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16 Mahurangimatters July 6, 2016
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Four Mahurangi College boys have their hearts set on a career in music.
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Second chance for Southgate Members of Mahurangi College band Southgate are looking to launch a career in music as they continue to play for a spot in Smokefree Rockquest. The band, which only formed three months ago, is made up of drummer Vailala Vaotangi, bassist Alex Brown, guitarist Elijah Morley-Sturm and vocalist Jayme Curtis. Southgate entered the Northland regionals for Rockquest, a youth music competition, after seeing posters at school and came third, missing out on the next round by one place. However, they have used their ‘second chance’ option, which involved playing five gigs and sending in the videos to be be assessed. Based on the performances, the judges will determine if they should make the next selection process for the national finals. “We were pretty bitter that we didn’t make the finals straight away, but not discouraged,” Jayme says. The first of their five gigs was at the Matakana Pub. “It was very well received,” Jayme says. “People ended up dancing around us and it’s these shows that have helped
us build our support.“ They say band manager Penny Muir has been instrumental in their journey. The band has more than 200 Facebook followers and more than 50 Youtube subscribers. Jayme says he has even had one student asking him to sign their shoe. Even if they don’t win Smokefree Rockquest, which would give them the chance to air a music video on national television, the band has no intentions of slowing down. “Regardless of whether or not we win, we plan to go into a studio after the competition is over and record a five track EP,” Elijah says. Competition rules prevent the band from signing with a label until after May next year. The band says if it did win the competition, it would use the money to buy equipment as they have been borrowing the school’s instruments for performances. Southgate will find out its fate in the Smokefree Rockquest ‘second chance’ selection process this month.
Film comp prizes announced The Warkworth Film Competition has announced this year’s judges and prizes for the best visual effects and best script categories. The competition is a fundraiser for the Warkworth Town Hall restoration. Miquel Ubeda from Wellsford-based IndyFX is putting up $100 for the best visual effects entrant. Miquel has worked in visual effects for over 20 years. His film credits with Weta Digital include The Hobbit, Iron Man 3, and Wolverine. More recently he has worked on Jurassic World, and is looking forward to checking out the efforts of young Mahurangi filmmakers. “If these kids can put anything together that visually tells a story then they will be doing very well,” Miquel says. “The software to deliver something at a high level is also available for free
download, so we are looking forward to seeing what they can do.” Miguel will also give the winners guidance and advice on visual effects in film. Angela Williams from Pendant Pictures will be judging this year’s best script. She has worked in television in various capacities including on the Spartacus series. She has also contributed to feature films, including Prince of Persia and Nine. Angela will put up $100, and run screen-writing sessions with the winners and their school. Entrants have until July 25 to produce a five-minute film, which must refer to either a past or future event in the Warkworth Town Hall. Films must be high definition (at least 720 pixels) and submitted via USB stick to The Camera Shop, Warkworth.