Hamilton band Smoked Paprika is New Zealand's favourite flavour at Smokefree Rockquest

Smoked Paprika is made up of Ephraim Frame, Ollie Neil, Arlo Oliver, Josh Hogarty and Sage Garrett. Photo / Supplied

Hamilton band Smoked Paprika from Hillcrest High School is the Smokefreerockquest judges' favourite flavour as the band just won the big national finals.

The win at the weekend makes Smoked Paprika only the fourth Waikato band to win the annual music competition.

Rockquest judge Hamish Jackson, of NZ Rockshop, says to get to the finals "you have to be in command of what you do".

"Smoked Paprika connected well with the audience and they brought a great vibe. It will be great to see how they take what they discovered here, and see where they go next," Jackson says.

Smoked Paprika's five not-so-secret ingredients are 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.

For Sage, the highlight of the night was connecting with the crowd and getting their energy.

"It was just absolutely incredible to just jump and have fun. It's just surreal to win, I can't describe it."

Smoked Paprika have won $10,000 in musical equipment from Rockshop and an NZ On Air  NewTracks recording, video and promo grant.

Smoked Paprika have won won $10,000 in musical equipment from Rockshop and a NZ On Air recording, video and promo grant. Photo / Supplied

The first place in the solo-duo category went to Zac and Maddison from Garin College and Waimea College in Nelson. The duo is made up of Zac Griffith on guitar vocals and Maddison Connor on keys and vocals.

Zac and Maddison won $3000 in musical equipment from Rockshop and an NZ On Air NewTracks recording, video and promo grant.

Zac says he and Maddison were both "over the moon" about the win.

"I think it was an incredible night, it was so cool to be here ... All the bands are just incredible. I've never seen so much talent in one space. It's really nice to be around like-minded people that are just in it to have fun and make music," Zac says.

For judge Jeff Newton from NZ On Air, the winning solo-duo act stood out because of the overall package they presented.

"The connection with their genre of music was undeniable, and the emotion that they portrayed was really connected with the audience," Newton says.

The first Waikato band to win the Rockquest was Handsome Geoffrey from Hamilton Girls High School in 1998, followed by The Good Fun from Te Awamutu College and Hamilton Boys' High School in 2010 who were the last Waikato band to win. The last Waikato winner in the solo-duo category was Harry Parsons from Cambridge High School in 2013.

Smokefreerockquest is an annual intermediate and high school music competition first held in 1988. Musical successes from Smokefreerockquest include Drax Project, Six60, Troy Kingi, Ladyhawke, Brooke Fraser, Anika Moa, Kimbra and The Black Seeds.

This year's Rockquest judges were Jeff Newton from NZ On Air, Hamish Jackson from NZ Rockshop, Brynee Wilson from ZM, and musicians Nico Walters and Jessie Booth.

All national award winners

● 1st placed band: Smoked Paprika, Hillcrest High School, Hamilton

● 2nd placed band: Stay In It, Palmerston North Girls High School

● 3rd placed band: The Jehts, Christchurch Girls' High School, Christchurch Boys' High School, Avonside Girls' High School

● 1st placed solo/duo: Zac and Maddison, Garin College and Waimea College, Nelson

● 2nd placed solo/duo: Grace & Leigh, Albany Senior High School and Kristin School, Auckland

● Musicianship Award: Ezra Beckett from Their There, Mt Maunganui College

● Smokefree Best Vocals Award: Grace & Leigh, Albany Senior High School and Kristin School, Auckland

● ZM Best Song Award: Stay In It, Palmerston North Girls High School (first song)

● APRA Lyric Award: Cindy Xiong, St Andrew's College, Christchurch

● Rockshop Electronic Performance Award: Micha, Mt Maunganui College