Nelson Rockshop Bandquest 2014

Nelson Rockshop Bandquest 2014

They’re tuning up and practicing their songs from the North Shore to Stewart Island, as over 160 young school bands line up for this year’s Rockshop Bandquest, the nationwide music contest for intermediate and primary students.

Bandquest is in its fourth year as the younger sibling of Smokefreerockquest, and for kids of intermediate age there are plenty of role models to follow, including international success story Broods and the Christchurch trip-hop duo Doprah.

Founder and director Glenn Common says the level of talent at intermediate schools has caught the attention of the music industry.

“Rockshop Bandquest is a vehicle to spotlight this talent - it certainly provides a platform for young bands to shine in a stage setting with professional sound mix and lighting,” he said. “But really what we’re about is giving the kids an experience that extends them, that puts them under the pressure that comes with live performance and the exhilaration that is its reward.”

The Nelson event is at Theatre Royal on Friday 22 August at 7pm. Tickets are $10 at the door or from TicketDirect.

The bands who have entered Rockshop Bandquest in Nelson are:

Earthquake Broadgreen Intermediate
Mists of Rock Broadgreen Intermediate
Coastal Nelson College For Girls Prep
Central Station Nelson Central School
Figure 8 Ngatimoti School
Bands yet to confirm their names include three entries from Nelson Intermediate and one from Nelson College Prep.

Rockshop bandquest is for bands of two or more members, from intermediate or primary schools, who will play a short set of covers or original songs. There is an award for the best original song to encourage bands to write their own material, but the focus is on performance skills.

Rockshop donates prize vouchers to the winners’ schools. Spokesman, Hamish Jackson, says Bandquest is a great event for the nationwide chain to support.

“At a time where many countries are seeing a drop in kids learning instruments Bandquest is bucking the international trends,” he says. “The more we can get kids playing music through events like Bandquest, the better it is for the artistic health of New Zealand music.”

This year Rockshop Bandquest will be held in Dunedin, Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Tauranga, Napier, Hamilton and Auckland, with online entries for bands in outlying areas.

There will be mentoring sessions from successful Smokefreerockquest bands in the afternoon of the regional events and an online national final announcement on Wednesday 24 Nov, via bandquest.co.nz.

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