Just a few months after scooping the Mercury Prize — beating Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and other similarly massive stars — Leeds quartet English Teacher are sitting in the dressing room of Shepherd’s Bush Empire, reading the names of the venue’s former headliners that they’re about to join the ranks of: The Rolling Stones, Prince, Oasis, the list goes on.
As is occurring with increased frequency, it’s another case of finding themselves spoken of in the same breath as some of music’s greats. Previous Mercury winners include Arctic Monkeys, Pulp and PJ Harvey; the week after we speak, English Teacher are also long-listed for the BBC Sound of 2025 poll, a tips list previously topped by Adele and Sam Smith.
For 26-year-old vocalist Lily Fontaine, the life-changing win was a result she hadn’t even entertained. “Whenever I daydreamed, I felt guilty about it,” she says. “I’d go there and then be like, ‘No, no, no, you can’t do that.’” But English Teacher’s record This Could Be Texas contains all the hallmarks of a classic indie debut. Praised by the judges for its “originality and character… display[ing] a fresh approach to the guitar band format”, it also marked the first time in a decade that the prize had been won by artists outside London.
If they are role models for bands not from the capital, Fontaine is also a role model as a young black woman making indie music. The group’s first single from 2021, R&B, was a comment on how many pigeon-holed them before even hearing the music — “Despite appearances, I haven’t got the voice for R&B,” goes its chorus. “I didn’t have many [indie artists] that looked like me, but then I’m also light-skinned so it’s all a spectrum,” she says. “I look far more similar to other female front women than a lot of people do, but there still weren’t many people who looked like me so it did affect things.”
And one of her great influences is Amy Winehouse. “I wanted to be her basically — which is the irony of [R&B] because I did want to but I couldn’t physically do it,” she smiles. “She felt very real. She was incredibly authentic and so funny and stylish and unique. And her lyricism was beautiful and hilarious at the same time… I’m gonna cry,” Fontaine laughs, visibly welling up. “I love her so much.”
Originally from Huddersfield and growing up not far away in Colne, Fontaine formed English Teacher with guitarist Lewis Whiting, drummer Douglas Frost and bassist Nicholas Eden in Leeds at the start of the pandemic. When I ask about the name, they sigh that they’ve been asked so often they’ve made up different answers. They’ve said previously that it was because a lot of their family were English teachers and they like its connotations.
Schemes designed to help young musicians were invaluable in getting them started; during their acceptance speech, Fontaine thanked both Leeds and the people that helped them to get funding for their 2021 debut single. “A lot of the things about the music scene in Leeds is why we’re in music now: music services, access, time,” says the singer. “There are the venues but then there are things like Music Leeds that provide mentorship, and independent labels where you can apply to release through them. Without a lot of this stuff it’s just like, how do you get your foot in the door?”
They’re things that Fontaine, the daughter of a painter, says she feels privileged to have even known about. A recent study by the Youth Music organisation reported that young people in the North were 10 per cent less likely to consider themselves musical than those in the South, and nearly a fifth less likely to pick up an instrument. Many of her peers, she says, simply did not see a life in the creative industries as a viable option. “I was allowed to explore the arts as a career path,” she adds, “whereas some people are told they have to do a trade otherwise how are you going to support yourself? There are a lot of people that don’t get the opportunities that I did.”
In March, the singer spoke in Parliament about the band’s experiences at a committee into how the Government should support grassroots venues. “That was mad. It was very intense,” she recalls. “I was just hoping that it would maybe make the Government consider taking the arts — and specifically the music industry and its importance to the economy — a little bit more seriously.”
The committee worked; shortly after our conversation it’s announced that, as a direct result of the inquiry, a voluntary ticket levy will be introduced on stadium and arena gigs to help contribute to keeping small venues alive.
For English Teacher, their recent upturn in fortune has meant that they’re finally in a financially stable position. “I think this UK tour we’re on might be the first one we’ll ever do that will make a profit,” says Frost. Considering that their previous tour was a sold-out, 16-date run in support of a Top 10 album, released on a major label (Island Records), it points to an increasingly unsustainable time to be an emerging artist. “Now things are getting better; since we won the Mercury our gig fees have gone up so we’re sound. But a lot of our peers who are touring will be struggling like how we were a year ago,” says Fontaine.
With increased demand, however, comes increased intensity and pressure. Now it’s all about keeping themselves mentally well and not taking on more than they can handle. “Next year is gonna be when the pace really picks up and that’s what we’re quite conscious of: how do we make sure that we’re making it manageable for us so we don’t go full burn-out and go, ‘F*** this’,” says Frost.
“It’s tough, right?” he continues, looking to Fontaine, who nods. “It’s amazing, but it’s really hard. That’s why we decided to pull out of our headline shows in America [in September]. We needed more time off otherwise we’d have done four weeks in America, had some travel days and then done two weeks in Europe and then this [UK tour] now with no time at home, no time to see friends, no time to see partners. And that is something that, for me anyway, I’ve realised is integral to making myself feel okay. I feel like that’s the same with you too,” he says to the singer, “just needing the time away from this… I was about to call it a shitshow; it obviously isn’t a shitshow. But it’s just bonkers.”
“You can’t live permanently in this environment because it’s just not healthy for any person,” Fontaine adds.
In order to deal with the increased attention, both band members have recently stepped away from social media. English Teacher have a TikTok and it is mainly, they admit, someone from their label uploading clips. “I don’t use my Instagram anymore. I have Twitter but not really,” says the singer. “I’ve got issues with being perceived; I don’t really like it. I’m the frontperson of the band so I must be perceived, but that’s as Lily Fontaine from English Teacher, not as Lily Fontaine from… Lily Fontaine. It’s different.”
In a full circle moment for Fontaine, the day after their Shepherd’s Bush Empire show, the band headline Camden’s Koko: a famous stomping ground of her hero Winehouse. English Teacher might still be harbouring humble dreams (“This is fine for me,” says Fontaine. “What we’re doing now — two thumbs up”), but it seems as though the world might have other ideas for them.
English Teacher will play the Wide Awake Festival in Brockwell Park on May 23
