Smokefreerockquest Manawatu heats coming up

Media Release: Smokefreerockquest Manawatu heats coming up on Saturday 13 June, pic attached of last year’s national winners, Head Chef, as quoted in release.

Three Little Birds and Die Die Dinosaurs are just a couple of the imaginative names that high school bands from Manawatu have come up with for this year’s Smokefreerockquest as they gear up for the regional heats at the Globe Theatre on Saturday 13 June.

The Manawatu bands and solo/duos are among 3000 young people that will compete over the next three months in 24 towns from Invercargill to Kerikeri in New Zealand’s only nationwide, live, all original, youth music competition.

The event has an impressive track record of Kiwi music successes, most recently, Broods, who were in the winning 2011 band, The Peasants. However, the event is much more about the experience of particpation, than winning the top prizes.

Carlos McQuillan from last year’s national winning band, Wellington dub-roots four piece Head Chef, says being on stage performing your own music is one of the best things you can do as a musician: “Even if you don’t make the national final, entering SFRQ is a great thing to do because you get to perform with other kids doing the thing they love, just like you, writing and performing music, and you can learn so much from just watching everyone around you.”

Solo-duo section national winner Georgia Lines says she learnt that success is not just about having a great song: “It’s the whole package – it’s about what you say, what you wear, the style of music you play, the angle of the keyboard… everything has to be thought through because it all adds to being memorable.”

The Manawatu heats are at Globe Theatre starting at 1pm on Saturday 13 June, tickets $10 at the door. The band performing are:

Three Little Birds Palmerston North Girls' High School
Switch-Lane Horowhenua Coll, Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre
Anonymous Club Palmerston North Boys' High School
Melodies Of the disturbed Horowhenua College
Pixie Dust Palmerston North Girls' High School
Fusion Manawatu College
Oreo Te Kura-a-iwi o Whakatupuranga Rua Mano
The Affair Palmerston North Boys' High School
Naked Bliss Waiopehu College
TKT Te Kura-a-iwi o Whakatupuranga Rua Mano
Painted Faith Waiopehu College
Akeley Tararua College
Die Die Dinosaurs Palmerston North Boys' High School
Second Chance Waiopehu College
Primm Palmerston North Girls' High School
Constant Decay Feilding High School
Necrosis Manawatu College
Moral of a King Freyberg High School

The solo/duo performers starting at 3pm are:

Lewis Halewood Palmerston North Boys' High School
Libby offord Freyberg High School
Boy Atlas Palmerston North Boys' High School
Peyton Morete Te Horo School
Briana Allan Nga Tawa Diocesan School
Skit Feilding High School
Smooth Tone Tararua College

The top 10 bands and two solo/duos are selected at the heats to play off at the Manawatu regional final at the Globe Theatre on Friday 19 June, 7pm, tickets are $10 school students and $20 adults from the venue. At the regional final the top two solo/duos will play off for first and second place, and both go into judging pool for the national final, along with the top two bands.

The regional events run until 2 July, then the top regional bands and solo/duos submit video footage for selection as one of six bands and three solo/duos to play off at the national final at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre in Auckland on Friday 11 September.

Smokefreerockquest, powered by Rockshop, has national winners’ prize packages for bands and the solo/duo winners that include $22,000 in Rockshop vouchers, a $20,000 NZ On Air recording, video and promo package’ a ‘Decent Exposure’ campaign on FOUR, a photo shoot with Thievery Studio, a branding package from Imaginary Friends and the Unleashed Travel ambassador award – a seven day trip to Fiji.
There is also the MAINZ (Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand) Scholarship for Outstanding Musicianship, the APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) Lyric Award, the Lowdown Best Song Award and the Smokefree Women’s Musicianship Award. The People’s Choice award is voted by text, with the opportunity to open the Smokefreerockquest national final.

More information at sfrq.co.nz or facebook.com/thesfrq

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