Online Rockshop Bandquest 2014 results

Media Release: Online Rockshop Bandquest 2014 results

Palmerston North took the honours in this year’s online section of Rockshop Bandquest.

Bandquest is in its fourth year as the younger sibling of Smokefreerockquest, and attracted 160 entrants nationwide. Junior bands competed in towns from Dunedin to Auckland, with children from regions where no live contest was held being judged from video posted online.

Event organizer Matt Ealand says the performances from this age group mix sophistication with a lack of self-consciousness.

“They’ve been watching TV and YouTube, they’re aware of what established musicians are doing and they want to emulate them,” he said. “But they are not worried about being mocked – they just get up there and give it heaps.”

Rockshop Bandquest is for bands of two or more members, from intermediate or primary schools, who play a short set of covers or original songs, with a focus on performance skills.

The online awards went to:
First place winning $400 credit with The Rockshop for their school: Thrive, Palmerston North Intermediate
Second place winning $200 credit with The Rockshop for their school: The Jelly Beats, Highlands Intermediate, New Plymouth; with band members Nayla Macrae winning the musicianship award and Jasmine Baker winning Female Vocalist
Third place winning $100 credit with The Rockshop for their school: Solution, Ilminster Intermediate, Gisbourne, with their guitarist Tumanakoha Rikihana winning the ‘Killer Guitarist’ award and their bassist Mihingarangi Brown taking the Rock-Solid Bassist award
Best Keyboardist, Piper Cullen and Rocking Drummer, Junior Fala, from 9 Lives, Clifton School, Bulls
Rockstar styles, Peta Lynch and Male Vocalist, Ryan Ngarimu both from Thrive, Palmerston North Intermediate

Rockshop spokesman, Hamish Jackson, says for many of the kids Rockshop Bandquest is the biggest musical moment of their lives.

“It’s great for us to be part of that, “ he says. “Bandquest provides a unique opportunity to intermediate kids, it’s all about participation and giving it a go. The kids definitely throw themselves into it and the results have been amazing.”

This year over 160 bands have entered Rockshop Bandquest, competing in Dunedin, Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Tauranga, Napier, Hamilton and Auckland, with mentoring sessions from successful Smokefreerockquest bands in the afternoon of each regional event, and on-line entries for bands in outlying areas. There will be an online national final announcement on Wednesday 24 September, via bandquest.co.nz.

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