Hamilton band Smoked Paprika makes it to Smokefreerockquest national final

Smoked Paprika from Hillcrest High made it to the national finals of Smokefreerockquest. Photo / Supplied

Hamilton rock band Smoked Paprika of Hillcrest High School will be spicing up the Smokefreerockquest national finals.

The five-member band has become flavour of the month for fans as one of the top 10 acts in the competition after winning the Waikato regional final and going on to taste success at their national semifinal.

Smoked Paprika has five not-so-secret ingredients: Ephraim Frame (electric guitar), Ollie Neil (guitar, sax, vocals), Arlo Oliver (keyboard/synth), Josh Hogarty (drums) and Sage Garrett (bass) who are all in Year 12.

The band is super stoked about their achievement and couldn't bay-leaf their luck. Says Arlo: "We are feeling incredible, really. We have been together since 2020 and this has been something we aspired to do for a long time."

When the band started, the boys quickly found out there was no secret recipe to a good band name.

"We were all just sorting ideas and making suggestions, but we got so sick of all the names," Ephraim says.

In the end, Ollie came up with Smoked Paprika.

"It wasn't our first choice, but we decided to just pick something and make it our own," Ollie says.

Smoked Paprika make it to the regional final of last year's Smokefreerockquest, but they say they aren't salty they didn't get further.

Now, they are gearing up to play at Auckland's Q Theatre on September 24 with other top acts from all over the country.

Smoked Paprika consists of Ephraim Frame (electric guitar), Ollie Neil (guitar/sax), Arlo Oliver (keyboard/synth), Josh Hogarty (drums), Sage Garrett (bass). Photo / Supplied

The band members are writing their own songs and for this year's national finals, they have chosen to perform Late Late Ride and My Way.

Ollie says: "We scrapped about two or three songs because they just didn't feel right. My Way was specifically written for Rockquest. It is about just living your best life. Late Late Ride is about being free and growing up."

To prepare for the final round of Smokefreerockquest, Smoked Paprika says, they practise 12-13 hours a week.

Arlo says: "We are up against some pretty good bands. It would be super cool to win, but we don't want to get our hopes up".

"We have come this far and are so happy about this. If we don't win, we still got another year to do it."

Event judge Lou'ana Whitney says she is excited to see where Smoked Paprika is going.

"They have awesome songs, great instrumentation, hits, builds, dynamics and riffs ... they have obviously been practising and putting in the work".

Smokefreerockquest is almost three and a half decades old and has been the recipe for success for many Kiwi musicians including Alien Weaponry, Drax Project, Six60, Anika Moa, The Black Seeds, Kimbra and Ladyhawke.

This year, Smokefreerockquest received close to 800 entries across the band and solo-duo categories.

Event judge Kaylee Bell says Smokefreerockquest is about discovering the future of music in Aotearoa.

"New Zealand produces some incredible voices and it starts right back here at Smokefreerockquest. I believe Smokefreerockquest ... gives young aspiring musicians a goal to work towards and a platform to be seen and heard. It is an important backbone to our music industry here in New Zealand."

The national winners of Smokefreerockquest, powered by Rockshop, will receive prize packages including $22,000 in Rockshop vouchers, $16,000 NZ On Air recording, and a photo shoot and branding package from Imaginary Friends.

At the end of the competition, Smokefreerockquest will also present a couple of awards including the Musicianship Award, the ZM Best Song Award and Vocals Award.

The top 10 national finalists

● Bands
Bright Sky of Scots College, Wellington High School and Com Ed Centre, Wellington East Girls' College, Rongotai College (Wellington)
Mystery of Alfriston College (Manukau)
Smoked Paprika of Hillcrest High School (Waikato)
Stay in it of Palmerston North Girls' High School (Manawatu)
The Jehts of Christchurch Girls' High School, Christchurch Boys' High School, Avonside Girls' High School (Canterbury)
Their there of Mt Maunganui College (Bay of Plenty)
This Machine Means Murder of Western Springs College (Auckland Central)

● Solo/Duos
Grace & Leigh of Albany Senior High School, Kristin School (Online/North Shore)
Micah of Mt Maunganui College (Bay of Plenty)
Zac & Maddison of Garin College, Waimea College (Nelson)