The Golden Indie Music Awards (GIMA), Taiwan’s premier independent music award-giving body, will be hosting its grand ceremony on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at the Taipei Music Center, and it will be livestreamed in South Korea and Thailand.
This year’s edition puts a spotlight on international guest performers, including South Korea’s leading indie rock band Silica Gel and rising Thai rapper AUTTA, who will be sharing the stage with Taiwan’s folk-pop trio The Chairs in a rare cross-border collaboration.
The highly anticipated teamup is centered on this year’s theme, “Brave,” and will feature four more acts from across Asia whose work reflects fearlessness in confronting expectations and expressing uncompromising truth in music.
On the Asian front, GIMA will be honoring the “Best Asian Creative Artist Award,” whose nominees illustrate the breadth of Asia’s independent music scene, crossing languages and genres while sharing a commitment to authenticity.
From 60 submissions across Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand, the shortlist features South Korean electro-punk duo Fat Hamster and KANG New, rising South Korean R&B and neo-soul artist Jacqui, Indonesian indie group Lomba Sihir, socio-politically charged rock band, Feast, and Tokyo-born, Melbourne-based violinist, producer, and vocalist ELLE SHIMADA.
Now in its 16th year, the GIMA drew a record 4,052 submissions from across Asia.
Among the nominees, rapper and songwriter Hsien Ching (陳嫺靜) has emerged as one of the most talked-about figures, securing seven nominations for her twin albums,《If we can be happy happy every day, who wants to be sad:))》and《If we can be happy happy every day, who wants to be sad:＊. Her work, defined by a non-conventional approach to hiphop and a distinctly female perspective, has made her a unique voice in Taiwan’s independent music scene. Close behind is the band Lilium (百合花), which blends Taiwanese language, traditional instruments, and rock elements in their album,《Everything Will Go Wonderfully》, earning six nominations and demonstrating the vibrancy of Taiwan’s cultural roots within modern music. The nominations also include works by prominent and emerging artists such as Enno Cheng (鄭宜農), Modern Cinema Master (當代電影大師), YELLOW (黃宣), Dinosaur’s Skin (恐龍的皮), and Andr, whose creations have likewise drawn significant attention.