New Zealand Music Month has been embraced right across the county, including by those in the prison system.
Auckland Prison at Paremoremo held its first ever battle of the bands.
“The idea was to bring the three units together, units 6, 8 and 9, to actually have a competition,” Department of Corrections Karl Cross told Seven Sharp.
“They've been wanting this sort of thing for quite some time now, they're all really ambitious, they're all really competitive, they all really want to put their best show on.”
It's part of Corrections' Hokai Rangi strategy of rehabilitation with a focus on humanity and whakapapa.
One prisoner taking part says: “You know music can be therapeutic in a lot of ways, there are songs that can take us to different places, helped us cope with some of our things that we struggle with.”
Staff members made up the judging panel and had their work cut out for them.
Watch the bands in action and see who took out the top prize in Seven Sharp’s segment above.
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