Singer (20 years old)
Brendon moved to the North Harbour region in 2008 where he started at Albany Junior High School and first picked up the guitar. After Year 9, he moved to Westlake Boys High School focussing on his academic standards as well as reaching a professional level in sport (tennis and soccer). As time progressed, he became more attached to the guitar and wouldn’t leave home without it.
He describes a sort of addiction to the feeling the instrument gave him and the emotions induced as he progressed on a creative journey. Brendon joined his first band in Year 9 playing hard rock/metal in a group called ‘22nd Prospect’.
While playing in local talent shows and gigs he fell in love with being on stage and then joined a reggae band ‘Tropical Grooves’ and entered a recording studio for the first time and recorded ‘Only Number One Girl’ which quickly became popular within the local schools. Brendon entered a number of talent shows as a solo artist with one resulting in recording time with the Devonport Sound recording studio.
Following this Brendon joined a Rock n Roll band called ‘The Rubics’ which honed his skills with older musicians and gave him a pathway to work on his songwriting. After receiving a grant from the ‘Play it Strange’ Songwriting Competition’; Brendon went back to Devonport Sound with two music friends where they recorded their first 6 track EP called ‘Brendon Thomas and the Vibes – The Eclect’.
After a suggestion to enter New Zealand X Factor, they quickly became TV favourites, making it through to the live shows before prevailing as the first band in the world to make an X Factor final and placed third in the competition. ‘The Eclect’ went to No.1 on the NZ Music Charts and they received both a song record deal as well as a nationwide tour with ‘I Am Giant’.
