A funk-rock band is competing for a final place in a global battle of the bands.

Huddersfield-based musicians The Zillaz have made it to the finals of the Hard Rock Rising contest in Manchester.

On Thursday they’ll play to impress judges to be in the global gig against winners from throughout Europe, America and Canada.

Drummer John Longson said: “It will be amazing on Thursday, potentially life-changing and a great opportunity to perform in front of a crowd of producers and DJs.

“If we get to the final we could be going around the globe from country to country, which will be unreal.”

The Zillaz are made up of Ben Heneghan, vocalist and lyricist from Honley who works is a builder; Paul Ainley, the lead rhythm guitar from Lepton who works for a brewery; bass and producer James Stevenson of Lindley who is a landscape gardener; and drummer John Longson from Longwood who is a civil and site engineer.

The band formed last October and entered the competition to see how they compared with other bands.

They were rated first out of 180 bands to take them to the second stage of the competition which was the live heats.

Thursday’s gig is the final heat and if they win they will play on stage at the Hard Rock Festival in Rome and bag £10,000 of recording equipment.

John added: “Musically we all bring a different style to the band which I think has made us stand out, we’re not a typical Indie rock band, we have a funk bouncy-dance style which seems to go down well.

“It is tough to break through, we’ve all been in other bands and been in a position of getting signed for festivals and then something falls through.

“We hope this will be an amazing chance. We all have day jobs and this is more than an enthusiastic hobby, we’d love to break through.”

The Zillaz debut EP Showa was released last 2013 and produced by bass player James.

As well as the competition at the Hard Rock Cafe in Manchester, The Zillaz will play at the Sun Inn, Lepton on April 20 and at Carpe Diem in Leeds on April 26.w

Find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thezillaz or Twitter @the_zillaz

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