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Australian roots trio The Beautiful Girls [pictured right] are nominated for Best Blues and Roots Album at this year's Jagermeister Independent Music Awards; a compilation video of live and in-studio footage filmed during the recording of their latest album Spooks is embedded above.

Ahead of this year's awards night - more details on that at the bottom of this post - we briefly caught up with The Beautiful Girls' singer and guitarist, Mat McHugh.

What's your favourite song of 2010 so far by an Australian artist, Matt?

I've been listening to mixes of the new album by Brisbane band Kooii and the first single 'One Step at a Time' is seriously amazing. I'm jealous of how well the guy sings. Our bass player Paulie B produced it and it's my favourite thing I've heard all year.

Favourite musical moment of 2010 so far?

My favourite musical moment was sitting in my car after mastering our album Spooks and listening through from beginning to end. I spent a lot of time on the album and, for the first time, felt really proud of an album of been a part of. It was such an overwhelming experience that it made me feel pretty emotional.

What does being independent mean to you?

Being independent means everything to me. It means being able to express myself exactly how I see fit. No dumbing down. No smoothing out the rough edges. No other considerations aside from putting out music that I'm proud of. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

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

It's all a huge learning curve and you face a lot of obstacles along the way. The music 'business' is firmly rooted in making money above all else and without a huge budget it can be hard to get the coverage you need to get noticed sometimes. A lot of media (from the street press to commercial radio to the ARIAs) will give preference to a major record company that spends big advertising dollars over an independent band no matter how good they may be. Any day of the week.  They'll tell you they don't but that's just bullshit. Everyone ends up a part of this co-dependent organism where you're career becomes and endless excursion in back scratching, networking and pissing in the 'right' people's pockets. You can probably deduce that all that doesn't leave you with much time for giving a damn about music.

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

Fortunately music lovers, especially Australia's, aren't stupid. I like to believe most people can smell a rat eventually and, conversely, most people can tell decent music when they hear it. The best thing about being independent is removing the barrier of bullshit that so often exists between musicians and their audience. I grew up listening to, and respecting, punk rock, where keeping it real was paramount. For music to continue to be a relevant cultural force, it needs to speak about reality. Uncensored, unfiltered, undiluted. It gives me a sense of pride being independent and knowing that we have to work ten times harder than everybody else just to be heard. It means that everyone that buys a record or comes to a show does so because it's their choice. They haven't had our music force-fed to them, and it's not the marketing but the music itself that appeals to them. That's a nice, honest notion.

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

I'd like to be remembered as somebody whose words were backed up by his actions. There are so many fakes in the music business, so all I would like to be remembered as is somebody that was real.

Favourite music video of all time by an Australian artist?

I'm going to sound hopeless but I never, ever watch music videos. I'm sure there's a lot of amazing clips out there but if I'm not writing music myself I'm hanging with my family or surfing. Sometimes I read too. 

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

I love AIR and that there is an outlet to support independent artists. As you may have picked up, I'm extremely passionate about music having value that isn't always based in commerciality and organisations like AIR help perpetuate honest, independent thought and expression.

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

I don't really care. I just hope whoever it is has something to say and that they contribute positivity and love to this planet.

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

Probably somebody that doesn't deserve to win will win and somebody that deserves to win will become runner-up.

Thanks for your time, Mat! For more info on The Beautiful Girls, 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.au/