"I didn’t know that you could be signed to a major label and earning less than minimum wage": English Teacher's Lily Fontaine on how her band's success has left her feeling "incredibly cynical"

Leeds indie-rockers English Teacher got a lot of critical love for their Top Ten debut album , which came out back in April, and the acclaim continued this week when the quartet were nominated for this year's Mercury Prize. It has been a hectic few years for the band, who first came to attention for their thrilling live shows and a series of excellent releases on independent labels before signing with big-guns Island Records ahead of making their debut record. It's been a period in which you imagine they have learned a lot about the pros and cons of the modern music industry.

It might be mainly cons, though. Speaking to this writer for back in March, singer and guitarist Lily Fontaine said her experiences so far had left her feeling “incredibly cynical”. “I feel like there’s a lot of things that people don’t talk about, like the whole way that everything works and releases happen and stuff.

It’s quite closed off, the way that money moves and things like that,” Fontaine stated. “I think there’s a massive lack of investment in musicians - no musicians I know have any money, people who are doing really well. That really surprised me.

I know everyone always says like, ‘Oh, if you’re a musician, you’re not going to earn money’ but I didn’t realise that you can be signed to a major label and be relatively successful - not me, I’m not relatively successful, although maybe I am, I don’t know! - but I didn’t know that you could be signed to a major la.