Hot Take – Fan Choice Awards VIII
Presented by Half-Moon Music // Hosted by Ashford York / Cara Zayn / Maliah Hope Aguilar
Los Angeles, California, USA / London, England, UK
MARCH 21, 2021
PART IAshford: Welcome to today’s special show. I’m joined by the remarkable Cara Zayn in the studio here in Los Angeles and we’ll be chatting with our friend and colleague overseas in London, Ms. Maliah Aguilar over skype, it feels appropriate in these weird times. But we’re coming together for the first of hopefully many Half-Moon specials as the three of us will be going over the nominees for the eighth Fan Choice Awards due to take place in April. It’s an awards show that signifies the ever-changing landscape of the music industry and the modern age of social media and fandoms, voted for by the fans. In its eighth incarnation it has right become the top music awards show in the industry, seeing off countless competition throughout the year to remain as popular as ever. In the recent nominee reveal event, it was high budget and spectacular, setting social media alight as it dominated the trending topics and with the announcement of performers still to come, it’s likely to be the most talked about topic right up until the day of the show and likely for the following week afterwards at the very least.
Cara: You done?
Maliah: Yeah, I was gonna say.
Cara: Just a polite reminder, Maliah. You have the option to mute. I wish I had.
Ashford: It’s called an introduction, people. This is what we do.
Cara: It’s what you do, we get to the point.
Ashford: Let’s get to it then!
Cara: Alright, so first up we’ve got Best Male Artist and it’s between Silver Spoons, Joshua Grimmie, Payton, Lincoln, Ryan Ross Hernandez and Kidd Amaze. Who you guys got and thoughts?
Maliah: Ordinarily I’m all for Payton on this one, love that dude. He’s my guy! But I feel like he’s had a quieter year as an artist, he’s been focused on the insane success of La Familia so I see him missing out on it. It can only be Joshua Grimmie for me, nothing against the other guys, they’ve been outstanding but Joshua has just been everywhere it seems and that counts a lot for this sort of show. From the last FCA’s he had that insane performance and he went and followed that up with the album, dominated the charts every time. It’s a no brainer for me.
Ashford: I’d have to agree with that sentiment as it’s who we think will win and not who we want to win. He deserves it and I think he’ll clean up at the show. But I think Ryan Ross Hernandez would be tough competition for him in this category, so for it’s definitely between those two. If Silver Spoons had put out his record already then he would be in the conversation too, I’m a big fan of what he does and the stuff with the band excites me very much, but I think Grimmie and Hernandez have just done a little more to earn it. Plus they both certainly know how to play the game and that helps a lot when it comes to fan led voting.
Cara: I think you guys have basically covered it, Kidd Amaze had a great record out there and I fucking love what he does but he doesn’t buy into the game as such and put himself out there as much as the others and Lincoln is just a blind spot for me. I think there’s this stat where he’s only ever released number one singles? But I couldn’t tell you anything about him or those songs. I imagine he has a wild fanbase, so should probably be looked at as a dark horse for this category, but just an absolute enigma to me.
Ashford: Alright, Best Female Artist. I think everybody’s got a chance in this one. We’ve got Isabel, Mandy Williams, Radio Vine, Amy Meyer, Serenity Scott and the late Stephanie Fierce. What do you guys think?
Cara: If we’re talking about purely the work, then for me it’s Radio Vine. Back in the day, she was always a force but I feel like she was always like just under the radar but “Vineyard”, the visuals and the show around it, it all came together and she brought us into her fucked up world. It was a joy to behold and she’s absolutely the one who deserves the award. It’s just a case of whether Isabel’s fanbase is still as strong as it always was, which I think it is and that for me could be enough for her to take this award.
