A Fife band has vowed to hit the big time after being crowned winners of the Hard Rock Café’s global Battle of the Bands contest.
Moonlight Zoo, from Dunfermline, wowed a panel of leading music industry executives during the final in New York to win the $15,000 top prize.
The four-piece battled through a previous heat at the Hard Rock in Glasgow and made the final three after a worldwide fan vote, earning their spot against Sweet Fever, from Nashville, USA, and Napkin, from Curitiba in Brazil, at New York’s Paramount Theatre.
Band member Sean Defrancesco said everyone associated with Moonlight Zoo were delighted to have received top spot in the contest.
“We can’t believe it – the whole experience felt like a dream,” he said.
“From getting flown to New York and playing the Paramount Theatre on a stage that has seen the likes of The Beatles and Elvis Presley to name but a few, and then to actually win and be standing afterwards on a rooftop in Times Square, holding an oversized cheque for $15,000 after having been judged by some of the biggest names in the industry – it’s surreal.”
In April, live music rounds took place across the world in cities including Seattle, Sydney and Moscow.
In Glasgow, the event was hosted by Jim Gellatly with a judging panel made up of The View’s Kieren Webster, Heart Radio presenter Lynne Hoggan, and singer-songwriter Emme Woods.
After fending off tough competition from Sara ‘N’ Junbug, The Asuras and Chris Greig and The Merchants, Moonlight Zoo then faced off against other regional winners in a worldwide fan vote to bring the finalists down to three.
Defrancesco added: “We have dedicated our lives to this band for so long and it feels incredible to get a sense that it is finally paying off.
“We hope to use our win in this competition and connections we have made from it to help push the band onto to bigger and better things.”
