New band grabs TV spot
Front Back and Sides will be beaming into homes nationwide next month after having narrowly missed out on a spot in the Smokefreerockquest national finals.
The Wairarapa College band was selected to be filmed for a four-part television series about the annual secondary schools music contest, to be aired on TV3 and FOUR from October 20.
The four-piece band spent two days with a film crew at a range of Wairarapa locations, including Maungaraki Lime and Masterbowl, talking about their experiences at Somefreerockquest.
Front Back and Sides was one of two Wairarapa bands - Back to the Remedy was the other - to make the Somefreerockquest top 20, out of hundreds from around New Zealand.
It was the band's first time entering Smokefreerockquest and the members admit it was all a bit rushed.
"We're very new, so it was pretty surreal to perform to that sort of crowd in that sort of situation.
"We'd played at school before where everyone's just sitting there, but at Rockquest, everyone was just up, getting into it. It gives the band a lot more energy, we feed off it," said guitarist Edward Kerr.
Next time round, said guitarist Cameron Elliott, they would do a lot more preparation and and get more songs nailed before the start of the heats.
So now the competition is over, what next?
"Practise, write more songs, and play more gigs," said Cameron. At 16 and 17, the boys are too young to play bars and say Wairarapa is in need of a gig venue, something intimate, that can be accessed by younger people - but in the meantime, they're available for parties and events.
They all chime in to describe their sound: "Our version of American rock ... with a bit of a Kiwi touch ... and a twist of punk."
For updates about the band's gigs, go to www.facebook.com/FrontBackAndSides