Maliah: Yeah, I think Radio will be the name on everybody’s lips but Mandy put out an amazing and long-awaited album, plus her fanbase is very strong. Stephanie’s name still carries a lot of weight and Serenity may be an underdog here. Amy’s fanbase probably isn’t the same as it was at her peak with Riot! but Isabel, even though it was essentially a greatest hits record, it included two new songs and her fanbase alone is ridiculous. So it’s between Radio and Isabel. I can’t look past Izzy because I’m part of that fanbase and she’s always been the golden goose.
Ashford: Of course I think you all are sleeping on my friend Amy, she fucking bared her soul on that record, I’m absolutely biased and hey, Cara you should be too, she’s your damn buddy! But in reality, I don’t think this is her category. I think it’s gotta be Radio’s. She’s been the buzz artist of the last few months in my opinion, as great as the others are. I think it’s her time.
Maliah: We’re two awards in and it’s already shaping up to be the most open awards show I can remember. Next up is Best Band/Group and it’s between Mimi, Proximo, The Jollies, Weekend, iCandy and Orion.
Ashford: This is a bizarre one for me, it’s a category I’d have historically looked out for but I feel like there’s something lacking in the band aspect. It’s all very pop oriented which is just the way the industry is at the moment. I think Proximo played the game incredibly well, how good they are as a music act I think for me is still up for debate, their dance challenge is the main thing. I don’t know if the music alone is memorable enough for me, but I could just be a little cynical and jaded. Mimi is a little too recent for me and I’ve yet to delve into them fully, I like what I’ve seen so far but don’t have enough knowledge of their work right now. I’ll go with Weekend on name recognition, not sure what they’ve done recently to be up for the award. But if they dropped a snippet of a song tomorrow, the entire world would lose it’s shit as would I.
Cara: Orion for me, I’m with you on the lack of band in the traditional sense. It hurts to see Rock music falter so much that’s there’s no appearance from a rock band in this category which would have traditionally been contested by them. Hurts to see it, hopefully the landscape will change a little soon. But yeah, nothing to add to this one, unfortunately.
Maliah: The Jollies as a first choice for me, I think what they did last year was put a smile on our faces when we needed it the most and their whole MO is something that I definitely vibe with. As a second choice I’ll go with Proximo, I was so hyped when the dance challenge was going off and I think the industry needs that variety. Plus I’m madly in love with each of those boys, like yummy!
Ashford: We’re onto Best Newcomer next, it’s between Sonny, Trinity Love, Spoons, Paige Wesley, iCandy and Sophia Delaney.
Cara: Sonny for me, that fucking dude gets it. Blew everybody away with his debut single and E.P. Immediately made himself a force to be reckoned with in the industry just through the quality and uniqueness of his work. Not really much more to say for me on this one, it’s a one horse race.
Ashford: I’ll take your one horse race and throw in Spoons, the side project? Of Silver Spoons. For me, I hope he puts all of his focus on the band aspect because the taster that he delivered with this group was perfection. It’s absolutely my sort of vibe and I appreciate the art of it. I can see Sonny picking up the award because it’s a little more accessible than the alt-country and americana vibes that Spoons put out there, but I’m hopeful.
Maliah: Sonny did the damn thing. He deserves the award! I’d give honorable mention to Paige Wesley though, her record was solid!
Cara: Alright, I already have a feeling the rest of this show is gonna take a while. But we’ve got Best Single and it’s between Hernandez “In Hate We Trust”, Isabel “Eat You Up”, Grimmie “Swallow”, Radio “Funhouse”, Billy “Gemini” and Proximo “I Wanna”. It’s a toughie, what do you guys think?
Maliah: I’m gonna get hate from Ashford with this one, but Proximo arrived with “I Wanna”, they caught the mood of their fans and they should definitely slide into the DM’s, ya hear me!
Cara: Damn, Maliah about to risk it all on live broadcasting. Get yours girl! Is “Gemini” the oldest single on that list, I wasn’t expecting it to be here because it feels like it came out ages ago. Either way, “Gemini” by Billy was elite.
