Smokefree Rockquest

Smokefreerockquest
Smokefreerockquest 2011 logo
Sponsored by	Smokefree/Auahi Kore
Country	New Zealand
First awarded	1988
Website	smokefreerockquest.co.nz

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. Glenn Common and Pete Rainey now run Rockquest Promotions full-time out of Nelson.

Smokefreerockquest is the only nationwide, live, all original, youth music event. Now into its third decade, the series of 29 events from all over the country, reaches audience numbers in excess of 24,000 every year. 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 over its 23-year history include Midnight Youth, Opshop, Evermore, Ladyhawke, Minuit, Marina Davis, 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, 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,Autozamm, Taste Nasa, Kimbra, Elemeno P, Alien Weaponry and Joe's Van