Persistence pays off as Seething Akira scoop Best Band at The Guide Awards

But the electro-metallers have persisted, and had their best year to date in 2018, finally releasing their well-received debut album, Sleepy Skeletor.

And now the five-piece are also the Best Band award-winners.

Co-frontman Kit Conrad says: ‘It’s an honour - representing the hometown in a musical platform is next-level.

His fellow frontman Charlie Bowes adds: ‘We’ve been around for years now, so it’s really nice to get this.

Last Friday the band headlined their first Portsmouth show in a long while when they topped the bill of Icebreaker Festival’s Wedgewood Rooms stage.

‘It was incredible,’ says Kit of playing the event. Icebreaker was runner-up in the Best Festival category for its previous year.

‘And Icebreaker’s a fantastic event, the set up down there is phenomenal, the way (co-organiser) Mike Hartley and the boys run it is brilliant, plus the Wedge is always excellent.’

This year the boys are hoping to rack up the live dates and festivals - they’ve already been announced to appear on the main stage at the rock festival, Amplified with the likes of Ugly Kid Joe, Mushroomhead, and Jinjer.

And congratulations are also in order for drummer Stu Radcliffe and his partner who have become parents to a girl since our awards night.

Fake Empire were runners-up.

The Wedgewood Rooms sponsors the Best Band category,