Smokefreerockquest Explained

Smokefreerockquest
Sponsor:	Smokefree/Auahi Kore
Country:	New Zealand
Year:	1988

Smokefreerockquest (SFRQ) is an annual music competition for intermediate and high school bands throughout New Zealand.

The first Rockquest was held in 1988, and was organised by Christchurch radio station C93FM as a local event. The following year, school teachers Glenn Common and Pete Rainey formed Rockquest Promotions and by 1990 had made Rockquest a national event, with five regional finals and a national final. In 1991, Smokefree became a major sponsor, and the name became the Smokefreerockquest.^[1] Glenn Common and Pete Rainey now run Rockquest Promotions full-time out of Nelson.^[2]

Smokefreerockquest reaches audience numbers in excess of 24,000. Its aim is to motivate young musicians to prove their musical ability and to encourage their peers to support original New Zealand music. Initially bands played covers, but very early in the evolution of the event (and running parallel with the evolution of music in New Zealand) there was a shift to original music.

Musical successes from Smokefreerockquest include, Park Rd, There's A Tuesday, Midnight Youth, Opshop, Evermore, Ladyhawke, Minuit, Marina Davis, Jeremy Lawrence, Kids of 88, Die!Die!Die!, Pistol Youth, Bang!Bang!Eche!, Ivy Lies, Cairo Knife Fight, Cut Off Your Hands, Luke Thompson, the Datsuns, Zed, Brooke Fraser, Anika Moa, Anna Coddington, The Electric Confectionaires, Steriogram, Aaradhna, Spacifix, The Phoenix Foundation, The Feelers, The Black Seeds, Nesian Mystik, Bic Runga, The Checks, Julia Deans, Pine, King Kapisi, Kingston, The Fresh Prints, The Naked and Famous, Rival State,^[3] Autozamm, Taste Nasa, Kimbra, Elemeno P, Alien Weaponry^[4] and Joe's Van.^[5]

Competition format

The SFRQ consists of around 40 regional competitions across New Zealand with the top regional bands progressing to the national final.

Each region holds both heats and a regional final. Acts that place first or second in each category (Solo-duo or Band) at their regional event have the opportunity to submit a 12-minute performance video which is judged by a panel of industry professionals. From these video submissions, 10 acts are chosen to compete at the national final. At the national final, the competing bands have 8 minutes to perform on stage before the overall winner is announced.^[6]

The regional areas are: Northland, North Shore, Auckland Central, Manukau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Taranaki, Whanganui, East Coast, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Wairarapa, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough District, Canterbury, West Coast, Timaru, Otago and Southland.^[7]

Prize package

The overall national winners (Band and Solo-duo) receive a prizepack which includes the opportunity to record a single, musical gear from NZ Rockshops, a New Music Single grant funded by NZ On Air which allows the act for have a music video created and released professionally, and mentoring with a music industry professional. Second and third placed finishers also receive Rockshop vouchers and the opportunity to record a single.^[8] Other awards at regional events include second and third placings, ZM Best Song Award, APRA Lyric Award, ZM People's Choice Award, Musicianship Award, and Best Vocals Award.^[9]

Past winners

width=50	Year	width=180	Winner	width=200	School	width=100	Region
1989	Outer Control	Hornby High School	Christchurch
1990	De Funk Express	Hillmorton High School	Christchurch
1991	Auntie Beatrice	Whakatane High School	Whakatane
1992	Exploding Poppies	Waimea College	Nelson
1993	Hallucian	Selwyn College	Auckland
1994	Kate in the Lemon Tree	Wanganui Collegiate	Wanganui
1995	Dancing Azians	Karamu High School	Hawkes Bay
1996	Marystaple	Aotea College	Wellington
1997	Atlas Woods	Wairarapa College/Kuranui College	Wellington
1998	Handsome Geoffrey	Hamilton Girls' High School	Waikato
1999	Son of Spank	Kāpiti College/Tawa College	Wellington
2000	Evermore	"Twin Oaks School"^[10]	Manawatu
2001	Carriage H	Logan Park High School	Otago
2002	The Have	Wanganui High School	Wanganui
2003	Falter	Mairehau High School	Christchurch
2004	Incursa	St Peters College	Auckland
2005	The Electric Confectionaires	Takapuna Grammar School	North Shore
2006	Neil Robinson	Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti	Christchurch
2007	Solomon	Rangitoto College	North Shore
2008	Beneath the Silence	Cashmere High School/Kaiapoi High School/Rangiora High School	Christchurch
2009	Jesse Sheehan	Wellington College	Wellington
2010	The Good Fun	Te Awamutu College & Hamilton Boys' High School	Waikato
2011	The Peasants	Garin College	Nelson
2012	New Vinyl	Nelson College	Nelson
2013	A Bit Nigel	Taupo-nui-a-Tia College & Rotorua Boys' High School	Rotorua-Taupo
2014	Head Chef	Wellington High School	Wellington
2015	Joe's Van		Tauranga
2016		Bream Bay College & Otamatea High School	Northland
2017	Minimal Silence	Howick College	Manukau
2018	Mit Eldnar	Manurewa High School	Manukau
2019	Arlo Mac	Havelock North High School	Hawkes Bay
2020	Red Wav	Aorere College & Marcellin College	Manukau
2022	Smoked Paprika	Hillcrest High School	Waikato
2023	Parkdale	Mount Albert Grammar School & Selwyn College, Auckland	Auckland Central

