Otago Smokefreerockquest 2011 results

Media Release Otago Smokefreerockquest 2011 results

Logan Park three-piece band Scrumpy Grinder won the 2011 Smokefreerockquest regional final the Dunedin Town Hall on Saturday night.

Drummer Gabriel Griffin and saxophonist Rowena Rushton-Green were in last year’s second place band Sewage. Their guitarist left to go to university and was replaced by Sam Richardson. All three are in Year 13.

Rowena is reluctant to put a label on their music, settling on ‘improvised noise rock’.

“We all improvise the songs, which are an expression of us at that time – we have quite noisy vocals rather than words.”

Rowena believes Scrumpy Grinder may have stood out for the judges because they were ‘quite relaxed and having fun’.

Second place went to indie-pop band Bowties on My Shoes from St Hilda’s Collegiate, Otago Boys’ and Otago Girls’ High Schools. Their lead vocalist Abby Knudsen-Hollebon (St Hilda’s) won the Smokefree Award For Women’s Musicianship; while the APRA Lyric Writer’s Award want to Abby and Stephanie Patchett for their song Red. The other band members are Calla Knudson-Hollebon (Otago Girls) and
Isaac Hickey and Nathan Hamilton (Otago Boys).

These top two bands win musical gear from NZ Rockshops and go on to compete for one of six national finalist spots in this year’s Smokefreerockquest.

Rockquest Promotions founders and directors Glenn Common and Pete Rainey said from here on the Otago finalists would have to work hard and draw on their creativity to make the most of the opportunity Smokefreerockquest offered.

“The bands to play off at the national final in September are chosen from DVDs of their own music,” Common said. “This means they’ll need to work together as a group and develop the skills that will turn their talent into success.”

The six national finalists will be selected from a pool made up of first and second place-getters from each of the 27 regional finals, and bands from Rockshop Second Chance, an opportunity for established bands who feel they didn’t play at their best on the night. Last year’s record of 800 entrants has already been exceeded, with more entries to come as Christchurch bands have been given an extended deadline.

In term three, Smokefreerockquest and the NZ Music Commission, with funding from the Ministry of Education, will partner the regional winner with a mentor band - a band that is some years ahead and has first hand knowledge of the industry.

The national final will be held this year in the new 5000-seat Claudelands Arena in Hamilton on 17 September. The prize package is designed as a big helping hand into the music industry. It includes a NZ On Air new recording and music video grant worth $10,000, a place on the NZ On Air Kiwi Hit Disc, musical gear to the value of $10,000 from NZ Rockshops, recording time at York St Studio, 1000 single CDs produced by Forge Media, and radio and TV play of single. There is also the MAINZ Scholarship for outstanding musicianship, the APRA Lyric Award, the Lowdown Best Song Award and the Smokefree Women’s Musicianship Award.

In this year’s Otago Smokefreerockquest all entrants got the real life experience of rock stardom - performing on the big stage in the town hall. There were 39 entrants who performed in the afternoon, eight called back for the evening final:

Other regional awards made on Saturday night.
Third place winning musical gear from NZ Rockshops and their suppliers, and the Lowdown Best Song Award: Nick Henderson, John McGlashan College
Smokefree People’s Choice: Outright, Otago Boys’ High School

Central Otago bands play off next weekend (July 15) at the Lake Wanaka Centre, start time for the final is 8pm, tickets $20 at Quest or at Base, guest band Two Cartoons.

To find out more about Smokefreerockquest 2011, visit the official website sfrq.co.nz.

ENDS

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