Coming Second No Bar To Success

The aspiring musos in this weekend’s Smokefreerockquest regional finals in Nelson and Marlborough have an example in guest band Minuit of just how far a musical career can take you.
 
For Paul Dodge, who with bandmates Ruth Carr and Ryan Beehre makes up the internationally successful breakbeat group, it will be ‘back to the future’ when he goes on stage in front of the Smokefreerockquest banner this weekend.
 
Paul was in a band called No Time for Talking that was in Smokefreerockquest in 1990, winning the regional heats in Wellington, but coming second in the finals to the band that would go on to become OpShop.
 
Paul says it’s way cooler coming second anyway...
 
“Back then Nelson was part of the Wellington regionals and that was the first time we discovered the shortcut down Rapaura Road to bypass Blenheim as we raced in a yellow mini to catch the ferry, having only decided last minute to take the chance and join the heats,” he recalls. “And we won - sometimes you gotta back yourself and take the chance, and we're still doing it, when we headlined a 2000-strong festival last month in Vietnam!”   
 
Smokefreerockquest director Pete Rainey says it’s really thrilling to have a band that is playing internationally at the level Minuit is doing, to come and perform at the top of the south gigs.
 
“It’s a great tribute to the event and to the affection it engenders in those who’ve gone through it,” he says. “It is quite something to have them here and especially to have Paul come back to Nelson, which is the home of Smokefreerockquest.”
 
Minuit have been based in Berlin for the last few years and have toured from St Petersburg to the Czech Republic; storming The Crystal Method's club night in Los Angeles; playing the hotel where Tarantino wrote Pulp Fiction in Amsterdam; supporting The Chemical Brothers; and headlining the recent Hanoi International Music Festival in Vietnam. They are back in New Zealand to play some shows and to record their new album, due for release mid-July. Paul says Smokefreerockquest is an opportunity to try out the new stuff to a fresh audience.
 
The Nelson regional final is at the Trafalgar Centre, at 8pm, on Saturday 13 June, tickets are $20 from The Everyman or at the door. These are the 14 bands that will compete for the Nelson regional title, plus prizes and the chance to be selected as finalists:
 
Marquee Overload                        Nelson College                        
Toysonfire                                    Waimea College                        
Paradox                                    Garin College,  Waimea College & Nayland College
PickleMyLove                                    Nelson College                        
Face Of The Day                        Nelson College For Girls                        
Tabasko                                    Waimea College                        
The Gnats                                    Nelson College            
Spartans of Metal                        Motueka High School                        
The Icecream Bandits                          Nelson College & Nelson College For Girls            
Gita                                                Waimea College                        
Ello                                                Garin College                        
MusGravE                                    Nayland College
Chill Factor                                     Garin College & Nelson College
Johnnie Cameron                        Nelson College
 
Prizes at stake include $500 worth of musical gear from NZ Rockshops and their suppliers for the winning band. Two finalists and the Smokefree People’s Choice winner from Marlborough will go into a selection process, based on their DVD, which whittles down regional finalists from around the country to the six that will go ahead to the national final, which will be held this year Auckland’s Power Station on Saturday September 19.
 
The winning band at the national final wins musical equipment from NZ Rockshop to the value of $10,000, and The Edge Airplay Award with NZ On Air where the winning band’s music and video are recorded at York Street Studios with guaranteed airplay and a promotional package from myspace.com.
 
ENDS