2026 Rockquest winners Fork are set on finding their own lane

A few weeks back the Rockquest national finals took place. Now for anyone who didn't grow up playing music in high school, rockquest is Aotearoa's country-wide band competition for secondary school students. Each year hundreds of bands, duo's and solo artists enter with the goal of being crowned national champion.

This year, the amount of talent on show was mind boggling and choosing the winner is an unenviable task. Through it all, taking out the top prize from Bream Bay College in Northland, was femme power trio Fork. Following their win, Fork gave us the inside scoop on how it all went down and what's on the horizon following this milestone achievement.

You guys have won Rockquest. It's an absolute pinnacle. I'm sure the big question we all want to know the answer to is... what's next?

We are currently in the process of recording an album at Hammerhead Studios at the moment, so our primary focus is getting that done. We are actually the main support for Seattle Grunge band Mudhoney on November 1st, which is really exciting for us, and we plan to continue with the band, getting gigs and gathering momentum. Music is our passion so we plan to continue with the band and find paths for ourselves within the music industry.

Tell us some more about how the band came together, and in your own words, why it all gels so well?

We came together as a band during school a couple years ago. Kacie and Nerissa had put together a band at the time and were needing a drummer, and I (Phoebe) so happened to play drums and also be Kacie's sibling, and it just went from there. It just worked out well that Kacie and Phoebe are siblings which I (Nerissa) think plays a part in helping our band "gel" well, as well as the strong connection formed through our close friendships. 

I remember competing at Rockquest events in the past and the sheer euphoria that came with being announced as a winner. What was going through your minds in that moment when you were revealed as the winners?

When it was announced that we were the winners we were all in total disbelief and thought we had heard wrong. It was such a big moment for us and for all our family and friends, many of which actually travelled quite some distance to be with us at the National Finals! But we couldn't believe that it had actually happened, and still can't believe it. 

The amount of talent is insane. Like totally mind blowing. What stood out to most about the other acts during the competition?

It was so awesome to be able to get to know all the other bands and network with them, and it was like an awesome little community was made straight out the gate. Everyone supported each other and every band that played at Rockquest was incredible. We hope to see or play some gigs with some of those bands we met along the way in the future.

If you could describe your sound to someone who has never heard of you or seen you play... how would that go?

Our sound is quite punk but there are big influences from grunge, rock and metal all mixed in there together. We've had some people coin the term 'Fem Power Punk' to describe us, which we reckon explains our sound pretty well.

Lastly, what does music represent for the band at this point, having just won one of most (if not the most) substantial music competitions in Aotearoa?

Music is our passion and is our creative outlet for what we feel about certain issues or things we have experienced. It is everything to us, and winning Rockquest just made our drive to continue even stronger. We are going to keep going hard out and see where the band and music can take us.