Taipā band on the cusp of stardom

Taipā Area School band the Pig Hunters has won this year's Te Tai Tokerau Smokefree Tangata Beats competition, and now has a shot at the national final. Photo / Supplied

'Clicking' at a course about group performance has paid of for six Taipā Area School students, who have won the Te Tai Tokerau Smokefree Tangata Beats competition.

Their prize took the form of a package from the Rockshop and a chance to go into the national selection pool for the live national final.

Taipā Area School music teacher Christian McDonald said the band met at a course around group performance, and 'clicked.'

"They all have something to bring to the team; they get along well with each other. It's like opposites attract - they are so different, yet so very similar in terms of their passion and enthusiasm to make, play and have fun with music," he said.

The line-up comprises Tiare Lanigan and Te Atenga Raui on vocals, Waiwais Tait on electric guitar, Tawhiri Mateparae on keyboard, William Moore on bass and Soli Fox on drums.

Smokefree Tangata Beats is run alongside Smokefreerockquest, with a focus on the unique cultural identity of Aotearoa New Zealand and the South Pacific. Entrants are encouraged to explore and celebrate the ways in which identity and culture are woven into the contemporary music they are writing.

The competing bands and solo/duos in each region submitted video entries for consideration in this year's competition, an adaptation to the usual process due to earlier 2020 restrictions around public gatherings.

Rockquest founder and director Glenn Common said that although Smokefree Tangata Beats worked within a competitive framework, the main thing was participation.

The national finalists will be announced tomorrow, the chosen acts performing at the Raye Freedman Arts Centre in Auckland on September 11.

Alien Weaponry, a thrash metal band from Waipū that is making waves internationally, is a previous national Tangata Beats winners from Northland.