Ashford: I think Ryan Ross Hernandez caught the zeitgeist with “In Hate We Trust, USA” and it was an incredibly important and powerful single, I think that one takes the award but I think Isabel “Eat You Up” will not be far behind, comeback single a lot of hype behind it and it was just a perfect pop track. I preferred “Portrait” but you can’t deny that “Eat You Up” was probably THE single of that period.
Ashford: Alright, onto Best Album. We’ve got Mimi “When I Grow Up”, Joshua “Goldenheart”, Mandy Williams “Electrified”, Isabel “Portrait”, Amy Meyer “Bandages and Gauze” and Radio Vine, “Vineyard”. Not easy to choose.
Cara: Again the buzz for Radio on “Vineyard” is something that we just can’t deny, give it to her. Her uniqueness is her beauty.
Maliah: I love a pop record, so this is like choosing your favourite puppy. I love Mimi, Joshua is untouchable right now, Mandy came back STRONG and Isabel cannot fail. I think I rule Amy and Radio out on this one because their stuff is a little more niche. Maybe rule Isabel out because those songs were already out there for us anywhere apart from two of them. I’d like to say Mandy to win this one, actually.
Ashford: Again don’t sleep on my girl, Amy. But I get that it’s probably not quite as mainstream as the others. I don’t think you can look beyond Joshua. Right now if there was a power rankings for the music industry he’s been top for the past year. Mandy’s record was great as was the rest of them, it’s why they were all nominated but I don’t believe you can look beyond Joshua with this one.
Cara: We’ve got Best Performance next. With The Jollies, Stephanie Fierce, Radio Vine, Joshua Grimmie, Isabel and Silver Spoons. Some great performances in a year where we didn’t get very many. Where you guys at with this one?
Ashford: Again you’d have to say Joshua, he absolutely made a statement with the performance at the last FCA Awards. I can’t look beyond that, it’s a performance that was talked about in the aftermath for a while. But then the conversation wasn’t about the actual performance but the statement made during it. So I could understand if somebody else took home this one.
Maliah: I absolutely love The Jollies but for me, the comeback of Isabel was a dream. It was beautiful to see her on a stage again.
Cara: It’s a tough category, do you award this to the artist that generated the most buzz surrounding it? Or do you award it based on quality of performance? If it’s based on the quality of the performance and everything around that then it goes to Radio Vine for me, but if it’s based on the most buzz then probably Joshua. But I think the posthumous Super Bowl performance from Stephanie was something special and very well done. I hope it’ll be Stephanie but likely will be Radio or Joshua.
Maliah: Best Producer up next, Amy Meyer, Sunny Monroe, Daniel the Freenerd, Drew Westbrook and The Wolverines. Not an easy category to decide on because it’s tough to know how much input they had.
Cara: I think creativity wise my vote would be for Daniel the Freenerd, seems to bring something interesting to the records that he’s involved in. But it could go any way with this one.
Ashford: Drew Westbrook or The Wolverines, I think The Wolverines have had their hands on a few different records throughout the past few months and they always seem to produce consistently good records. I’m not all that sure that the producers input is that impactful these days, it seems like the artists take more control of their work which is a good thing.
Maliah: The Wolverines for me, they are listed on some of the biggest tracks of recent years. They’re relatively low key but they always seem to deliver quality work, so that would be my pick for this one.
Ashford: Best Songwriter, we’ve got Coke, Christopher Hudson, Sunny Monroe, Joshua Grimmie, Cara Zayn and Ryan Ross Hernandez. Interesting options with more artists involved in this category than usual.
Cara: I think I can take the L on this one, I don’t think enough of the songs that I’ve written for people recently have been released yet. Only Naomi and Madison from what I’m aware of. I have to say Christopher Hudson is the consistent songwriter in the industry, he was robbed last time out by me and absolutely deserves the award every year for his consistency.
Maliah: I like Christopher Hudson he’s got a hand in more pop hits than many probably realise but for me Sunny Monroe is a total force to be reckoned with that doesn’t get enough attention. Her work with Isabel alone is amazing.
