Award Winners!
What do SOMB have in common with rats? Aside from an obvious love of living off scraps and bathing in rubbish, we apparently share the same taste in accommodation.
The last blog ended with SOMB’s first gig, courtesy of the good people at Scotland Rocks Radio (SRR) — huge contributors to, and supporters of, the underground rock and metal scene in Scotland and across the UK. We connected with SRR through Toby’s monumental, and worryingly aggressive, pursuit of engagement with the online community of independent artists and radio stations.
Scotland Rocks Radio are one of several online stations kind enough to give our tracks some airtime; another is Radio Wigwam, who throughout 2025 had songs from our EP in regular rotation.
Around the same time we were prepping for our debut gig, we got word that we’d been nominated for Radio Wigwam awards in two categories — Best Alt Rock and Best Song — and were invited to their big party down in London.
Naturally, we assumed this was some kind of wind-up, or a sick scheme devised by someone from our long list of mortal enemies. Perhaps the plan was to trick us into travelling to London, then secretly film us making fools of ourselves, floundering around the Underground like sad old fish who accidentally missed the turning for their usual murky pond and found themselves lost at sea.
Forgive us if that sounds a touch far-fetched, but our paranoia is justified. Radio Wigwam is one of the biggest UK stations promoting grassroots music, and the quality of the records they play is extremely high, we were just stoked they gave us some airtime, let alone considered us for award nominations.
Eventually, our panic subsided and we decided this was not an opportunity to be passed up. So we began hatching plans to journey south from the misty, green utopian dreamscape of Edinburgh to the overcrowded, feral dystopian nightmare that is London.
Only kidding Londoners, your city is awesome, but your water is disgusting.
Our eagerness to attend the awards was driven in part by a lack of availability from Tom and Lewis (the least popular members of the band), but also by the realisation that chances like this don’t come along often, and it seemed irresponsible not to take it.
So, channelling our inner Steve Martin, Arthur, Andy, and Toby dragged their long-suffering partners and families — via planes, trains, and automobiles — down to the big smoke to attend the awards.
This is where the rats come in. It’s hard to know exactly how to bring to life the miserable disappointment that was our accommodation, but a friend summed it up perfectly by calling it a “cursed Airbnb” and a “London landlord special”. Broken shower doors, leaking toilets, family members falling through furniture, and of course a rat-infested stairwell — all in all, it was far nicer than we deserved.
Suitably grimy and unkempt from our temporary palace, we scurried around the Underground emulating our new furry housemates and made our way towards The Bedford for the 2026 Radio Wigwam Awards.
The journey was every bit as farcical as you might imagine: three giant fish out of water on the Tube during rush hour, managing to get on the wrong side of every unfortunate commuter we encountered. Special shout out to the gibbon himself (Arthur), who caused a minor stir by “accidentally” using his club feet to send a very well dressed Londoner hurtling face first onto the Tube platform.
Eventually, we found our way to The Bedford and, pints in hand, wandered into the function room for the show. Honestly, the whole night was a blast — outstanding live performances, lots of friendly, talented people… and us.
Our families watched the livestream from the throne room in the temple of doom, and let’s just say we were easy to spot as we took turns relaying to the bar for many pints, which made us less stable on our feet but probably significantly improved our personalities.
As each award was announced, we were consistently blown away by the quality of the music in every category and, if we’re honest, a little concerned that many of the artists seemed far more polished and better presented than us. Well-dressed, professional promo materials — basically the opposite end of the spectrum from SOMB.
By the time the Best Alt Rock category came around, we were significantly well-oiled and genuinely happy just to be there… even if we were less happy about spending multiple days in each other’s miserable company.
Clips from each band in our category were played, followed by the announcement of second and third place. When our name didn’t appear in either slot, we all assumed we’d finished dead last.
Then, out of nowhere, they announced our name.
The next few minutes are fairly blurry. They definitely involved a few choice swear words and an acceptance speech from Toby that will go down in history (apparently it’s immortalised somewhere on YouTube).
Unbelievably, we’d won!
First and foremost, let’s make it clear that we are 100% shocked, surprised, grateful, and anything else you can think of. To be recognised for our music among such a strong group of our peers is not something we ever expected, so an overwhelming thank you to Radio Wigwam for putting us forward for the award, and to everyone who voted for us — it genuinely means a lot.
To the other bands in our category, you all rock. Special shout-outs to 5 Degrees North, Wrex and Static Switch, who finished second and joint third.
We didn’t take home the award for Best Song this time — that honor went to Buried in Bermuda for their track Until We Meet Again, which is a serious banger and well worth checking out.
Once the announcements were over and many more pints had been consumed, we were treated to an epic set from Sonic Whip. Those lads seriously know how to put on a show, leaving us headbanging, staggering around, and creating pure chaos. Outstanding.
Absolutely buzzing and having talked the ears off multiple different people, we staggered out of The Bedford and made a beeline for the nearest Maccas for our victory meal. One chaotic cab ride later (did you know there are two-metre snakes in the trees in London?) and we were back at the rat’s nest.
Nursing our hangovers — and now-inflated egos — we spent the rest of the trip pretending to be civilised adults rather than overgrown man-babies, taking in museums and doing the classic London tourist stuff. We even got after it with maxed-out synergy outside the LinkedIn office, before eventually making the journey back north of the wall to clean air and drinkable water.
We’re not entirely sure what’s next on the agenda for SOMB, but hopefully we’ve built some momentum. Once again, a huge thank you to Radio Wigwam, and to anyone donating even an ounce of their attention to our thinly veiled charade.
No further comment,
SOMB
