Smokefreerockquest - shortlist announced

Smokefreerockquest - shortlist announced for national finals

A pianist singer-songwriter from Wellington, two brothers from Timaru and a
seven-piece ska band from Auckland are three of the 12 hopefuls shortlisted
for the finals of this year¹s Smokefreerockquest.

A record 624 bands played off in heats and finals around the country
starting back in May, and the 47 regional finalists have now been
shortlisted to 12, based on 15 minute videos of their original music.

The 12 that made the shortlist are:
Sons of Solomon North Shore
Geneva Auckland
The 80s Jacket Club Auckland
Sons of Darrah Auckland
ADD Auckland East
The Braxton Hicks Hamilton
The Excuse Levin
Five Fold Kiss Hutt Valley
Moana Ete Wellington (solo)
Neil Robinson Christchurch (band)
Black Market Art Christchurch
No Indication Timaru

Ashley Page, A&R Manager, from Warner Music NZ who was on the judging panel
said it was a very, very tough decision.

³The quality, technical ability, and variety of artists coming through this
year is of a noticeably higher standard than in previous years,² he said.
³In particular the standard of the song writing is now becoming comparable
with any musician in the country. The legacy of the Smokefreeockquest,
working with and nurturing the best new talents in the New Zealand music
industry, seems to just go from strength to strength.²

These 12 bands and soloists will be recorded for a music compilation that
will be released later in the year. The twelve will then be further narrowed
to six finalists to be announced in mid September for the finals on October
7th. At stake for the winning band is a prize of $10,000 worth of music
gear, recording time and potential recognition by the music industry.

Other awards made at the finals reinforce the key Smokefreerockquest aim of
encouraging students to write and perform their own music. Individual prizes
are awarded for best lyrics, best vocals, women¹s musicianship and the best
song. A scholarship to the Tai Poutini contemporary music course is also
awarded. This year there are new media awards, The Rip It Up Journalism
Award for fledgling music writers and the Tearaway photo award.

The Smokefreerockquest National Finals are at the Bruce Mason Centre on
Auckland¹s North Shore, on October 7th. Starting at 8pm. Tickets at
ticketek. The finals will be filmed to feature on the music and youth
culture television channel C4, along with footage from the regional finals.

Visit the Smokefreerockquest website www.theset.co.nz
to access more information, band profiles, MP3
files, media releases, story angles and more.

Ends

Contact details, more info follows.

Sons Of Solomon Rangitoto College Auckland James McCully 027 254 2354

Geneva Avondale College Auckland Connor Nestor
021 202 3006

Sons Of Darragh Mount Roskill Grammar, Auckland Kiran Rai 021 107 8910, 09
627 8981

The 80¹s Jacket Club Mt. Albert Grammar Auckland Ivan Luketing-Johnston 027
328 1054

A.D.D Macleans College Auckland Anson Yang 021 156 4675

The Braxton Hicks St. Pauls Collegiate Hamilton Joel Flyger 027 310
0975

The Excuse Waiopehu College, Levin Alex Coogan-Reeves
027 313 7635

Five Fold Kiss HIBS/St Patricks Silverstream Upper Hutt Blair Everson 027
697 9058
Moana Ete Wellington East G College Wellington Moana Ete
027 326 7856

Neil Robinson Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti Christchurch Chris Young 027
318 5478

Black Market Art Cashmere High School Christchurch Matt Scobie 027
405 6724

No Indication Timaru Boys High School South Canterbury
Joshua Smith 021 189 5543

Ends

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