ultimately, BAAO snagged the award, signifying the group as the ultimate underground band, or whatever the fuck that means. Personally, I have no clue how this category works and am unable to understand the thought process behind it. When I hear the phrase Underground I think of a group or artist universally unknown to the masses. How then, the folks at AP believe the band who receives the most fan votes can be classified as the best underground artist, I am simply unable to comprehend.

       All bitching aside however, I must admit that it is fucking awesome that the Awards themselves even take place, and I love seeing the entire show scale up year by year. A couple of awards this year found themselves in the hands of those fully deserving to be the rightful recipients:

• PVRIS snagging Best Breakthrough Band
• The 1975 taking home Best International Band
• Bring Me the Horizon winning Best Music Video for their work on Drown

      Even though I found myself fairly salt for most of the night’s events, I do still believe that the Awards do more good than evil for the entire scene. I envision them growing more and more each year, bringing together artists that may never cross paths in their normal lives. Hopefully as the Awards gain more legitimacy, the people at AP will realize the need to change some of the ways in which the ceremonies run, making the entire show more accessible and fair for all artists, big or small, to gain the spotlight and receive the credit for the art they work so hard to produce.

       Here are just a few of my favorite image from this year’s AP Music Awards:

 Andy Williams of Every Time I Die continuing to crack me up rocking some serious superhero gear.

 

 Best Breakthrough Artist PVRIS styling hard on the red carpet.

 Kieth Buckley of Every Time I Die killing it so hard on the red carpet.

Motionless in White posing for a shot with fellow boogeyman Rob Zombie backstage.