Nelson SFRQ 2012 heats results

Aspiring rock musicians sang, strummed and strutted their stuff at the Theatre Royal in Friday’s Smokefreerockquest Nelson heats, with the 12 top bands and soloists selected by the judges to go on to the regional final next weekend.

SFRQ founder and director Glenn Common says Smokefreerockquest is a unique vehicle for engaging and inspiring young people right around New Zealand.

“This year we expect to crack the level of 800 bands entering – that is around 3000 kids being giving the experience of playing their own music live on stage to their peers,” he says. “Smokefreerockquest is an empowering and valuable experience even for the bands who don’t make it through to the finals.”

Common said this year’s entrants achieved a very high standard and the Nelson bands selected to compete in the regional final are:

Paper City Nayland College Garin College

Fire Without Permit Nelson College Waimea College

Hey, August Nelson College For Girls

Marley Richards Nayland College

Buried in Blood Motueka High School

New Vinyl Nelson College

Midnight’s Sun Nelson College Garin College NCG

Nearly Headless Nikk Nayland College

The Black Spots Golden Bay High School

The Sound Engineers Garin College

Damn you Laurie Nayland College Collingwood Area School

Speaking in Silence Garin College

The Nelson final is at the Theatre Royal on Saturday 19 May, start time 7pm, tickets $20 from Ticket Direct at the theatre.

Garin College music teacher Kyle Proffit who now mentors last year’s national winners, The Peasants, says he really values having Smokefreerockquest as a goal for his students.

“The structure of the competition creates opportunities for teachers to assess students’ progress and grade them for NCEA,” he says. “Although it’s primarily a music competition, it is much more than just another performance opportunity. It shows young people how much fun playing music together can be, it teaches them to cooperate and learn together, to support and challenge each other – a whole range of skills that can be applied across their broader education and in everyday life.”

The regional SFRQ events run every weekend until 21 July, then the top regional bands submit videos, from which eight bands or soloists are selected to play off at the national final at Claudelands Arena in Hamilton on 22 September. The big incentive is a prize package that includes a NZ On Air new recording and music video grant worth over $10,000, a place on the NZ On Air Kiwi Hit Disc, musical gear to the value of $10,000 from NZ Rockshops, radio promotional support for a single, and video play on youth music channel FOUR. There is also the MAINZ Scholarship for outstanding musicianship, the APRA Lyric Award, the Lowdown Best Song Award, the Smokefree Women’s Musicianship Award and the Skinny People’s Choice voted by text with the opportunity to open at the SFRQ final.

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