By NICK SMITH
Never underestimate the power of rock'n' roll. It saved Wi Sergeant. The 18-year-old Bream Bay college student was eyeing a career in the Army when, earlier this year, he heard the siren song of rock and roll. Well, rap, funk and metal, to be precise.
The drummer and singer tonight competes at the pepsismokefreerockquest national final at the Auckland Town Hall with his band Funk Monkees. And win or lose, Sergeant has found his calling.
"I plan to go to Excel Music School of Performing Arts in South Auckland," says the Maori Northlander. "This is really big for me. Before this, I wasn't that keen on it, I was looking at the Army and stuff, which is why I joined the sports academy."
"I've got a real future in this, just by getting this far."
Funk Monkees are one of eight bands to make it to this year's national final, an annual event for 11 years that has provided a launching pad for such musical luminaries as Tadpole, Bic Runga, Weta, King Kapisi and Fur Patrol.
National organiser Pete Rainey says the quest is one of the most important youth events in the country and is one of the most successful vehicles for exposing young New Zealanders to homegrown music.
Prizes up for grabs tonight are recording time at a state-of-the-art studio and $18,000 worth of music equipment, with $10,000 worth going to the winner.
It is the sort of prize that will ensure that all finalists hit the stage and play like their futures depend upon the result. It is certainly a prospect which has Sergeant licking his lips in anticipation.
"It all started out as sort of a joke - make a band and try to get into the rock quest. We started jamming and we thought this is pretty cool but we didn't think anyone else would like it. Then we made it. I'm really stoked."
Although Sergeant came up with the name Funk Monkees in a last-minute act of desperation when filling out the rock quest application form, rival Andrew Wilson deliberately chose Carriage H - a reference to London's Paddington train crash.
Wilson is hoping that the band Carriage H will be the vehicle for an escape from the 16-year-old's school, Logan Park High.
The three-piece take fellow Dunedinites High Dependency Unit as their musical inspiration but say their ambition is to keep the Dunedin sound alive.
Although he is not short of ambition, Wilson is unfazed by the prospect of rock quest success: "If we can take it further, we'll take it further."
"To be honest, we're being flown up to Auckland, staying in a nice hotel - it's pretty cool."
Others such as Utopia's Adam Matthew (Hutt Valley Highs) is bursting to make an impact on the big stage with his brand of industrial techno: "It's always been a goal of mine right from the start to play in Auckland, the big wonderland."
Similar sentiments are offered by Orca's Gareth Mason from Otumoetai College in Tauranga, while Western Springs College's Nesian Mystic say they are looking forward to following in the footsteps of former students Che Fu and Teremoana Rapley.
Rounding out the eight competitors are Hamilton Girls High's Jerihko, Twin Oaks School's Evermore and One Quarter Asian from Scots College in Wellington.
One question provoked an emphatic affirmation from all of the bands: Do you rock?
The answer is yes. Hallelujah.
* pepsismokefreerockquest final, tonight, Auckland Town Hall, 8 pm.
Rock 'n' roll salvation for finalists
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