A ROCK band from Blackwood have spoken of their amazement at having been nominated for a coveted award after only having been performing since last summer.

Super Marine are on a five-act shortlist in the Best Group category of the 2020 Cardiff Music Awards (CMAs).

"To be nominated for this award is incredible," they said.

"There are a ton of great bands in the Cardiff and South Wales music scene, so to be recognized as one of the top five this year is amazing.

"We’re extremely happy to have been nominated, but to win the award would be fantastic.

"It would be the cherry on top of the cake for all the hard work we’ve put in since we started this band."

The quartet - Rhys Davis, Jay Price, Dan Barrell and Matt Davies - have already made plenty of waves however, with their debut single Decadent Flowers, released last October, having passed 40,000 streams.

The band also sold out their first hometown show at Blackwood Miners Institute, the first local band to sell out the venue since Manic Street Preachers.

They are hoping that the publicity gained from being named on the award shortlist will help them push on to gain a wider fan base and greater exposure.

"When we started this band last summer we wanted to really make an impact and hit the ground running," they said.

"We knew that getting our name out there and growing a fan base wouldn’t be easy.

"Hopefully being nominated for Best Group will help us grow and put our name out there to a wider audience.

"We just want to keep expanding our fanbase, release more music, and take Super Marine to the next level and beyond."

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While they are harbouring big ambitions, Super Marine are keen to point our the calibre of opposition in the category.

"We’ve been nominated alongside four great bands who’ve been involved in the Cardiff scene a lot longer than ourselves," they said.

"There’s Holding Absence who’ve just been added to this year’s Reading and Leeds Festival line-up, as well as Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard who supported Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds at Cardiff Castle last year.

"We’re just grateful that people took the time to vote for us and believe in us, and also put our name alongside some really successful bands."

The Cardiff Music Awards have grown into a major event in the South Wales music scene, bringing together and celebrating the best of the musical talent in the city and beyond.

With more than 3,000 nominations, the finalists are now confirmed and in the running to win one of 22 awards, including Best Group, Best Venue, Best Breakthrough Act, Best Club Night, and Outstanding Contribution.

Voting is now open to the public and will remain so until midnight on April 2.

The date for the fourth Cardiff Music Awards has been announced as Thursday April, 9 and the event will again be held at Tramshed in the city.

Visit cardiffmusicawards.co.uk for the full list of 2020 finalists.