SMOKEFREEROCKQUEST 2015 – Otago finals on 19 June

SMOKEFREEROCKQUEST 2015 – Otago finals on 19 June

It’s the big night of the year for youth music in Dunedin next Friday as the top bands and solo/duo performers in the region play off in the regional final of Smokefreerockquest 2015.

The top ten bands and two solo-duos to play off on Friday 19 June at Sammy’s were selected at heats held earlier this month (June 6)

Smokefreerockquest founder and director Glenn Common said Smokefreerockquest offers the entrants on Friday night a platform for live performance that builds on what they have learnt at school.

“The support that contemporary musicians get in schools these days is evident in the number of young musicians that get to performance standard,” he said. “Secondary school teachers offer tuition and encouragement, create space for bands and soloists to practise, they come along to support them at Smokefreerockquest and help them to get the most value from the experience of entering SFRQ – before, during and after.”

He said the professional performance environment offered by SFRQ included a stage set up with lights, sound, projection and technical support in a show that includes a guest band, MC and lots of giveaways.

There are 12 acts competing to join the ranks of Kiwi music success at the Otago regional final. The top two solo/duos for Otago selected at the heats are:

Two of us Taieri College
Josh and the giraffe Kings High School

The top 10 Otago bands to play off at the regional final are:

The Freakz Taieri College
Like a kid St Hildas Collegiate
Sycamore Logan Park High School
Six Years John McGlashan & Kavanagh Coll, Kings High
Twisted Logic St Hildas Collegiate
Alex and the Lads Taieri College
Zodiac Taieri College
Kosha John McGlashan College
Beats Per Minute Taieri College
28Fifty Kings High School

The Otago final is at Sammy’s on Friday 19 June, start time 7pm, tickets $10 for school students and $20 for adults from NZTix.co.nz or at the door. The guest band is The Chandeliers, an alternative indie pop four piece from Dunedin.

At the regional final the top two bands are selected to go into the national finalists’ judging pool, other awards and prizes are presented and the top two solo/duos play off for first and second place, with both going on to the judging pool for the national final.

Smokefreerockquest, powered by Rockshop, has national winners’ prize packages for bands and the solo/duo winners, that includes $22,000 in Rockshop vouchers, a $20,000 NZ On Air recording, video and promo package’ a ‘Decent Exposure’ campaign on FOUR, a photo shoot with Thievery Studio, a branding package from Imaginary Friends and the Unleashed Travel ambassador award – a seven day trip to Fiji.
There is also the MAINZ (Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand) Scholarship for Outstanding Musicianship, the APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) Lyric Award, the Lowdown Best Song Award and the Smokefree Women’s Musicianship Award. The People’s Choice award is voted by text, with the opportunity to open the Smokefreerockquest national final.

More info at sfrq.co.nz or facebook.com/thesfrq

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