Smokefree Tangata Beats is one of seven events run at RQP (Rockquest Promotions)

RQP:
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RQP was founded by Pete Rainey and Glenn Common, who met while working as high school teachers in Christchurch in the late 80s.

In 1988 they entered some bands from their school into a performance competition that a local radio station was putting on. They saw the kids really responding to the opportunity to play contemporary music. The following year the radio station was unable to put the event on again, so Pete and Glenn decided to run it themselves! They saw the benefit in a platform for high school students to play live on a professionally equipped stage, expressing their talent and creatively all while developing their musicianship and performance skills.

In 1990 the competition went nationwide. Pete and Glenn applied for funding from the Government, about 20k, which allowed them to roll out the competition out in 5 locations around the country - adding Auckland, Dunedin, Wellington and Rotorua. The schools in the four new regions caught on really quickly, and it was at this moment they realised the competition could be big and sustainable in the long term.