Musical triumph: Whanganui band shines in regional music competition
The Tangata Beats event started in 1998 as the Urban Beats Award but over time became its own competition.
The Lights Go Out members, Alijah Ngaronga, Jeremiah Herewini, Poppy Brooks-Mann, Mason Maraku, Manaia Takiari, Rangitaumata Hayward, Amelia Muir, Arne Leiva-Benegas, Moata Leiva-Benegas and Gio Maraku, met through Te Kura Waenga o Rutherford although some have gone on to secondary school at Cullinane College and Whanganui High School.
'They're still all with our music teacher [Jordan Maraku] and he makes a band every year and most of the years it's been the same people,' keyboardist Amelia Muir said.
A previous band, Reckless, containing multiple of Lights Out's current members, made the Tangata Beats national final in 2023 and came third.
Reckless only competed in Tangata Beats in previous years, making this the first attempt at Smokefreerockquest.
'We thought we would give both competitions a shot this year and we're glad we did,' trombone player Arne Leiva-Benegas said.
'We were really surprised we won.'
For their first-place wins, the band received $500 of musical equipment from the Rockshop.
Lights Go Out consists of three brass instruments, three keyboards, two vocalists, a drummer and a bassist.
Coming up to the competition, the band practised together for more than 10 hours a week.
At the competition, Lights Go Out performed original songs Alive and Light Path.
Muir said the songwriting process was collaborative, with each instrument group writing their own parts. Raia (Waihīrere Fifield-Taylor), from Te Aho o Te Kura, came first in the Whanganui Smokefreerockquest's solo/duo category.
Muir and Leiva-Benegas said the band was musically inspired by reggae music and New Zealand bands L.A.B., Six60 and House of Shem.
A4, from Rangitīkei College, placed second behind Lights Go Out for Smokefreerockquest. Missing Comma, from Whanganui High School, were third.
In the solo-duo Smokefreerockquest category, Raia (Waihīrere Fifield-Taylor), from Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu, was first and Sophie Toyne, from Whanganui High School, second.
Nisi (Denise Pio), from Rangitīkei College, won the solo-duo for Smokefree Tangata Beats.
Alongside Raia and Sophie Toyne, Lights Go Out can submit a video of their original material for selection as one of the top 15 finalists to play at Smokefreerockquest nationals in September.
Along with Nisi, they can also apply for the national final of Smokefree Tangata Beats on September 13 at Auckland's ASB Theatre.
Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
28-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Matariki extravaganza a no go
Matariki will be a lot quieter in Kaiapoi this year, with a popular festival and colourful interactive Light Path cancelled due to funding shortfalls. Karl Howarth, the co-owner of BlueSky Events, which organised the event, says it is sad news. This year Matariki falls on Friday, June 20. ''The cost to run these events is over $60,000, and as Matariki is a free community event the funding comes from grants, sponsorship, vendor fees, and by running a ticketed Lightpath event.'' He said he was trying to pull something out of the fire right up until the last minute, but nothing would work logistically. ''Everybody tried their hardest. We were talking to sponsors and they were all keen to come on board again, but we would have had to find extra sponsors which I already know is very tricky. ''The key thing for us this year was the grant funding bodies. ''We applied to a number of them, but we were only approved by a couple so we have a shortfall of around $10,000 in terms of where I would be comfortable in running the event.'' He says that is still way short of actually covering any of the costs of the event as the sponsorships and grants only cover about a third of the costs. ''The rest of it is made up with market vendor fees, and running last year's Lightpath attraction. ''The Lightpath was how we managed to get the revenue to fund the costs of the Matariki festival, but it's a commercial ticketed event and we don't know how many tickets we will sell until the week of the event. ''It's nearly a $30,000 risk hoping we will sell enough tickets from that event to cover the costs of the Matariki community festival, which we don't charge people for.'' Howarth said this year his risk levels are a little bit lower because he has to cover this himself, because BlueSky Events is not a council funded entity. ''My cafe is my only backup along with the contract work we undertake. ''It's just too great this year.'' If he had been successful with a couple more grant applications, he says he probably would have taken the risk. ''We took a big risk with it last year and we know what we could have expected from the Lightpath, but with a couple of funding bodies not approving our requests we just can't take the risk.'' He says a number of community events have struggled this year because of a lack of funding and this is no different. ''We knew that last year and this year things are a lot tighter.'' The funding bodies all say the same thing - they have more applications than they have money for. ''We have a wonderful relationship with the Waimakariri District Council, they offered us funding and we have several grants from them, but we needed more and a couple of grants didn't come through this year, which in previous years have funded Matariki.'' ''This year it put more onus on the Lightpath to fund that and I wasn't prepared to take the risk.'' Howarth says he is already planning for next year's event. ''We know the event works well, we know people love it, and we know the rural community is bouncing back a little this year and that will hopefully flow through to the general economy and then our normal sponsors will come back on board and the grant bodies won't be so overwhelmed with applications.''
