The Cardiff Music Awards are now an annual celebration of the strength of the capital’s music scene. Rimanté Bivainyté chats to its director Ed Townend ahead of this year’s event.
It’s the fourth year of the Cardiff Music Awards, how are you finding it?
Great! I think the first two years were exciting, a new thing both times – 2015 the concept, 2017 the ceremony itself – and then last year was slightly tougher, trying to maintain that momentum. I think we’ve reached a point now, in our fourth year, where the music awards are seen as a part of the music scene – and that was my goal from the beginning.
The beginning of 2019 was quite rough for Cardiff music venues, with Gwdihw and Buffalo closing down. How do you think it’s going to affect music culture in the city?
We were in a very similar situation in 2017. I feel the scene is stronger as a whole this year than back then. Music venues are always the underdogs: they’re not a sustainable business model and they’re almost always one threat away from collapse.
The situation with Gwdihw was horrible, emblematic of the pure greed we see across this country and the world from those who wish to torch our culture and replace it with another pointless money-spinning endeavour. Buffalo faced horrendous pressure from high rent and business rates, and it was notable that the number of live gigs there significantly dropped in its last few years because of this. I think the scene has banded together to support what we have left, and whatever is to come.
What changes have occurred in Cardiff’s music industry since the Save Womanby Street movement?
I think more people are going to gigs. Not enough people, but certainly more. What Save Womanby Street did more than anything else was to raise awareness of the music scene in Cardiff. It showed the people of this city that the music that lives here isn’t just cover bands or the echoes of Cool Cymru, people became aware of local talents.
Cardiff Music Awards aims to support local artists and the local music scene – have you seen an increase of new artists over these four years?
I think the flow of new artists has stayed continuous. I see new artists come and go, some stick around and some don’t. I’ve seen artists go from playing poorly attended all-ages shows at 14 to headlining sold-out shows in Clwb Ifor Bach a few years later. I don’t think we’ll ever stop seeing an influx of new acts, but I think it’ll always stay at the same steady rate.
What should we be expecting from CMAs this year?
More. We’ve beefed up the lineup to include a fourth live performance this year, rather than the three in previous years. We have Chroma, Madi, Mace and HANA2K performing plus DJ sets from DJ Jaffa. We’ve also added new categories, Best Music Photographer and Champion Of Underrated Music, to recognise demand for more inclusion and the progress of a growing scene.
If you could recommend one place in Wales to a first-time visitor that’s not on the tourist maps and off the beaten track, where would it be and why?
My dad took me and my daughter to Ystradfellte in Aberdare last summer. It was absolutely gorgeous. The beauty of the valleys overwhelms you and you can just ignore the rest of the world.
Cardiff Music Awards, Tramshed, Cardiff, Fri 29 Mar. Voting open until Fri 22 Mar. Tickets: £15. Info: www.cardiffmusicawards.co.uk
