Why We Started the Underdog Awards (And Where the Money Actually Comes From)
I've been part of the alternative scene for over 30 years. Long enough to have watched it survive things that should have killed it, recessions, moral panics, the internet eating everything, a pandemic. And it's still here.
But the reason it's still here isn't the big festivals. It isn't the major labels or the glossy media coverage or the brands that slap a skull on something and call it goth. It's the people doing it for the love of it even when they know they should be doing something better paid and more sensible.
It's the promoter who books the DJ out of their own pocket and hopes enough people show up to cover it. The venue that seats 80 people and smells like old carpet and dry ice and feels, somehow, more like home than anywhere else you've ever been. The sticky floors. The sound system held together with gaffer tape. The nights that almost never get written about in the music press because they're too small, too local, too niche, but that keep entire communities of people connected to each other and to themselves.
Those are the people the Underdog Awards are for.
We could have spent this money on ads.
I want to be completely transparent about where this money comes from, because I think you deserve to know.
We redirected our advertising budget. The £500 in prize money (£250 for Best Alternative Club Night, £250 for Best Small Venue) would otherwise have gone to Meta or Google. It would have paid for a week of ads that might have sold a fair few more dresses. Instead, it goes directly to two people or organisations who have been quietly making the scene better.
That's the whole idea. We benefit from the alternative community. We always have, Kate's Clothing has existed since 2004 specifically because there are people out there who want to dress differently, who find their people at these nights and in these venues, who come back to us because they feel understood. The least we can do is put a little something back.
Why awards, specifically?
Because recognition matters. Not just the money (though hopefully £250 is genuinely useful to a small promoter or an independent venue running on fumes) but the fact that someone bothered to say: you are doing something worth celebrating.
A lot of the people keeping the alternative scene alive are doing it invisibly. They're not famous. They don't have sponsors. They're doing it because no one else will, and because they love it. The Underdog Awards is our way of saying: we see you. The community sees you.
How you can help
Nominate someone. If you know a club night or a small venue that deserves to win this, tell us about them. Tell us why. The nominations form is open until 15 July and the more nominations we get, the more of these places we discover and can shine a light on, even beyond the prize winners.
And share this. Not just for us (although it really does help us to) but for them too. The more people who know the Underdog Awards exist, the more the winners' badges actually mean something.
Kate x 🖤
