The winners of this year’s Otago regional final of the Smokefree Rockquest have this covered.
Four-piece pop band the Burberry Scarves, of Otago Girls’ High School, stole the show on Friday night, taking out first place and the $500 cash prize.
While the other bands brought some stiff competition, the girls were stoked by their performance.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Maya Satake said she was "very proud and very surprised" by Friday night’s result.
"I’m super grateful. It’s an insane and shocking moment," backing vocalist and keyboard player Maisie Kirk said.
"I was up till 4am thinking about it," bassist Jenna Fahey said.
The tight-knit group of Otago Girls’ pupils got their start playing at school assemblies.
The band’s name was inspired by a particularly striking scarf their music teacher wore to school one day.
After inquiring about its designer, the girls knew they had struck gold.
"We just freaked out and were like that’s such a cool name, the Burberry Scarves," Maya said.
"Six months later, we became a band," drummer Rata Williams said.
"It was a very iconic moment," Maisie said.
Winning the regional final means the band has qualified for nationals, for which they need to write a third song and produce an accompanying video submission.
Next on the band’s agenda was to record their songs professionally in a sound studio and release them to streaming platforms, and of course get famous.
HoD of visual and performing arts at Otago Girls’ High School, and owner of the aforementioned scarf, Eugene Shields, said he was proud of the girls’ accomplishment.
"They enjoy playing together and they practised a lot and they’re a good sounding band," he said.
"Hopefully they’ve caught the bug now to just continue to do songwriting."
Smokefree Rockquest judge Hugh Harlow said the Burberry Scarves stood out because of their cohesion as a group.
"All the acts were really great. It was hard to compare acts that were all doing such different things and putting their heart and soul into it.
"The Burberry Scarves stood out to us as they seemed like such a coherent band. They really locked into their sound as a group."
In second place was Valetta of Taieri College and in third place was Soul Side from John McGlashan College.
tim.scott@odt.co.nz , PIJF cadet reporter
