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Sydney indie rock band The Jezabels [pictured right] are nominated for two Jagermeister Independent Music Awards in 2010: Best Breakthrough Artist and Best Single (for 'She's So Hard'). Ahead of this year's event - more details on that at the bottom of this post - we caught up with The Jezabels' guitarist, Sam Lockwood.

What's your favourite musical moment of 2010 so far, Sam?

Seeing Cloud Control at the FBI radio fundraiser at the Factory in Sydney. I hadn't seen them in ages, and they were already awesome, but to see them play in front of around about 1200 people who were all getting into it - that was really incredible. I think the height of that set was their introduction to 'Death Cloud'. They are really great, really.

Favourite song of 2010 so far by an Australian artist, and why?

'And the Boys' by Angus and Julia Stone. Their simplicity is so genius - when I first heard this song I was struck by how powerful restraint can really be. All of Angus and Julia Stone's songs are written in such a way - but this song in particular is strikingly awesome. [Audio embedded below]

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What does being independent mean to you?

It's quite hard to sum it up but I think it's just a general direction that our band has enjoyed heading in. Money is a big issue - or more precisely our lack of it - but what we lack in money we gain in creative control, ideological control and even financial control. This does matter to us. I feel we would be uncomfortable to be pressured into doing things that we don't agree with, and I think situations like that occur much more when you are under a pile of contracts.

What's the biggest challenge you face as an independent musician?

Definitely money! It costs so much to do anything! Also, you do make yourself a bit of an outsider. When you have record label associations, there are a whole lather of contacts that you immediately create, which can aid your band's growth in so many different ways. It is a completely a 'connections' based industry, so this can work against you. However we have an amazing manager, and he is able to transcend this problem I think. Which we are very thankful for!

Conversely, what's the best thing about being independent?

Everything you do is talked about and assessed within the band, as well as with our manager. We can say no to anything, which, as mentioned above, is a very important thing to us. You learn so much more as well, because you have to be much more hands-on with the whole process. Just as an example, Nik, our Drummer, is very good at website design now, because someone in our band had to learn it! 

As a band, what would you ultimately like to be known and remembered for?

It would be nice to be a band that could be put on a stereo in about forty years or so and still have a bit of relevance. Also I'd hope that we've given a few people some nice memories, of when they came to one of our shows. Nothing too serious! These small experiences are the most important I think (cringe...).

Favourite music video of all time by an Australian artist, and why?

'Solid Rock' by Goanna [embedded below]. It is such an awesome song, and the power of the song is so prevalent in the video clip. It's a simple performance video, but the band is getting so into it, especially the backup singers! The song itself has a great political message as well, so that adds a great meaningful layer to the whole thing. PERFECT!

What's the best thing about being associated with AIR and the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards?

We are actually super surprised at being nominated, so I guess the best thing is to have your name listed beside such distinguished artists! Awards are good things to have, for recognition is something that makes you feel very positive about what you are doing. Now having said that, I'm quite certain that we won't win anything, but it's still great to be recognised!

Which Australian independent act deserves to be the 'next big thing'?

It's a good question. Caitlin Park is a great singer-songwriter from Sydney, as is Eirwen Skye. Isaac Graham is another. There are so many awesome bands and solo artists, of whom all have immense creative ability, I don't know where to start. We'll see I suppose..?

Finally, who do you think is going to win your categories this year? Who deserves runner-up?

I'd say modestly that in both categories, we deserve runner up, but in the others, Richard In Your Mind should win the best breakthrough, and The Temper Trap should win best single. They don't really need a leg up at the moment do they. But they definitely deserve it...

Thanks for your time, Sam! For more info on The Jezabels, visit their MySpace.

The 5th Annual Jagermeister Independent Music Awards are held at The Forum Theatre, Melbourne on Friday October 1st, 2010, featuring live performances from British India, Cloud Control, The Amity Affliction, M-Phazes, Sally Seltmann and Joe Chindamo. Doors open at 8:00pm; tickets are $29+BF and available now via Ticketmaster.

For more info on AIR and Australian independent music, visit http://www.ausindies.com/