If The Eight Balls shook a magic eight-ball and asked: "Are we going to win the Otago Rockshop Bandquest?", it probably would have said: "It is decidedly so".
The Tahuna Normal Intermediate band gave magical performances of Interstate Love Song by The Stone Temple Pilots and My Hero by the Foo Fighters, to win the regional title at the weekend.
But lead singer Alex Smith said the band really did not need a magic eight-ball to tell them they were going to do well.
"I was quite confident. It was pretty much after the sound check that it all just clicked in my brain — we might have a good chance at this."
"Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting to come first. I expected maybe third or second. It was a massive breakthrough in my mind."
He said the band had been rehearsing twice a week with guidance from one of their music teachers and lead guitarist Sam Crawford.
"Sam is pretty much the organised one."
The Eight Balls would now go on to the next stage of the competition, which involved them making a music video of two of their songs and sending it to the Bandquest organisers, he said.
Their video would be be streamed on the Bandquest website along with all the other regional winners, and then the national winners will get announced along with individual awards such as the best vocalist, specialist instrument award and the rock star styles award on September 25.
Alex said he was feeling a little self-conscious and nervous about making the music video.
"Sometimes I look good, other times I just look back at it and say, ‘man, I needed a haircut’."
Asked if the band would stick together in the future and hopefully become the next big thing in New Zealand, he said "maybe".
"We’re not all going to the same high school, but hopefully we may be able to get some time after school — maybe.
"The magic eight-ball would say: ‘Never say never’ — along with its other programmed answers."
