A Year 11 student from Rolleston College has taken out first place in a national songwriting competition after impressing judges with a polished, original track exploring consumerism and capitalism.

Luke Van Wyk, who releases music under the artist name ‘104’, has been named the winner of the 2026 Play It Strange Junior Songwriting Competition for his song ‘PAY LATER’.

The competition attracted 176 original song entries from Year 9 to 11 students across New Zealand.

Judges were struck by the maturity and originality of Luke’s songwriting, with musician and competition judge Frankie Venter giving the track high praise.

“This is insanely good. I am beyond impressed! Incredible. In my opinion this should win,” Venter said.

Luke said ‘PAY LATER’ was written as a sharp commentary on materialism.

“Pay Later is meant to be about the price of consumerism. It’s like an ad break in my album ‘Consumer Effect’, so it sounds flashy and polished like a real commercial, but the lyrics are about the greed of capitalism and what you actually end up paying for it,” he said.

The Canterbury student is already building a name for himself as a young musician. He independently released his debut EP, ‘hi’, when he was just 10 years old.

As the first-place winner, Luke receives a prize package including a one-on-one mentoring session with a competition judge, a $500 MusicWorks voucher, a JBL Bandbox Trio valued at $899, and an artist development session with SOLE Music Academy founder Sacha Vee.

He will also receive a radio interview and airplay on 95bFM, as well as a performance slot at the Play It Strange Annual Showcase, with flights and accommodation included. Music workshops will also be held in the lead-up to the showcase.

Second place was awarded to Sienna Fitzgerald, a Year 11 student from Northcote College in Auckland, for her song ‘Clarity’.

And third place went to Dornia Silupe-Ulumanithe, who performs as ‘Dornia’, a Year 11 student from Onehunga High School, for her song ‘Home of the gone’.

Guest judge and ‘There’s A Tuesday’ frontwoman Nat Hutton said this year’s competition showcased the depth of emerging songwriting talent across the country.

“I’ve been so inspired by the talent and creativity shown in this year’s Play It Strange Junior Competition. The raw authenticity and lyricism these rangatahi bring to their songwriting is incredibly powerful, and it’s been such a privilege to hear so many unique young voices.

“I’ve been deeply impressed by the artistry, honesty, and emotion woven through these songs.”

Play It Strange CEO Stephanie Brown said this year’s entries reflected not only strong musical growth, but also a growing willingness among young songwriters to tackle difficult and complex subjects.

“Every year we are blown away not just by the quality of the songwriting, but by how diverse the songs are becoming,” Brown said.

“This year’s entries explored themes like grief, identity, friendship, mental health, but also capitalism and war. Musically we’re hearing more experimental sounds and genre-crossing every year.

“The calibre of musicians judging our competitions and supporting Play It Strange this year really reflects how passionate the music industry in Aotearoa is about backing and nurturing the next generation of emerging talent.”