An Aotearoa reggae band, alternative-soul troupe and a metal outfit walk into a venue – and all three tear the roof off with fresh, original local music blaring into the night.

If you're a lover of live local original music then make sure you grab your ticket for Mauao Mashup featuring, Direct Descendants, Sidewalk Empire and The Eternal Sea at Mount Maunganui's Totara Street next Friday.

Dreads from Direct Descendants with Sidewalk Empire's Te Rina Thompson and Jeff Kildare. Photo: Chris Callinan.

Presented by Ascendancy Artist Management, cofounder Nicole Fensom says along with discovering new local bands, gig-goers will also have the chance to achieve a little bit of notoriety for themselves.

'Direct Descendants, Sidewalk and Eternal Sea will all be filming and recording on the night, so it's a good chance to make yourself infamous forever,” says Nicole, with a laugh.

'We want a really good local crowd that want to jump on-board with what we're creating for the future and help these bands. That's why we kept the price down, $10 for three bands; that's crazy.”

Direct Descendants, formerly named 6TB, is a four-piece that'll have the crowd skanking to the sweetest of original Aotearoa reggae tunes and melodies.

Alternative-soul six-piece band Sidewalk Empire will then get everyone shimmying with tunes heavy on rhythm that incorporate everything from folk to funk, all tied together with a solid groove.

Then three-piece melodic metal band The Eternal Sea is sure to get the crowd all fired up with their unique brand of stomping heavy rock combined with epic soaring melody.

'It is quite an unusual gig, all three bands are very different and hence the mashup. The listener experience is going to be pretty diverse which is really cool for us,” says Ascendency cofounder and Sidewalk Empire bassist Jeff Kildare.

'We're all old mates who've watched each other's music grow, so it felt fitting to do a gig together and do something really unique locally.

'The goal's to expose people to all three bands, and hopefully each band's fan base will mix and amalgamate.”

SunLive has two double passes to give away to two lucky readers who can name one of the bands performing at Mauao Mashup on September 9?

Enter online at www.sunlive.co.nz under the competition section. All entries must be received by Wednesday, September 7.

Ascendancy Artist Management's Mauao Mashup at Mount Maunganui's Totara Street on Friday, September 9. Doors open 7.30pm, first band plays 8pm.

Tickets cost $10 at Eventfinda and from Mauao PAC, or $15 at the door. For more information visit: www.ascendancymanagement.co.nz

DIRECT DESCENDANTS

Direct Descendants. Photo: DD/Facebook

Who are Direct Descendants?
Nef (lead vocalist and keyboard), Dread (lead guitarist), Cornz (drummer), Piccolo (bass).

How long has the band around for?
Formed at the beginning of the year but been around for the last five plus years in various bands.

What's the most exciting thing for the band about Mauao Mashup?
Blending the three genres of original music together.

What can the crowd expect during your set?
Cruisey vibe of roots rock reggae.

Are there any particular songs you're looking forward to playing?
Looking forward to putting all our music out there to people.

Will you be performing anything new or reworked at the gig?
Got a few new songs we are debuting be good to see the response.

Using any musician (living or dead), what's your ultimate mashup band?
The ultimate mash up band is the one we have now.

SIDEWALK EMPIRE

Photo: SE/Facebook

Who are Sidewalk Empire?
Jeff Kildare (bass and vocals), Steve Kildare (drums), Sweetecho Monga (percussion and vocals), Te Rina Thompson (lead vocals), Rachel Túnnell (keyboard and vocals), Charlie Wahanui (guitar and vocals).

How long has the band been around for?
Since 2013 but the current line-up has been together since July.

What's the most exciting thing for the band about Mauao Mashup?
Playing to our local crowd, in our awesome local venue, with three other awesome acts who happen to be good friends.

What can the crowd expect during your set?
Lots of energy and theatricality. Dynamic shifts in our sound and layered vocal harmonies.

Are there any particular songs you're looking forward to playing?
'Forest song'. Its our favourite and is driven by our keyboard player.

Will you be performing anything new or reworked at the gig?
All our songs have been reworked for the current group we have, plus we'll be playing a completely new song written together this week.

Using any musician (living or dead), what's your ultimate mashup band?
Te Rina is a huge Kimbra fan, Jeff's favourite bass player is Juan Nelson, one of Steve's favourite drummers is Chris Coleman. Charlie would choose either Steve Vai or Joe Satriani. Its a very difficult task to make up just one band, with so many different influences.

THE ETERNAL SEA

The Eternal Sea. Photo: TES/Facebook

Who are The Eternal Sea?
Mark (guitar, vocals and banter), Jared (bass), Simon (drums).

How long has the band been around for?
Not long.

What's the most exciting thing for you about Mauao Mashup?
The other bands.

What can the crowd expect during your set?
Music and yodelling.

Are there any particular songs you're looking forward to playing?
The ones without words.

Will you be performing anything new or reworked at the gig?
Yes we always play a cover song in our set. A different one each time.

Using any musician (living or dead), what's your ultimate mashup band?
Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky all playing death metal after drinking a bottle of wild turkey.