NZ Herald
27-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Smokefreerockquest East Coast heat finalists moving on to regional final
The top 12 East Coast bands that will perform at the regional final for Smokefreerockquest have been decided. The next step is for them to battle it out to decide the top two bands, top solo/duo acts and Smokefree Tangata Beats award winners, who will represent the region at the
NZ Herald
26-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Rotorua Smokefree Rockquest: Taupō's Pocket Watchers win regional final
After gaining first place at the regional Smokefree Rockquest, 16-year-old Leroy Walker (saxophone and backing vocals in the Pocket Watchers) said: 'Everyone was so cool and amazing'. 'We thought everyone today deserved a great chance at it, I wish them all the best of luck in their futures. It's just a great event.' Second in the band category was Nga Kai Kiore from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Huiarau. The top spot of the solo-duo category went to Mikayla Edwards, from Tauhara College, and second place to Floss Savanah and John Tamuno from John Paul College. All four Smokefree Rockquest place winners now have the opportunity to submit a video of their original material for selection as one of the top 15 national finalists to play off at the national finals in September. The Smokefree Tangata Beats regional winners are Kotahi te Rā from Rotorua Boys' High School. They now go into the selection process for the national final of Smokefree Tangata Beats, at Auckland's ASB Theatre on September 13. RQP co-founder and co-director Glenn Common said the next stage of the programme offers new opportunities for development, building on what the entrants have already experienced. 'Preparing their performance helps develop their musicianship, songwriting, and performance skills. For bands and duos, it's a collaborative effort that builds teamwork and important life skills, like communication. 'All entrants are learning valuable lessons in setting goals and experiencing the sense of achievement that comes from creating something and showcasing it.' The full list of awards for Rotorua 1st place Band - Pocket Watchers, Taupo-Nui-A-Tia-College. 2nd place Band - Nga Kai Kiore, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Huiarau. 3rd place Band - Rau Huia, Rotorua Boys' High School. 1st place Solo-Duo - Mikayla Edwards, Tauhara College. 2nd place Solo-Duo - Floss Savanah and John Tamuno, John Paul College. 1st place Smokefree Tangata Beats (band) - Kotahi te Rā, Rotorua Boys' High School. Musicianship Award - Te Ruanuku Teka from Mad Machines, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Huiarau. Musicianship Award - Revamp, Taupo-Nui-A-Tia-College. Smokefree Best Vocals Award - Te Uamairangi Webster-Tarei from Kotahi te Rā, Rotorua Boys' High School. ZM Best Song Award - Angelica, John Paul College. APRA Lyric Award - Tiffany from Stuck In A Smile for Echo In The Room, Reporoa College. Rockshop Electronic Assist Performance Award - Angelica, John Paul College. The tour continues with regional events, leading to the Smokefree Rockquest national final on September 20, following the Smokefree Tangata Beats national final on September 13, both in Auckland.
