HOW does one survive in the fickle, cut-throat 21st-century music industry? It’s the age old question and if there was a guaranteed, stock answer and a veritable, bottled formula, I wouldn’t be writing this article. I would be a very rich man, sitting on a yacht, quaffing champagne in a rather more boring, safe and straightforward world.

Although it is an infuriating, cantankerous beast, the music business is still utterly unpredictable and therefore still open to wild cards and random acts. The majority of the current US Top 10 singles chart may well have been written by a select group of middle-aged Norwegian men, who think they are mastering the perfect pop blueprint; but just around the corner is a new, anti-establishment scene waiting to explode and break all the rules.

For the artist, two roads seem to be available. Either attempt the mainstream, major-label route of big investment, creative homogenisation and (hopefully) huge commercial appeal and success. Or make your own unique DIY template, stand out from the crowd, work hard, try your best and, more often than not … fail. Either miserably or gloriously, but at least you can sleep at night.

Even music that flies under the radar and dares to flaunt its independence is fashion-orientated, however. Guitars, synths, labels, magazines, blogs, trousers and haircuts all come and go amid the sneers of generational hipsters, while the true believers just weather the storm and keep battling on. As clichéd as it sounds, these are the people who genuinely do it for the love of it, whether in the mainstream or underground. David Bowie proved that.

As Celtic Connections stretches out, spreads its wings and seeks to act as an umbrella for an increasingly wide range of styles and genres, so we see a real stalwart of Scottish indie getting a chance to showcase its plucky courage and ability to endure. Creeping Bent is a Glasgow-based label that has functioned since its launch at the city's Tramway in December 1994. The label has brought together lesser-known, alternative personalities from post-punk’s past, alongside young bucks who’ve absorbed their influence and attitude.

Forged from the same subversive, raw materials as forerunners such as Fast Product, Postcard, Factory and Rough Trade, Creeping Bent embraces pop in its most misshapen, distorted forms and help it to proliferate. This has been no easy task, it has to be said, especially in a world where the plodding mediocrity of Oasis and Coldplay are deemed to be "alternative". Bent’s success has to be viewed via its artistic rather than commercial endeavours.

Following a specially programmed evening for Celtic Connections at the ABC in 2014, featuring none other than skronking, dub-infused Bristol legends The Pop Group, the label showcases at the 2016 festival with this Thursday's Bent Meltdown (Redux), which promises to be a singular treat for music lovers.

Ostensibly, this is a remodelled version of their Meltdown Festival extravaganza in 1998 at London’s Royal Festival Hall, curated by John Peel no less. Peel asked two labels to present nights as part of Meltdown, the pioneering Warp Records and Creeping Bent. Label boss and head-honcho, Douglas MacIntyre explains: “It was an honour and a total gas to be invited by Peel to participate, as Creeping Bent groups recorded around 20 sessions for the great man's BBC Radio 1 show.”

The Bent Meltdown (Redux) night will see the re-emergence of The Secret Goldfish, whose last performance was in 1999; and The Leopards, recently witnessed as Lloyd Cole’s backing band to huge acclaim. But stealing the spotlight will be Scotland’s greatest star that never was, Davy Henderson. Maybe his day is yet to come … we can only hope.

After fronting the inspirational, scratchy funk-punks Fire Engines and then mutant popsters Win, Henderson’s next project was The Nectarine No.9, who were rightly applauded for their masterful long-player, Saint Jack, on the revitalised Postcard label in the mid 1990s. Sharing members with his current group Sexual Objects, the band are now reformed, refreshed and ready for action. Saint Jack has just been given the reissue treatment via the Heavenly label too, so the world can hear Henderson’s rock’n’roll drawl, the band’s ramshackle grooves and the songs’ noir charms once more.

The whole event takes place in Oran Mor and between the live performances, old tapes of Peel's BBC Radio 1 show will play over the PA, as the evening largely pays homage to the DJ and the lasting influence he had on everyone at Creeping Bent and beyond.

Although this may feel like a celebratory peek through the window of nostalgia, MacIntyre is keen to stress the future looks bright for Bent: “The past 21 years of Creeping Bent has been a fantastic experience. We've always been about art, never commerce. I'm still as excited about pop. We have plans for new Creeping Bent releases by Sexual Objects, Port Sulphur, Hapton Crags and The Secret Goldfish, plus some unreleased archive releases by Article 58 and Jazzateers.”

Much like Celtic Connections itself, Creeping Bent is most definitely in it for the long haul. The label is more than happy to persevere upon pop music’s wildest seas, holding on for dear life with only one mission statement: to bring innovative music to your ears. As this year’s festival draws to an end, why not beat the January blues by raising a glass to survival against all odds – set to an extraordinary soundtrack of course.

Bent Meltdown is at Oran Mor this Thursday at 7.30pm as part of Celtic Connections. The Sunday Herald is the festival's media partner. For programme details and tickets visit www.celticconnections.com

Vic Galloway presents on BBC Radio Scotland at 9pm Mondays & 11pm Thursdays www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland Tomorrow Monday 25th January he has a special ‘Guest List’ feature with Hot Chip and more Tips for 2016.

Vic’s book Songs In The Key of Fife is published by Polygon http://www.birlinn.co.uk/Songs-in-the-Key-of-Fife.html

Contact Vic at www.twitter.com/vicgalloway