College wins top music award

Brisbane Water Secondary College Woy Woy campus has won the "Koolest Skool" Award for the second year running on Wednesday, October 22, at the Metro Theatre in Sydney.

The national recording and multimedia project awards night was a competition between schools all over Australia.

"We made it a four-day excursion to Troy Horse Recording Studio, Alexandria, and cut a 14-track CD, a three-minute multimedia video and 30 photo gallery CD Rom," said college music teacher Kris Faulkner.

"We also designed the CD cover and an eight-page booklet."

Studio 52, in Melbourne, will now press 400 copies of the CD which the college will sell for $10.

A panel of judges selected nominations and the winner for 20 Categories and then the overall Koolest Skool.

Alex Bennison from Fyna won Best Male Vocalist and Toby Priddle-Malm from For The Moment won Best Instrumentalist.

For The Moment won Best Indie Song with Words On You Lips.

Fyna won Best Indie Band.

A Special Judges Award for Music Engineering went to Tim John, also from Fyna.

The song Lost Beside You by Fyna has been placed on the Best of National Kool Skools CD

The college was nominated for Best Multimedia Presentation, by students Suzie Wrang and Chris Richardson, for Best Cover Version with Heaven by Ashley Wilkinson and Scott Holten and for Best Vocal Arrangement with How Can I Be Sure? by Fyna.

Ashley Wilkinson was nominated for Best Female Vocalist/

Laura Baker and Ty Mason were nominated for Best Programming-Electronic Track and Best Rap.

Dave Jenkins and Tyler Bennison were nominated for Best Instrumentalist, Drummer.

Tim John was nominated for Best Instrumentalist, Bass.

Fyna was nominated for Best Acoustic song with How Can I Be Sure? and for Best Indie song with Lost Beside You.

For The Moment were nominated for Best Indie Band

Fyna members Alex Bennison, Tim John and Dave Jenkins are currently finishing their HSC with plans to concentrate on their music, composing, recording and performing at gigs.

"They are a fresh-sounding professional band.

"They will be performing for the last time as students in December to raise money for CanTeen, teenagers with cancer," said Ms Faulkner.

For The Moment made up of Toby Priddle-Malm, Billy Burgess and Tyler Bennison are in Years 9 and 10.

"The Awards Night was the first time they have performed in front of a general crowd," she said.

"They impressed all in attendance.

"Tyler Bennison received rave reviews from the presenter who stated 'Someone get this guy an award. He is awesome.'

"Fyna was one of the last to perform on the night and shone like stars.

"The audience moved from their chairs to the front of the stage and was in awe of their brilliant performance, both audio and visual, that Fyna produce at all of their gigs.

"Fyna wrapped up their alternate rock performance with a guitar solo of the first few lines of Advance Australia Fair and had the crowd roaring for more.

"They set an extremely high standard for the Aussie band Front End Loader to follow and are destined to be seen and heard in our homes in the not too distant future," she said.

The nominees were supported by 76 people from the school who attended the night.

"I have the best students any teacher could ask for.

"They are so loyal to each other and their music and all deserve awards.

"They really send out a strong message of the talent and unreserved compassion students have on the Central Coast for their peers and their dreams."

There are three Fyna songs available for download at www.mp3.com.au/fyna.

Kris Faulkner, October 27