Jimarh wins regional final

A four piece band drawn from Garin College, Nelson College and Motueka High
opened the door to career success in the New Zealand music industry, as this
year¹s regional winners in the Smokefreerockquest.

Jimarh won first place in the Nelson regional finals of the nationwide youth
music competition at the Trafalgar Centre on Saturday night, in front of an
enthusiastic crowd of over 1100.

Callum Allardice from Motueka High, the lead guitarist from Jimarh describes
their music as an Œalt-rock experience¹ with stand out factors that helped
them to win.

³Our on-stage performance with the crazy dancing of our vocalist, our
dress-ups and our sound with its sax distortion, heavy drums and
polyrhythmic timings all made Jimarh different,² he said.

Second place went to The Daquiris from Nelson College, who also took out the
Rockquest Promotions Best Song Award worth $100 cash.

These two bands go on to compete for one of the six finalist spots in this
year¹s Smokefreerockquest, and take home regional prizes of vouchers for
musical gear from NZ Rockshops and their suppliers.

Rockquest Promotions Founders and Directors Glenn Common and Pete Rainey
said it was now up to the two Nelson finalists to make the most of the
opportunity Smokefreerockquest offered.

³This is where the hard work starts, but Smokefreerockquest lays out a path
for them to follow,² Rainey said. ³They have to put together a video of 15
minutes of their own material, which really sorts out the bands that have
what it takes. Creative talent on its own is not enough - they also need
commitment, they¹ll need to work out the issues as a group and they have to
develop skills in areas such as negotiation and promotion to turn their
creative talent into success.²

Pete Rainey said Saturday night¹s event went very smoothly and he was
encouraged by the response to his call to make the event truly Œalcohol
free¹.

³I¹d like to thank the principals and teachers, parents, the city council,
police, security teams, HYPE and most of all the kids who came along on
Saturday night and showed that live music is all you need for a great night
out - they all responded to our message ŒGet into it - not out of it¹.²

What next for the finalists?
Smokefreerockquest and the NZ Music Commission, with funding from the
Ministry of Education, help these finalists by partnering them with mentor
bands - bands that are a couple of years ahead and have first hand knowledge
of the industry from the inside.

This year Smokefreerockquest has introduced ŒNZ Rockshop Second Chance¹ for
established bands who feel they missed out due to Œthings going wrong¹ on
the night. Bands that have done five or more public gigs and have demo
recordings of two or more songs, or have won ŒThe Set Peoples Choice Award¹,
can also submit a video of 15 minutes of music, to be considered for
selection as national finalists.

The Smokefreerockquest National Finals are at the Bruce Mason Centre on
Auckland¹s North Shore, on October 20th. Prizes aim to boost the winners¹
musical careers and include first prize of $10,000 worth of musical
equipment from NZ Rockshop and The Edge Airplay Award with NZ On Air where
the winning band¹s music and video are recorded with guaranteed airplay.

The other Nelson awards on Saturday night went to:

The Smokefree Best Vocals Award, winning $150 Cash: Joseph Tamihana from
EverAwake - Garin College & Nelson College.

The Mainz Musicianship Award with the opportunity to be selected for the
$4000 Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand Scholarship, announced at the
national finals: Shannon Donker of Semantic Progression - Nelson College.
This band also won The Set Peoples Choice Award.

The Smokefree Award for Women¹s Musicianship, winning $150 Cash: Zenobie
Cornille from Cinnamon Lips from Nelson College for Girls. This band also
won the APRA Lyric Writers Award judged from lyrics submitted at the heats
for their song Technicolour Sundays.

Third place, winning vouchers from the NZ Rockshops and their suppliers,
went to last year¹s regional winners, Sitggma from Waimea College.

Ends

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