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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

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. Along the way, the band have been supported by talent development organisation Music:Leeds, whose Launchpad programme distributed the first two self-released English Teacher singles including the first version of The World’s Biggest Paving Slab, a song they rerecorded for the winning album, which Fontaine first wrote in her bedroom six years ago. The band also received funding from Youth Music, whose CEO Matt Griffiths said: “This is the second year in a row that artists supported and backed by grassroots organisations have won this prize.

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