English Teacher on winning the Mercury: ‘We are proof that arts funding works’

The Leeds-based band – and first non-London act to win the prize for a decade – were quick to highlight the part that regional funding played and lamented recent cuts
• Alexis Petridis: ‘English Teacher are worthy Mercury winners – but the question of the prize’s future hangs heavy’

Not 18 hours after Leeds indie band English Teacher won the Mercury prize for their debut album, singer Lily Fontaine told the Guardian: “We’re still pinching ourselves, really.” Their Top 10 widely acclaimed This Could Be Texas beat the favourite Charli xcx, along with efforts by the likes of Corinne Bailey Rae and Portishead’s Beth Gibbons. “To win it in a room where there were people such as Corinne or Beth that inspired me is just amazing, like a dream I keep expecting to wake up from. I went up to Beth and just said: ‘You’re incredible.’”

Earlier, this year, English Teacher told the Guardian that despite being signed to a major label, Island, enjoying radio and TV exposure and being able to play 800-capacity shows in their home town, both Fontaine and bandmate Lewis Whiting recorded their album while living at home, sofa-surfing and relying on universal credit to top up the band’s £500 a month from the record company advance. The Mercury comes with a £25,000 cheque although the band haven’t decided what to do with it. Fontaine insists: “It will be invested, not frittered away.”

Continue reading…

Please follow and like us: