Last Letter Read, a male 'power-pop' band made up of four members – Rob Bateman, Curtis Lawrence, Tom Slaughter and Nathan Lewis – are supporting MC Lars, a popular Californian rap artist, on his UK tour.

Curtis, Tom and Nathan formed Last Letter Read five years ago when they all attended Durrington High School.

The boys, who all live in Durrington, went on to perform their first gig at the school.

Two years later, keen to make the band a four-piece, they placed an advert for a lead singer in Worthing-based music shop Lick.

The only respondent was Rob, who luckily impressed the other members.

The collaboration with the 'post-punk' rapper came about after the band met MC Lars at several shows and became friends with him.

Lead guitarist Tom, 20, said: "We kept bugging him a bit, he's a really nice guy and it all just worked out for the best really for us."

The band will be touring with MC Lars for 12 dates from October 29 to November 9 at venues across the UK from Southampton up to Glasgow.

The band played at the Assembly Hall in Worthing three years ago and since then have gained a loyal following of fans from the Worthing area.

More recently the band has been seen playing at venues the Southampton Joiners and the Brighton Pressure Point.

Lead singer and bassist, Rob Bateman, 20, describes the band's music as: "Happy, pop-punky and energetic with easy to learn lyrics and melodies to sing along to."

Guitarist Nathan, 19, added: "We are working on writing more of our material at the moment before we begin recording more, and there's a lot of preparation to do before we start the tour."

The band are hoping the tour will encourage a record label to sign them up.

But drummer Curtis, 18, said: "What matters most though is if there are people there watching and enjoying our music and performance."

If you want to buy tickets to see Last Letter Read on tour with MC Lars go to www.video-c.co.uk/tickets.

You can also find out more about the band at www.myspace.com/lastletterread.

See an exclusive performance of the band's song Week North of Home - click on the green play button above to watch the video.

Are you a local band with a story to tell us? Email sarah.dale@worthingtoday.co.uk.