IT HAS been a vintage year for us here at SAMA HQ.Â
Besides wrapping our ears around loads of awesome new music there’s been plenty happening for us. Instead of writing a long-winded article about exactly what we’ve been up to, we thought we’d share with you the 15 best photos, gifs, and videos that sum up 2015 for us. Enjoy!
1. We awarded our first Outstanding Contribution to Music title
Legendary record store owner and former manager of Simple Minds Bruce Findlay received our inaugural award, saying he was “genuinely humbled” to be recognised by the SAMAs after a gliterring music career spanning five decades. You are an inspiration to all of us Bruce.
2. And to those just starting out in the music industry... we hired some shiny new interns!
Sasha Mazhar and Calum Woodger joined Team SAMAs to form the digital team which has seamlessly worked alongside our already successful events and production teams.Â
3. We worked even more closely with our sponsors
The fruitful partnerships built up with our sponsors including Heineken, Academy of Music and Sound Scotland, The Garage, citizenM, and Bar Bloc, amongst others continued in 2015, alongside the awards’ new main sponsor Rebel Rebel. We look set to go from strength to strength together next year, because without them we really couldn’t do what we do.
4. We continued to bring you the best acoustic and electric vibes with our regular showcases
This year we hosted a record six showcases. Two plugged-in shows at Bar Bloc and four intimate gigs at citizenM Glasgow featuring artists including Copper Lungs, Finn LeMarinel (pictured), Gerry Cinnamon, and Vukovi.
5. We took in the best of Scottish festivals this summer
There was a SAMAs presence at T in the Park, Wickerman (pictured), Electric Fields, and many more this summer, as the sun shone (briefly) on the best new Scottish talent including the nominated Martha Ffion, Kathryn Joseph, and Man of Moon.
6. We continued to bring you live sessions in association with Feast
Featuring the likes of Tijuana Bibles, We Came From Wolves, and Bella and the Bear (pictured) our #SAMAFEASTSESSIONS have experienced a resurgence this year which looks set to continue into 2016 with plenty more bands booked in to work with the talented team at Feast.
7. There was great progression from past SAMAs winners and nominees
Fatherson and Model Aeroplanes showed what can be achieved for SAMA nominated artists bagging themselves record deals, signing with Sony and Island Records respectively. Well done gentlemen!
8. The SAMAs became the topic of intellectual chat
This year we were the subject of a case study in Allan Dumbreck’s book Music Entrepreneurship, go pick it up and get inspired!Â
9. We went social media crazy!
2015 saw us hit many milestones in terms of audience smashing 5,000 likes on our now verified Facebook account and 8,000 followers on Twitter, with plenty of engagement on all of our channels using #SAMA2015. We also started using live broadcasting app Periscope at our shows to bring you even closer to the action!
10. The guys at Rebel Rebel gave our host Jim Gellatly a sweet trim.
11. And Richy became SAMA Steve ahead of his Apple Store Keynote on the SAMAs
Funny, nice turtleneck action, but the less said about Calum’s editing skills the better.
12. Our media reach went from local to national
The awards were featured on numerous national and local press this year. The main outlets were The Evening Times, The Skinny, Scotsman, The Sun, STV, and The National. With the latter calling the SAMAs “a huge celebration of underground Scottish music.”
13. So we made sure people knew about our categories
14. The awards night was our best yet!
Our sixth annual final awards show was our biggest and most well-received yet with The Garage packed to the rafters with people to see our seven winners pick up their gongs, and to sweat it out to outstanding live performances from the likes of Holy Esque and Hector Bizerk.Â
Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 were resplendent in yellow as they picked up Best Live Act, Sean C Kennedy won the now infamous Best Acoustic prize as Bella and The Bear, Spring Break, Divides, We Came From Wolves and Crash Club also took home SAMA trophies.
15. We nursed the hangover of all hangovers at citizenM the next day
But we’re ready to do it all again in 2016 with the support of our new followers, fans, and friends.
Thanks to all of you for getting involved, we’ll be seeing you in 2016!
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