looking for the whole package and, from start to finish, they played with consistent quality, their songs were well structured, well edited and commercially viable.” From that point, they had to build their repertoire and focus on musicianship as well as stage presence. For the next stage of the competition they had to submit a 15-minute performance video and, after being announced as one of the eight national finalists, had a day in recording studio The Sitting Room on Southwark Street to record one of their songs. “It’s a really cool experience, the studio has a good vibe,” says George Murray. “You have to be really focused, as it can be hard to maintain the level of intensity needed to get the perfect sound. It’s given us a huge insight into what it takes to be a good recording as well as performing band – how you have to be able to work with producers and sound engineers, but also be able to get on stage and perform.”
Throughout the year, the motivated musicians of Run77 have spent hours practising, performing, proving their talent and demonstrating the ability, the star quality, to get them to the national final of SmokefreeRockquest. Many successful Kiwi musicians have launched their careers at SmokefreeRockquest, the biggest live, original music, youth event in New Zealand – and of the hundreds of bands, soloists and duos to enter the regional heats, it is an outstanding achievement to make the final. Although they did not come away with a major prize, they still feel like winners. “It was such an amazing journey, just awesome,” says guitarist and lead singer, Year 12 student Angus Mossman. “We were stoked to make it through the heats and win the regional final, very very happy to be in the Top 30, blown away when we made it to the Top
8 ... just to get so far, we felt like winners regardless of the result.” Run77 is composed of Angus, along with his fellow Year 12 students Robert Rolleston on bass guitar and George Murray on keyboard, Year 13 student Henry Phelps on lead guitar, and Year 11 student Angus Murray on drums. Music is an all- consuming passion and Run77’s quest, working together to hone their song-writing and performance skills, began long before the Canterbury heats held in May. In the lead-up to and throughout the competition, they arrived at school every morning at 7am to rehearse, fuelled by enthusiasm, their drive to make original music, and good coffee. They were thrilled to simply get through that first stage and go on to win the regional final. Angus recalls, “We felt pretty good, we’d been putting a lot of work in and it was sweet to get the result we were looking for. When we heard we’d won, we went mental!” Rock band tutor Nolan Hungerford says the band played incredibly well. “The judges said they were
For Run77, performance is what it is about. Wearing hard hats and high vis
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College Issue 33 2017
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