“We’ve not stopped for almost a decade. It’s been brilliant and exhausting in equal parts,” English Teacher vocalist, guitarist and synth player Lily Fontaine laughs, reflecting on the band’s ascent over the last five years.
The band - Fontaine, Lewis Whiting (lead guitar, synth), Douglas Frost (drums, piano and vocals) and Nicholas Eden (bass) – began writing together after meeting while students at Leeds Conservatoire. Early support from local organisations Music Leeds, Come Play With Me and BBC Radio Introducing, who regularly played their earliest offerings and helped garner support for the band, led to a pivotal signing with indie label Nice Swan Records. During lockdown, English Teacher’s fanbase grew online and 2021 single ‘R&B’ had the music industry buzzing. A much-lauded debut EP, ‘Polyawkward’ followed, providing further insight into the diverse sonic and uniquely self-made aesthetic world of the band, and appearances at Glastonbury and Leeds Festival soon made English Teacher one of the most talked about bands in British music.
Since then, they’ve toured with Parquet Courts and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, played on Jools Holland, and sold out all their UK and EU tour dates as well as Elsewhere in Brooklyn, New York City. They’ve graced the cover of the magazine they used to spend their pocket money on as teens, NME, had single ‘Nearly Daffodils’ placed at number 7 in the top ten songs of 2023 by TIME Magazine, and more recently acted as ambassadors for Independent Venue Week (following in the footsteps of Arlo Parks, Wet Leg, Wolf Alice and Beabadoobee), in a nod to the grassroots venues where they learned their crafts.
