Five of a Kind still rock solid
Rockquest veterans All of a Kind have learnt everything they can to launch them into their last national final.
The five-piece Putaruru College band claimed second place in the Smokefree Rockquest on Friday.
It was their fourth time in the competition and their second placing in the Waikato regional final.
All of Kind were also deemed People’s Choice from text message votes.
It was ‘‘ awesome’’ to gain a placing again but lead singer Conor White said it was not about winning.
‘‘We really enjoy doing it, it was really good aye,’’ he said.
White said there were around 50 of their fellow classmates among the crowd who went ‘‘crazy’’.
‘‘It’s awesome, makes it feel normal,’’ he said.
Held at Hamilton’s Clarence St Theatre, the group performed two original songs. One has yet to be named. But the other song, Keep Burning, told the story of Rockquest.
‘‘It’s just about how it keeps coming around,’’ White said.
Winners now have to produce a 15-minute video compiled of two more original songs.
Thirty nationwide entries are then put into a pool and judged and only nine will secure a spot in the September nationals.
White said it was a familiar process and they know what the judges are looking for.
‘‘ We’ve done this before. We need to get the sound quality as best as we can,’’ he said.
The group of friends, White, James Te Whare, John Keith, Antonio Clair, and Tarewa Walker will travel to a studio in Pirongia to record their tracks.
White said the experience is a taste of what their future could hold should they become profes- sional musicians.
The national finals will be held at Auckland’s Q Theatre on September 27.