Left to right, Ashok Fernandez, Paul Wong, and Sam Nicholls.
By Jamie Melbourne-Hayward
College music halls north of the city were vibrating in anticipation after nine of the fourteen Smokefree rockquest regional finalists were named from the area. Tawa College band The Recession was amped for the event, and readying their mask collection for another onstage appearance. Ashok Fernandez leads the group on vocals and says selection for the finals is great, but is sceptical about making music for profit. ?It?s a cool event; we?ve played the last four Rockquests and made it to the regionals. ?I think I?ll keep music as a hobby though, when you start making money from music that?s when the problems start,? says Mr Fernandez. The band?s name was unashamedly chosen to swing on the coat tails of a dark global reality. Mr Fernandez says the name is an inside line to editors inboxes? all over the world. ?The name is for the secret press coverage; it?s in the news every day. ?We change our name and our sound every year, to keep things fresh,? he says. When time permits the band records tracks in the school studio. ?The set up is pretty good, and they set up concerts every year and give us space to jam,? he says. Tawa College head of music Murray Cameron says, ?Our culture is about getting as many children involved in music as possible, bands are unique and we support them as much as possible.? Mr Cameron says the school doesn?t have an overt emphasis on bands, because they have many more children involved in choirs and production. ?There were thousands of children involved in the choir performances, where rock quest only has a hundred. ?The NCEA curriculum works well to bring ?bed-room musicians? out, find their passions, and find a path to set them on in life,? says Mr Cameron. Bands that made the cut from Onslow College were; Lies & Deceiving, The Tangle, The Shadow Blasters, The Commissars, and Sixty Skylight. Also in the finals were; Aotea College, Alpha Male and Newlands College, The Israelites.
