‘We urgently need to protect British indie rock bands before they disappear’

English Teacher join the call for greater support for the music industry (Picture: Robin Little/Redferns)

Music is one of Britain’s greatest exports but, as pointed out by multiple winners during the Brit Awards, we’re at risk of losing it.

Ezra Collective and Myles Smith used their Brits speeches to plead for support for smaller artists and venues, a sentiment echoed by English Teacher.

The Leeds-based band — consisting of Lily Fontaine, Lewis Whiting, Douglas Frost, and Nicholas Eden —  told Metro the situation is ‘completely urgent.’

Guitarist Lewis shared: ‘It’s important that we keep banging on that drum. It’s a good thing that it’s become part of the national conversation.

‘I would have never considered the fact that I could even be here doing this if I hadn’t gone to gigs as a fan and seen people do it. That’s why it’s especially important to have those regional venues.

‘It’s not just supporting bands that have already got going. But it’s also the value of having culture in those places to then inspire people to pick up an instrument and do the same thing.’

English Teacher is made up of Nicholas Eden, Lewis Whiting, Lily Fontaine and Douglas Frost (Photo by Lia Toby/Getty Images)

The call from artists is clear: by allowing the grassroots venues to disappear, the influx of new artists being inspired to pick up an instrument simply won’t exist.

Then there’s the added concern that a full-time career making music is reserved as a ‘luxury’, which is not afforded to working class musicians.

‘It’s already is the case; it’s almost a joke,’ Lewis explained, sounding slightly defeated. ‘The privilege of being able to have time to think about it and play with it.

‘Without those grassroots things in place, then it just becomes more and more weighted [towards the wealthy]. Then the only people who can pursue music or even consider it as an option are people who come from a bit more money, or are in areas where probably don’t even second guess these venues are on their doorstep.’

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He points out how London-centric the music industry has always been but this is increasingly the case with smaller venues disappearing, forcing everyone down south.

‘We all know how many good bands are in the north, historically and now,’ Lewis added. ‘It often gets talked about like these places are distant, remote [but] a lot of people live here.

English Teacher’s plea for the North is a personal one, especially since they were the first non-London artist in nine years to win the Mercury Prize.

Breaking this cycle ‘means a hell of a lot’ to the band but Lewis added it was ‘kind of a ridiculous statistic’ to begin with.

The band is already seven years in the making, having spent time playing to small crowds to build their reputation and hone their sound; sort of.

The band won the Mercury Prize for their debut album This Could Be Texas (Picture: JMEnternational/Getty Images)

English Teacher is known for a post-punk ‘eclectic’ sound with hits like R&B and The World’s Biggest Paving Slab featuring spoken word mixed in with rock riffs.

Lewis revealed this comes from the bandmates’ widely varying music tastes, with only a handful of crossover artists they look to for inspiration.

‘For better, for worse, that leads us to write quite erratic songs, and we jump about quite a lot between different genres because we can’t decide,’ he laughed.

It’s difficult to define a genre for English Teacher, although Lewis called them ‘alt rock with some extra, sometimes unnecessary steps’.

English Teacher 2025 Tour Dates

English Teacher are embarking on their biggest headline tour to date this November, with six gigs across the UK.

Tickets are on sale now through the band’s website.

The UK tour dates are:

November 13 – Rock City, Nottingham November 18 – NX, Newcastle November 19 – Barrowland, Glasgow November 20 – Albert Hall, Manchester November 22 – O2 Academy, Leeds November 26 – Roundhouse, London

‘I personally want aim for toeing that line, you don’t want to be more digestible for the sake of it. I like things that keep my attention and also sound interesting.

‘The never-ending aim is to write something that’s both interesting and not unnecessarily complicated.’

Lewis, Lily, Nick, and Douglas are already working on their follow-up album but ‘in true English Teacher fashion’, there is no clear vision of where it will end up.

He’s hoping to bring more upbeat tracks, expanding their discography in a way that feels ‘energetic’ — no doubt some of the new songs will get a test run on tour.

Could they be heading to Worthy Farm? (Picture: Robin Little/Redferns)

English Teacher are playing their biggest headline tour yet this November, with gigs in Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, and Nottingham before culminating at London’s famous Roundhouse venue.

‘We like to mess around [on stage]; it’s a little looser, a bit more improvisation,’ he teased. ‘I’d say noisier, a lot noisier than the album.’

Tickets are available for the tour now but there’s somewhere else fans will be able to see English Teacher on stage too this year.

‘I can’t say anything about anything,’ Lewis replied with a grin when asked about returning to Glastonbury after playing last year and in 2022.

He chuckled and continued: ‘I love Glastonbury, and hopefully, we’ll be there. Hopefully, hopefully, fingers crossed. I’ve got a good feeling that we will be there.’

Since chatting with us, English Teacher have been confirmed for 2025’s Glastonbury lineup – a good feeling indeed, Lewis.

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