Post-event successes

• 1989/1990 — Bobby Kennedy and Clint Harris, members from the 1989 winning band Outer Control, formed the popular New Zealand rock band Opshop^[11] with Jason Kerrison, whose band De Funk Express won the Rockquest in 1990.^[12]
• 1991 — 1991 winners, Auntie Beatrice, featured brothers Bradley, Laughton and Francis Kora who later formed Reggae/dub band Kora.^[13] Kora’s debut EP Volume was released in 2004 and achieved platinum status with over 10,000 copies sold.
• 1993 — Pagan Records signed Bic Runga directly after her Rockquest national final performance, and she was subsequently signed to Sony for international release. Runga's first solo album, Drive, debuted at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ charts. She has since become one of the highest-selling New Zealand artists, also finding success internationally in Australia, Ireland and the UK.^[14]
• 1998 — In 1998, Atlantic Records signed Anika Moa directly after her national final performance. Moa's 2001 debut album, Thinking Room, reached the top of the Official New Zealand Top 40 Albums Chart and was a commercial success.^[15] She has released a total of four studio albums and has received numerous APRA and New Zealand Music Award nominations.^[16]
• 2000 — Evermore have gone on to international success since winning the competition in 2000.^[17] The band used their Rockquest prize money to build their own recording facility, Red Sky Studio.^[18] They have since released four popular albums and have been nominated for numerous ARIA Awards and New Zealand Music Awards.^[19]
• 2001 — Andrew Wilson and Michael Prain of Die! Die! Die! originally played in the band Carriage H who won the SFRQ in 2001.^[20] As well as releasing five studio albums, Die! Die! Die! have toured with Franz Ferdinand, Wolfmother and Wire.^[21]
• 2004 — Sam McCarthy and Jordan Arts, members of the 2004 winning band Insurca, formed the new wave duo, Kids of 88 who released two albums. McCarthy also played in pop punk band Goodnight Nurse who released several top 40 singles.^{[22] [23]}
• 2014 — Georgia and Caleb Nott, members of The Peasants (2011 SFRQ winners), splintered off to form the duo Broods. They have released two albums and have enjoyed some success in the United States.
• 2016 — Alien Weaponry have won a New Zealand 2022 Music Award for Best Rock Act, opened for Guns n Roses and released 2 studio albums.

See also

• Smokefree RockQuest 2005 - an album of the finalists of 2005.

External links

• The Official Smokefreerockquest website
• Smokefree Pacifica Beats - a youth music competition that recognizes and reflects the unique cultural identity of New Zealand and the South Pacific

Notes and References

1. Web site: History of the Rockquest. TKI.
2. Web site: SmokeFree Rockquest.
3. Web site: Twenty five years of Smokefreerockquest. Smokefreerockquest.
4. News: Smokefreerockquest national finals results 2015. 14 September 2015. Scoop. Scoop. 14 September 2015.
5. Web site: About SFRQ. Smokefreerockquest.
6. Web site: How it works - Stages. Smokefreerockquest.
7. Web site: Region dates. Smokefreerockquest.
8. Web site: National Prizes. Smokefreerockquest.
9. Web site: Awards. Smokefreerockquest.
10. Because Evermore were homeschooled, they made up "Twin Oaks School" as their school name. Web site: Smokefree Rockquest – 20 years young. Get the Skinny from Skinny. Get the Skinny from Skinny. 19 August 2015.
11. Web site: National Winners '89 – Outer Control.
12. Web site: National Winners '90 – De Funk Express.
13. Web site: National Winners '91 – Auntie Beatrice.
14. [Bic Runga]
15. Web site: Thinking Room - Anika Moa. muzic.net.nz.
16. Web site: Anika Moa bio. the Adults.
17. Web site: National Winners '00 – Evermore. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110518073856/http://www.smokefreerockquest.co.nz/history/00. 2011-05-18.
18. Web site: Evermore Biography. AllMusic. Jason Ankeny.
19. Web site: Evermore Bio.
20. Web site: National Winners '01 – Carriage H.
21. Web site: Die! Die! Die!. Sputnik Music.
22. Web site: National Winners '04 – Incursa.
23. Web site: Kids Of 88 - More than Quick Thrills and Sugar Pills. NZ Musician. Lydia Jenkin. 2010.