No one was quite sure what to expect from the inaugural Far North Pacifica Beats competition, staged at Kerikeri's Turner Centre on Friday night, in tandem with the first Smokefreerockquest Far North final to be staged outside Whangarei, but it was a huge night for Kaitaia College duo Heavon Levi (14) and Te Amohaere Rudolph (15).
Performing as 'Rangi Ataahua', they swept all before them to claim the APRA songwriter's award and the overall title, leading a clean sweep for Kaitaia College.
Heavon moved to Kaitaia from Auckland to live with her dad, and met Te Amohaere when they started college two years ago. They have been playing together since then.
Te Amohaere said she had been brought up around music and kapa haka, and both girls dreamed of making music their career. 'Rangi Ataahua' meant Beautiful Heaven, like the colourful rainbow that featured in their award-winning song Colour.
"We both relate to being multi-cultural, and our song was about being judged for sticking to just one culture," she said.
"We sang in English and te reo, and we both wore a taonga to remind us that we had our tupuna with us on-stage."
Smokefree Pacifica Beats producer Elena Lome said the Far North finalists had to complete a number of tasks to make the most of the opportunity on offer.
"We ask them to create a band page on Facebook, write up a media release, create a band bio and a short video about themselves that we use in the judging as we lead up to the national final," she said.
"The aim is to give them an insight into the management and promotional aspects of being a band that they'll need to be successful."
The best two acts from each region will be judged via video for the national final in Auckland on September 26.
The full list of Smokefree Pacifica Beats award winners, all from Kaitaia College, was:
Overall and the APRA songwriter's award: 'Rangi Ataahua'; best solo/duo and best vocals: 'Sugar and Spice and All Things Maori' (Horiana Peters and Saphyre Florian), Smokefree Mana Wahine award and the Mainz musicianship award: Paris Nelesini (from the duo 'Paris'); Youth Performance Trust native language award: Annaleah Cassidy-Taylor and Faith Dawson.
Cypruss wins
Meanwhile Bay of Islands R&B band 'Cypruss' took the Smokefreerockquest honours. The band comprises Kerikeri High School students William Blakely (lead guitar), Kane Strongman (drums) and Morgan Royal (bass), and Zoe Samuels (lead vocals) from Bay of Islands College.
Zoe and William have been playing together for two years, but the two other boys only joined them a few weeks ago, Zoe saying their songs were about "normal teenage stuff like breaking up, making up and showing off."
"I think we stood out for the judges because our sound was really tight, we were all really into it and enjoying it and we got the crowd going with us," she added.
Second place in the band category went to Back2Back from Kerikeri High School (Rawiri Webb, Ryan Evans, Manawa-Kaha Webb and Rachel Hall), who also won the People's Choice award.
Kerikeri High School's 'Underbite' (Tamati Webb and Tamati Te Wai) won the solo/duo section, just a year after getting into music and joining forces a month ago, ahead of Canary Herbert (Kaitaia Abundant Life School), who also won the award for women's musicianship.
All four acts have the chance to gain selection for the national finals in Auckland's on September 27.
The third-placed band was 'Hidden Agenda,' from Kaitaia College, while the APRA lyric award went to 'Sugar and Spice and Everything Maori' (Kaitaia College), the best song award to Mystique (Kerikeri High School), and the musicianship award to Micah van der Touw (Kerikeri High School).
Image 1 of 20: Danielle Hookway and Kate Sheldon of Mystique, Kerikeri High School.
Smokefreerockquest Far North final, Turner Centre, Kerikeri, June 21, 2014
NAG 23Jun14 - SOULFUL: Danielle Hookway and Kate
