The Terrace Makes Top 30 at Smokefreerockquest

Aimee Wilson

Jul 22, 2022 - 1 min read

James Hargest College band The Terrace has made it through to the semi-finals of the Smokefreerockquest for the first time.

Made up of band members Ailin Pekar (lead singer and rhythm guitarist), Blake Humphrey (lead guitar), Jackson Jones (bass guitar), and Aiden Hosie on drums, the group released its first album in December last year.

So far the self-titled album has received more than 12,000 streams across all of its platforms, and this was the fourth time entering the nationwide competition.

In 2020 the band came 3rd in the regional final (online), in 2021 it came 2nd and this year it won the regional heat on June 17, performing two songs – ‘Monsters of the Night’ and ‘Mr Red’.

Aiden said just this week they heard the second song, which was submitted to the judges as a video, had made it through to the semi-finals, which will be held at three locations around New Zealand at the end of August.

“We’re so keen for a road trip,” he said, reflecting on two quiet years of restrictions that had affected their performances at festivals around Otago and Southland.

The band has been playing for four years now, and make new music all of the time. They are grateful for the ongoing support from their music teacher Emma Jarman.

Named after the street where they first started practising, ‘The Terrace’ has a range of styles within their music, “we reckon we don’t write enough music in the one style to be able to put a genre to our name, but we like to think we have a song for everyone – just because we write what comes up in the moment with no pre-meditated feel or structure,” Ailin said.

If you like rock, easy listening, blues, a strong ballad or a more modern sound; there’s probably at least a couple of songs for people to enjoy on their new album.