A WITNEY-BASED teenage rock band was given a shock after finding out they had been nominated for a number of awards.

Twisted State of Mind first formed in 2011 and has since been signed to a label, toured all over the UK and even travelled to the east coast of America.

They have now been nominated for eight awards in an event hosted by TBFM, a UK independent internet rock station.

Lead singer Ben Comley, 16, of Witney, said: “We just went online and found out we’d been nominated for all these awards. We had no idea.

“A few people said they had nominated us. It’s a completely new experience for the band. We’re just used to travelling round and gigging.

“It was a shock, but it’s quite cool.”

The group features frontman Ben; bassist Joe Wastie, 16, of Ducklington; drummer Damon Marshall, 17, of Madley Park; and guitarist Luke Ashby, 16, also of Madley Park.

The band started five years ago when Luke and Damon, who go to Wood Green School, began songwriting, then met Ben at lessons at Witchwood School of Rock. Joe joined the band more recently.

They played their first gig at Fat Lil’s nightclub in Witney in 2011 and have since performed more than 160 gigs throughout the UK and abroad.

They were signed to Philadelphia record label Toil Records in early 2015 and released four singles with them. They recently released a new double EP called Set in Stone Red and Set in Stone Blue.

Damon said the band really came into its own at the beginning of this year.

He said: “I feel like we became the true Twisted State of Mind at the beginning of this year. We’re much more one entity. It feels like this is going to be who we are forever.

“We all have different tastes in music but I think that’s what makes our music what it is.

“We play a range of music, from old rock to heavy metal.”

The band practices together three times a week and have created 100 of their own songs, with each member of the band making a contribution to the songwriting process.

Joe said: "We play together so often and we all love it so much. We're all best mates and we all go out together - it just works."

Luke added: "We've just been gigging non-stop since the start of this year. We played Witney Musical Festival in front of 8,000 people, which was amazing."

The awards the band has been nominated for include Best British Band, Best Single and Best New EP. The group will find out whether they have won at an event in The Rock Den, in Hatfield near London, on January 28.