SMOKEFREE PACIFICA BEATS 2014 – Wellington final

SMOKEFREE PACIFICA BEATS 2014 – Wellington final on Saturday 2 August

The Sacred Heart College hall in Lower Hutt will be pumping this Saturday (2 August) as the Wellington entrants play off in the regional final of Smokefree Pacifica Beats 2014.
Producer Elena Lome says the regional finals provide a really professional environment for young musicians.

“We give them the experience of playing on stage in front of a big audience with lights and all that you’d expect from a live music show,” she says. “They love it – they’re posting on facebook to their mates, and musically they really go up a notch in that setting.”

Among those competing to join the ranks of Kiwi music success at the Wellington Smokefree Pacfica Beats regional final are:

Polynesian Roots Rongotai College
Persuasion Hutt Valley High School
Jayjay Busby Mana College
Limitless Hutt Valley High School
The Mangoes Hutt Valley High School
Te Rangi Hutt Valley High School
Jah-Mon Aotea College

The Wellington SFPB final is at Sacred Heart College in Lower Hutt, start time 2pm, tickets $10 at the door.

At the Wellington final awards are made for the top two bands, the MAINZ Musicianship Award, Smokefree Mana Wahine Award, the APRA Songwriters Award, Smokefree Best Vocals, Youth Performance Trust (YPT) Native Language Award, the YPT Stage Image Award and the Recorded Music Solo/Duo Award.

Smokefree Pacifica Beats recognises and reflects the unique cultural identity of Aotearoa New Zealand and the South Pacific, with bands required to have some Maori or Pacific Island elements in their music or performance.

When all regional he finals are complete, the top two bands from each region submit video footage and complete social media tasks to be selected as national finalists to play off in Auckland on Friday 26 September.

The top six Smokefree Pacifica Beats finalists all travel to Auckland for a weekend of music, friendship, mentoring and culture at the noho marae (band camp) held at Horotiu Marae, AUT (Auckland University of Technology).

The national winners’ prize package includes musical gear to a total value of $3,000 from NZ Rockshops and their suppliers, a $10,000 song and video package from NZ On Air and performance spots at the 2015 Raggamuffin and Pasifika Festivals. There is also musical equipment from NZ Rockshops, the MAINZ Scholarship for outstanding musicianship, the APRA Songwriters Award, the Native Language Award, the Smokefree Mana Wahine Award, the Stage Image Award and the Smokefree Best Vocals Award.

More information at sfpb.co.nz or facebook.com/SFPBeats

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Smokefree Pacifica Beats

Smokefree Pacifica Beats recognises and reflects the unique cultural identity of Aotearoa New Zealand and the South Pacific.

The event started in 1994 as the Urban Beats Award within Smokefreerockquest and has steadily grown into a competition in its own right. Smokefree Pacifica Beats participants must demonstrate a cultural component in their songwriting and performance, which gives the young musicians the opportunity to prove their ability, combined with cultural relevance.
With events across seven regions, Smokefree Pacifica Beats provides another platform for developing and growing young music talent in Aotearoa. The Smokefree Pacifica Beats hall of fame includes Nesian Mystik, the only New Zealand band to ever have ten singles all certified gold or platinum.

Hall of Fame
Musical successes from Smokefreerockquest over its 26-year history include Kimbra, Broods, Midnight Youth, Aaradhna, Opshop, Evermore, Ladyhawke, Minuit, Kids of 88, Die!Die!Die!, NO, Annah Mac, Bang!Bang!Eche!, Streets of Laredo, Joel Little, Cairo Knife Fight, Cut Off Your Hands, the Datsuns, Brooke Fraser, Anika Moa, Kora, Anna Coddington, The Electric Confectionaires, Steriogram, Spacifix, Phoenix Foundation, The Feelers, The Black Seeds, Nesian Mystik, Bic Runga, The Checks, Julia Deans, King Kapisi, The Naked and Famous, Autozamm and Elemeno P.

Smokefree’s - Smoking Not Our Future Campaign

Smokefreerockquest and Smokefree Pacifica Beats play a large part in helping the HPA’s successful ‘Smoking Not Our Future’ campaign get its key messages in front of a large audience of young people. Smokefree has been the naming rights sponsor of Smokefreerockquest for 24 of its 26 years and this longstanding partnership has been mutually beneficial. This year young people will continue to be asked to join ‘The Movement’, which encourages youth to get more involved in helping New Zealand become smokefree by 2025. Smokefreerockquest and Smokefree Pacifica Beats help students make protective connections to their schools, other students and communities and they also develop new skills and aspirations for their futures. For more information visit Facebook.com/notourfuture.

Smokefreerockquest – 26 years of musical success

Smokefreerockquest is New Zealand’s only nationwide, live, original music, youth event. The series of over 40 events reaches audiences from the Far North to Invercargill. Founded in 1989 by music teachers Glenn Common and Pete Rainey, who now run Rockquest Promotions full time out of Nelson, Smokefreerockquest has become a New Zealand institution. Smokefreerockquest 2014, powered by Rockshop aims to motivate young musicians to prove their ability and realise the heights they can reach in their music careers, and to encourage their peers to support 100 percent original New Zealand music. For more information visitwww.sfrq.co.nz

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