The nominees for the Asia Voice Independent Music Awards 2009 are out. The awards are a first-of-its-kind event scheduled to take place on Mar 29, with entries from bands from all over the continent.

Malaysia leads the nominations with 36 nods while Indian bands too feature on a number of categories. Indiecision ’08 Indie of the Year Shaa’ir + Func head the Indian contingent with four nominations while Another Vertigo Rush, Motherjane and Workshop, among others, also find mentions. The awards will be announced via a webcast from Malaysia on Mar 29 while voting for the nominees will begin on Mar 1.

Check out the entire list of nominees for AVIMA 2009.

In case you were wondering, the band pictured above is The Great Spy Experiment from Singapore.

According to the organisers, Motherjane were nominated as

The judges were very impressed with their music and they were shortlisted from over 200 bands from across Asia.

The VIMAs will be handed out on Jan 17, ’09. Check out all the nominees.

Motherjane recently released their new album Maktub in support of which they produced a rockumentary. The other nominees in the Best International Act category are

The Diplomats (Indonesia/Malaysia/Canada/Hong Kong)
Vanessa Mosses (Australia/Malaysia)
Thaitanium (Thailand)
Koil (Indonesia)
The Great Spy Experiment (SG)

The Asia Voice Independent Music Awards is an initiative launched by Voize.my, a leading Malaysian lifestyle and entertainment portal. AVIMA 2009 will recognize Asia’s finest Indie acts from India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philipines,Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

The award ceremony will be held in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 21, 2009. Nominations start from Nov 1, 2008 until Jan 31, 2009. Submissions must be for material between Jan 1, 2008 to Jan 1, 2009. Submissions need to be sent to music@voize.my. Bands can send as many entries as they like for the various categories (after the jump).

Stay tuned for more info on AVIMA 2009.

Award categories after the jump.

(6 nominees in each main category and 3 awards to be given out – Gold, Silver and Bronze) :
1. Best Pop
- Best Pop Song
- Best Pop Group
- Best Pop Male Vocalist
- Best Pop Female Vocalist
2. Best Rock
- Best Rock Song
- Best Rock Group
- Best Rock Vocalist
3. Best Hip-Hop
- Best Hip-Hop Song
- Best Hip-Hop Solo
- Best Hip-Hop Group
4. Best Dance
- Best Dance Song
- Best Dance Act
- Best Dance Dj (Club)
The Fun sub-categories are as follows
5. Best Remix
6. Best Collaboration
7. Best Instrumental
8. Best Genre Bender
9. Best Song To Play At Camp Fire and To Do Away With Monday Morning Blues
10. Best Film
- Best Short Form Film (5 Mins)
- Best Long Form Film (30 Mins)
- Best Director
- Best Spoof or Parody That Does Not Include Dark Night, James Bond, and Star Wars (Spoof Of The Year)
11. Best College Act
12. Best Guitar “Goreng” Riff
13. Best Act In the Whole Universe (International Act)
14. Best Producer
15. Fan Of The Year
16. Best Freaking Act Of The Year
17. Most Mind Blowing Music Video