Indie bands, rapper lead Golden Indie Music Awards nominations

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) Taiwanese indie bands Elephant Gym, Bremen Entertainment Inc., and the rapper known as Aquaman, are tied with five nominations each at the 15th Golden Indie Music Awards (GIMA), according to a press release from the organizers Thursday.

Elephant Gym was nominated twice in the Best Alternative Pop Song category with their songs "Feather (feat. ?te)" and "Jhalleyaa (feat. Shashaa Tirupati)."

As well as receiving a nod in the Best Band category, the band were also nominated in the Best Rock Album and Best Album categories for their album "World."

Meanwhile, indie band Bremen Entertainment Inc., one of the nominees for the Best Band award, were also nominated for Best Alternative Pop Song with "Castle," as well as Best Alternative Pop Album and Best Album with "The Great Bremen Show" and Best Rock Song with "Peace and Quiet (Bremen announcement)."

Aquaman, real name Wang Ching-yi (王景鐿), also received five nods for Best Hip Hop Album and Best Album with "Sim," Best Hip Hop Song with "Dream," Best Singer-Songwriter and Best New Artist.

The Jury, headed by Sam Yang (楊大正), frontman of the Taiwanese rock band Fire EX., gave the Jury Award posthumously to Wayne Liu (劉暐) late guitarist of the Taiwanese alternative rock band Wayne's So Sad.

The GIMA organizers said in a statement that they received a record-high 3,877 submissions from countries including Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.

Since its launch in 2010, the GIMA has nurtured music composers across various genres and served as an aspiring music award that embodies the freedom, diversity, and creative energy of Taiwanese musicians, according to event organizers.