Ashford: If we’re just limiting this to songwriters that consistently work with others rather than artists on their own work then it’s Sunny or Christopher for me. If we’re opening it up to the entire field which seems to be the case then I have a soft spot for Coke as a songwriter, really unique writer with a lot of depth and clever wordplay.
Cara: Jesus we’re not even half-way there yet, we may need a part one and part two of this show. Next is Best Record Label with Big Diamond Records, FivePeskyKids, Studio60 Records, Tric-Jam Records and La Familia.
Ashford: Just purely based on stature it’s between Five Pesky Kids and Studio60 Records for me. They’re just bigger operations with huge rosters, If I’m honest I don’t know how we judge this category.
Maliah: I agree, it’s a tough category to judge. Based on the idea of the label and output recently, I think La Familia will keep hold of their award. That influx of Latin music is a beautiful thing for the industry and I think you can’t ignore the impact of the label.
Cara: It could go any way for me, maybe Tric-Jam for their impact on modern rap and hip-hop which is flourishing these days. But you can’t write off Payton with La Familia.
Maliah: Ooooooh, it’s about to get real interesting now. We’ve got Sexiest Male, between Den, Younghood, Derek Ruiz, Dae Ho Park, Riley Hamilton, Kidd Amaze, Diego Bello, David Hernandez, Billy, Ryan Ross Hernandez, Deneil and Joshua Grimmie. Lemme just turn on the AC right now while I look through some of the nominees.
Ashford: I mean, there’s no way of predicting this category. I’ll play it safe, Billy seems to usually do well in these categories, right?
Cara: My man ain’t on the list which makes me question the validity of this award but I ain’t gonna run from a tricky question, I will give a legit answer because fuck, I ain’t blind! Dae Ho Park for me is pretty fine and I can’t deny that Younghood is a fine specimen. I’ve said what I’ve said, fuck the consequences!
Maliah: *continues looking through the nominees on her phone* Yo, guys, gimme a second!
Cara: Girl, I understand. You’re single, you’re fucking fire. What you say right now could have positive ramifications for yourself.
Maliah: Okay, okay, okay! I can’t just go with one, I’ve made my feelings on all of the guys in Proximo very clear so Diego Bello or Derek Ruiz, I can’t choose between both.
Cara: Babe, you don’t have to!
Maliah: Oh, jeez! *fans herself*
Ashford: You guys done now? I was gonna say finished but thought that maybe wasn’t an appropriate choice of words. We’ve got Sexiest Female next with Stephanie Ortiz, Gemma Kane, Coke, Naomi, Tika Mays, Tatiana, Stephanie Fierce, Natasha Stanovski, Mercedes, Isabel, Anaisz and Andrea. Where are your heads at right now?
Cara: I’ll go first, give Maliah a moment to compose herself. I think it’s between two if I’m honest, I know one very well and I can attest to the fact that you fall in love as soon as your eyes meet. Naomi, my girl, I got to work with her on her song and it’s amazing that I was even able to get anything done, she’s flawless and has such a classic beauty to her. Her main competition for this is Tatiana, like we know I’m all about that the booty and even I have to bow down to that. She’s absolutely got it.
Ashford: I mean everybody on that list is just incredibly fine in their own right, I think Tika Mays has a subtle beauty that draws you in and knocks you out without you even realising it. But I think there’s something about Natasha that intrigues me, it’s an effortless beauty I think.
Maliah: I mean, I’ve got a preference to the guys but I’m not opposed to the ladies. This is a god damn list! I think as it’s Sexiest rather than Most Attractive it implies that it’s more about those feelings inside rather than aesthetics. This one is maybe even more difficult that the guys, I have a list, can’t narrow it down. Coke, Naomi, Tatiana, Mercedes and Anaisz. They all appeal to me in different aspects, not sure I wanna discuss further though.
Cara: My girl is flustered, I can only hope that you meet these people soon! We’re gonna take a brief break before we return with the rest of the nominees!
