The power and fury of Prisoners of War
Prisoners Of War is a thrash metal band with strong influences from the 80s and 90s. The current lineup consists of Reef Denton (rhythm guitarist/vocals), River Lloyd (lead guitarist/backing vocals), Zach Greenfield (drummer/backing vocals), and Vienna Blofield (bassist).
Your Musical Journey: How did you all meet and how did the band form?
The band met through the school music department and ended up jamming a couple of Metallica songs. After that, we began meeting regularly to practise at school. After a couple of weeks of playing together, we decided to try and pull together a couple of songs for Smokefree Rockquest 2023. With Rockquest quickly approaching, we hurried to write our first song, ‘Parasite’ and ended up making it to regional finals. After this, the band played a few opening gigs for bands such as Lost Vessels and Flaxxies, and through Mercury Bay Area School, got the chance to record two of our songs, ‘Fear’ and ‘Parasite’ professionally with local producer Dave Rhodes. After a change in lineup, Vienna Blofield, a guitarist, joined the band as a bassist in early 2024 and played at FogStock in Reporoa. After 2023, we decided to participate in 2024 Rockquest with our songs ‘Perpetual’ and ‘Still I Stand tall’, making it to second place in the Bay Of Plenty regional finals.
Inspiration: What gets your creative juices flowing? What inspires you to make music?
All band members are inspired by their idols to continue performing and making music, and we’ll be learning from other musicians for the rest of our lives. As young artists, we are still developing who we will eventually be, so having reliable creative outlets is essential for our well-being.
Influences and Idols: Who are your musical heroes or role models?
The band is highly influenced by Metallica and other 80s thrash metal bands.
Members such as Zach Greenfield and Vienna Blofield are strongly influenced by 90s bands such as Tool, Smashing Pumpkins, and more, while Reef Denton and River Lloyd are influenced by bands like Megadeth, Korn, Pantera, Limp Bizkit, etc.
All members have influences from different genres, too, like Jazz and alternative rock.
Youth in the Arts: What are the biggest challenges and rewards of being a young musician, and how do they impact your growth both personally and artistically?
As young musicians, we find it hard to afford musical gear and supplies. Branching out into other towns is also hard with the cost of travel and with not being able to transport ourselves at our ages. However, we are very lucky to receive so much support from our family and friends and could never do what we want without them. Being a young musician also gives us more time to play and write music and gives us the freedom to do what we want to creatively, and this aspect is really important for everyone in the band.
The importance of Live Music:
How has live music shaped your life?
Prisoners of War love playing live music.
Live music is a really important aspect of how we share our creativity, and it always ends up being super fun for everyone.
So, for these reasons, we are always super keen to play more shows in front of more and more people, branching out to different areas such as Hamilton and Tauranga to get different audiences.
Local Vibes: What does being a musician here in Te Tara-o-te-Ika-a-Māui (on the Peninsula) mean to you?
To us, it means being in a small, talented and kind musical community filled with awesome people. We’re all so grateful for people like Molly and Kaspur, who let us rehearse at the Monkey House venue, Vegas Brown, Dave Rhodes, and all the other amazing people in the area who support us and countless other musicians and artists who want to pursue their passion. Recently, Jay Reeve from The Rock radio station included us in his top 20 votes for The Rock 2000, inspiring us to aim for a spot on the countdown. We ended up placing 1621 out of 2000.
What’s Next: Any exciting plans or projects on the horizon?
Recently we’ve been working with producer Dave Rhodes to record some new songs that we will be releasing later this year. We plan on writing and practising more and more new material to share with people who are as passionate about music as we are.
Find and Support: Where can we find your music, and how can people show their support?
We currently have two songs out, ‘Parasite’ and ‘Fear’. Both are available on Spotify and Apple Music, and we’ll be releasing more music later on in the year.
We also have an Instagram and a Facebook. Thank you for any support!
Supported by Jessica Paton and Joshua Armstrong
Photos by: LW Photographer
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